Posted: March 31, 2022
The Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at the Community Center in Middle Smithfield Township experienced a change in plans. Passersby may have noticed the garden covered in cardboard one day and then uncovered the next. Read about what happened, what was the purpose of the cardboard, and what is the next step.
Photo by Lynn Steele
We do learn more from our garden failures than successes, or perhaps, they just stick with us until a plant's beauty takes our breath away. Pollinators and native plants will blossom in this garden and drive away the image of flying cardboard!
Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Monroe County came together Sunday, March 20, to prepare rain garden #1 for planting. To smother existing weeds and prevent more from growing, gardeners lightly raked the area, chopped and let lie the stalks of tall weeds, then laid cardboard over the entire surface to block sunlight preventing future weed growth, and wet it thoroughly. Rocks from the MST quarry were spread on top of the cardboard to hold it in place. Due to high winds, the rocks were unable to hold it down. A second workday was held. The cardboard is gone and Master Gardeners will now weed the rain garden by hand before planting.
Why use cardboard? A layer of cardboard or newspaper is a great first step in establishing a new garden. Traditional tilling or double digging methods disturb and destroy the all-important soil microbes, insects, and earthworms that do the important job of building healthy and beautifully structured soil. Healthy soil feeds plants, releasing the all-important minerals they need to grow and thrive.
This method of building a garden on top of the earth is sometimes known as "lasagna gardening" or sheet composting/mulching, and is a wonderful way of creating a garden on our tough Pocono soil. The first step is to clip grass or weeds as close to the surface as possible in the area the garden bed will be made. Then cover it with overlapping layers of newspaper or cardboard. Wet the paper thoroughly. Begin to layer materials that you would use to create compost on top of the paper. You are building new healthy garden soil from the surface up, no digging required.
Because the rain gardens at MST Cultural Center are an engineered project under the guise of Monroe County Conservation District the slope of the garden couldn't be altered, hence no additional soil could be added to the rain garden.
Our new and best solution is to weed the old-fashioned way: by hand, then PA native plants will fill the rain garden and sink their deep roots into the soil helping to prevent erosion and ensure a home for native pollinators such as bees, birds and butterflies. Thanks to the grant awarded to the township, many beautiful PA native plants will grace the garden.
Article by Master Gardener Nancy Daniels
