perennial Prep & Planting

Let the transformation begin!

Here we go – we've spent the last five years cultivating a beautiful green yard for our boys to play, and now it's time to dig it all up! Well, not all of it. For this first year, we are aiming to plant about ½ and acre beginning with seven 100' long perennial beds.

Our NC soil is clay-rich and hard as can be, as it has never been worked. We've put the Kubota to good use, ripping the clay with a chisel plow, then tilled in several inches of compost and pine fines for soil conditioning. After a few rounds of soil testing and tweaking nutrient levels, we are ready for planting! Almost…

First, we've got to think about weed control. Not only will they compete with the plants and pull nutrients from the blooms, but they are so darn time consuming to pull! We decided to go with landscape fabric. DeWitt makes a great 20-year product that should keep the perennial beds weed-free for a long time coming. We spread the fabric over the rows and secured with sod staples. The next step is to make planting holes. 

Rather than cutting hundreds of holes, we used a propane-powered weed burner. I've seen lots of folks using or selling sheet metal templates for making holes. But, we found that wasn't necessary. We used marking paint to measure out the spacing, then followed up with the burner. If you start by touching the fabric, holding still for a few seconds, then pulling away, you get just the right size for a quart-sized plant.

October 3, 2018

Fast-forwarding a bit - after a long weekend of planting, all these little guys are snuggled into their new home. On the to-do list, is adding drip line irrigation on top of the fabric. We are working with Atlantic Irrigation to design a controlled watering system that will also link to the drip tape in the annual beds (pictured in the far center of this photo). For now, we'll make do with hand watering, but looking forward to automation! Coming soon…