a garden on haye bales?

[bennett]

i've heard this will help keep the weeds down? just looking into doing to doing it next year b/c crabgrass has KILLED me this year.. any thoughts?

 

[Rence]

I have a bad grass and weed problem in my garden in the aisles. I had cut the grass down super short, lined it wall to wall with weed cloth and put wood chips down. I have a full bed of grass that grew though all that.

So, yes, will hay or even straw keep the grass from growing??? Does anyone have experience with this? it did a good job in the goat pen where I didn't want to lose grass :/

 

[vfem]

I think you mean actually growing the hay bale gardens you see OFF the ground. Just right from the bale, am I correct?

Just remember to let them sit and get those seeds out of you will have straw growing. Turn them on their sides and pour in dirt... got yourself a little garden. Someone in my neighbor is doing it... its looking good to me! Haven't asked their opinion...

but its just IMO that you're still going to have to weed... I don't think there is any weed free gardening at all. My raised beds have to be weeded, they're just not that bad actually!

 

[bennett]

i know i'll still have some weeds - but i had heard they weren't as bad on a haye garden..

 

[VT Chicklit]

I am growing some of my tomatoes, green peppers and egg plants in hay bales this year, for the first time. I too have had weed problems in the past. The weeds are almost non-existant in my hay bale garden and they are not too bad in my regular garden this year, as well.

What I did was to first rototill the garden areas first and then lay down news paper (black and white pages only)2 sheets thick to cover tha garden area. I then positioned the hay bales where I wanted them. After placing the hay bales, I covered the exposed news paper with a thick (8-10 inch) covering of grass clippings. The bales were treated with fertalizer per the instructions on http://www.carolinacountry.com/cgardens/thismonth/march06guide/straw.html , which gives great instructions. I have kept adding to the grass clippings every time I mow the lawn. This keeps a good covering as the clippings decompose. I also used news paper and grass clippings in my regular veggie garden this year. I just laid them in between the rows and around the plants.

The reason I rototilled was to chop up the grass and hopefully compost it into the soil below the news paper and grass clippings, which have smothered the growth of new grass/weeds. My intent is to be able to grow my garden normally in this spot in a few years. In the mean time, the plants in the hay bales look good. I don't have fruit on them yet but those that I planted in the ground don't have any, either. It has been very rainy this summer. There are flowers, so I am hopeful. One thing to remember . . . water well. The hay bales dry out quickly. I use a soaker hose and "sprinkle" them as well. I have also sprayed them with a hose end sprayer full of a mixture of beer, dish soap and ammonia once this summer because they seemed a little peeky. This perked them right up.