Planting day (May 9) was a wonderfully warm, sunny day with a slight breeze. Fifteen cu. yds. of a “Ferti-loam” mix (composted manure with some sandy loam soil) were delivered. Two hours earlier one neighbor helped me lay down some flatted cardboard across the entire lawn. No herbicide necessary here, and no sod-removal, or rototilling. My theme: buy enough planting soil so you can plant directly into it; the cardboard will break down as it gets wet or weathers. The delivery truck was able to dump the soil in 2 adjacent piles, directly on top of the cardboard, saving a lot of wheelbarrow runs. Only 1 other volunteer was available to help spread the soil that day, but the two of us had 75% of it moved around and spread in 3 hours! I chose this day for delivery because I wanted a 2-week lead on planting day, sometime on Memorial Weekend.
Covering lawn with a layer of flattened cardboard boxes
Mmmm...new soil just delivered and ready to be spread; all 15 yds of it!
Only 3 hours later we've got more than half of the soil moved & spread.
Today has been slightly cooler, and being Sunday, most everyone else has other projects and events to attend to. Being that I am always eager to see the process done, I attacked the last of the soil heap and got everything relatively level, aiming for an average depth of 9-inches (deeper where the lawn slopes), bound to compact down some. Now where’s the rain when you need it to help settle the soil?
Hi Nancy: I had access to some fairly large boxes, and I started collecting flattened boxes about 2 months in advance, along with some larger boxes that came with home deliveries. Suggestions: check out major appliance stores to see if they have any boxes available, and also grocery stores. Do you have old computer shipping boxes around that you dont need? Tape and labels need to be removed, too. People put down thick layers of newspaper, too, if cardboard is in short supply, but grass can pop up more easily under this, if the soil layer is not thick enough.