2012 Peony Bed Soil Solarization

Wow! I just came back home to find the sun had done a great job not only solarizing my soil, but also my plastic sheeting! I put down a clear plastic sheet to solarize the soil for my Intersectional Peony Bed Preparation in the middle of June. The plastic sheet I used for the intersectional peony bed was not new. It was a few years old. It held up pretty well until last week when it started to get a few tears in it, but when I came back and took a look at it yesterday, it was half gone and in shreds! So I guess the bed is officially solarized! The ground looks pretty sterile, and it has been a little over 6 weeks now since I first put the plastic sheeting down. It usually takes about 4-6 weeks to complete the soil solarization. So I guess the plastic sheeting held up just long enough! Now the planting bed should be ready for the new, good soil to go on top and get mixed in - after I have fun picking up all of the plastic bits, of course! ;-)

Intersectional Peony Bed Soil Solarized

I also started another soil solarization project a couple weeks after the first one for a new peony seedling test bed. I used a newer plastic sheet, and this one seems to be holding up much better. As you can see the weeds and grass underneath the plastic are all dead and brown. So this bed should be ready soon too. Maybe I can get the dirt next week!

Peony Seedling Test Bed Soil Solarization