>>2607603Also of note, what you described with the cardboard sounds very similar to "sheet mulching", or "composting in place". i read about it in a book called "gias garden" i forgot the author, but it seems to work well. The basic idea is that you create soil from scratch on top of the soil that already exists, but its important to keep in mind that the breakdown of organic matter takes time, so it would be better to start as soon as possible, rather than wait for spring. The advantage of composing in place, from what i remember, is that it allows the mycelium web to stay in place, rather than being damaged by the transporting of the compost from a pile, into the soil. if you are only concerned about organic matter, its probably fine to move your compost, but if you want to encourage microorganism growth, its best to compost in place.
what i did, before i decided to move my intended planting spot, is;
1 lay down cardboard, this prevents grass from growing from underneath
2 layer compost/organic material/ additives (i put down hay, old compost, cow manure, green grass, potash, dead leaves)
3 put a layer of soil on top, not thick, just an inch or two to keep it moist and to give you something to plant into later
4 water it
5 wait
6 plant directly into the top layer of soil
it doesn't really matter how long you wait, technically you could just plant directly into it as soon as you finish "building" it, but i think it probably works best to wait a bit. idk tho, not a sexpert.
