Planning Your Habitat Landscape

day 1_2
Step 1

Gather Your Materials

After choosing your garden, go ahead and gather supplies so you are ready when your plants arrive. You will need:

  • Spray marking paint
  • Hand trowel
  • Compost
  • Pine bark mulch or hardwood mulch (we recommend the natural undyed mulch, it will be the most aesthetically appealing)
  • Sprinkler or nozzle wand attachment

If you look at the garden, you purchased online. It will tell you the recommended amount of compost and mulch to buy.

Think about how you will want to water your plants for the first several weeks. You can get a sprinkler or a nozzle wand attachment to your hose. If you want to set up irrigation, go for it, but it's totally not necessary. You can purchase all of these items at a home improvement store.

Depending on which method of sod removal you choose, you may need a few more items. I will mention those items in step five.

Once your plants are delivered, pull the plants out of your box. Place them in a sunny spot if you bought a garden for full sun or partial sun. Place them in a shady spot if you bought a shade garden. Go ahead and water your plants. You can keep them in the plant container until you are ready to build your garden as long as you water them daily.

Step 2

Measure Your Garden

Measure out your garden dimension in the shape of a rectangle. You can mark the four corners of the rectangle with flags, stakes, or inanimate objects. You can use spray marking paint if you want to really get professional about it.

Step 3

Sketch Your Garden

Sketch out your garden's general shape inside of the rectangle.

Every garden comes with a landscape plan with our recommended shape. The shapes of the gardens are usually kidney, oblong, or peanut.

Step 4

Decide On Your Edging

Decide how you will edge your landscape. This is how you will separate your landscape from your lawn.

Choose either:

  1. Metal Landscape Edging: this can be purchased online or at a home improvement store and simply use it to outline your landscape 
  2. Hand-dug Edging: use a shovel to cut out the shape of your landscape to create definition.
Step 5

Sod Removal

Choose between these 4 options:

  1. Cardboard down method. You will need cardboard, a box cutter, and a hand trowel. Lay cardboard directly on top of the grass-covered landscape bed. See below for full details on the cardboard down.
  2. Rent a sod stripper. It is easy to use, and anyone can do it. You can rent one from an equipment rental store. See below for full details.
  3. Shovel method. Use a shovel to scoop off the grass. This is the most tedious method, but it works just as well. This isn't easy and requires strength. See below for full details.
  4. Round-Up. Lastly, you can use an herbicide. We recommend ready-to-use glyphosate like 'Round-Up.' However, you must wait for the 'Round Up' to completely dry before planting your Habitat landscape, which may take up to an hour before planting your plants. You will not need to remove the grass with this method. See below for full details.

So, Which did you choose? Cardboard, sod stripper, shove removal, or 'Round Up'? Read on for further steps.

Cardboard

You'll need:

  • box cutter
  • hand trowel
  1. Measure and edge your landscape as described above in steps 2, 3, and 4.
  2. Lay ½ inch of compost directly onto the grass in the pre-measured landscape bed prior to covering with cardboard.
  3. Lay the cardboard out and cut it to fit in the landscape bed.
  4. Cover your cardboard with 2-3 inches of mulch
  5. Lay your plants out on top of the mulch as directed in the landscape plans
  6. For each planting spot, pull back the mulch in a 1-foot circumference.
  7. Cut out a 6-inch circle in the cardboard.
  8. Remove grass with a hand trowel in the 6-inch area.
  9. Plant your plant.
  10. Pull mulch back over that area.

Sod stripper

You'll need:

  • A sod stripper
  1. Measure and edge your landscape as described above in steps 2, 3, and 4.
  2. Remove sod with sod stripper
  3. Lay down ½ inch of compost
  4. Lay down 2-3 inches of mulch
  5. Lay your plants out as directed
  6. Part the mulch and dig into the earth to plant your plug leaving the stem and leaves exposed.
  7. Pull mulch back over the area.

Shovel removal

Warning, this method requires physical strength!

You'll need:

  • A shovel
  1. Measure and edge your landscape as described above in steps 2, 3, and 4
  2. Remove sod/ grass with a shovel trying to leave as much soil as possible.
  3. Apply ½ inch of compost
  4. Apply 2-3 inches of mulch
  5. Layout your pants as directed in the plans
  6. Part mulch and dig into the earth to plant your plant.
  7. Pull mulch back over the area.

'Round-Up'

You'll need:

  • 'Round Up' (can be purchased from a home improvement store)
  1. Measure and edge your landscape as described above in steps 2, 3, and 4.
  2. Spray 'Round Up' as directed as written on the bottle.
  3. Wait an hour until it is dry.
  4. Apply ½ inch of compost
  5. Apply 2-3 inches of mulch
  6. Lay your plants out as directed in the landscape plans
  7. Part mulch away from the area where the plant will go.
  8. Dig into the earth plant your plant allowing stem and leaves to be above ground.
  9.  Pull mulch back over the area
Step 7

Water

Water your plants every other day for a few weeks until your plants become established. You can use a sprinkler, a hose with a nozzle wand, or water by hand. If you hit a dry spell during the summer season, you may need to water your plants to help them through the dry period. Once your plants are established, the rain should be enough water for them.

If you plant in the early spring, meaning April through the first week of May, you can get away without watering if you take care to plant just before a rainstorm. Remember, these are plugs, so you can always hand water with a few gallons of water.

Tips

Spend a couple of minutes with your new garden once a week to ensure there aren't any weeds sneaking in or check to see if they need any extra water.

Enjoy your landscape year after year! Have your backyard certified as a backyard habitat with the National Wildlife Federation if you so choose!