One of the easiest ways to make a new garden bed harnesses the natural forces of the sun, weather, and earthworms to transform bare turf into rich, plantable earth. Once you layer cardboard, newsprint, and compost on top of the turf, and wait several months, the turf decomposes into 6 to 8 inches of topsoil. Build the bed at the beginning of one season and it should be ready for planting by the next season. For example, pile up the layers in early spring; the ground will be plantable by summer. No digging; no sweat. (from Better Homes and Gardens website: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/building-a-flower-bed-without-digging/
This is essentially what we did with the new Front Garden. (see previous post about the Front Garden). We did it mostly with mulch, sort of by accident. I had ordered a huge truckload of mulch to mulch the side yard by the driveway and had it dumped in the front yard. We moved wheelbarrow loads for six-eight months and then gave it up, as move of it washed away in the rain.
What was left in the front yard eventually became the new Front Garden.
