Nicklas Kol

Hi Timothy, thanks for the welcome!

The reason for the oak pellets is that they will break down much faster than the wood chips, so that the berry bushes will hopefully start thriving quickly.

My soil is very heavy clay, so my hope is that the plants will get established in the commercial topsoil, and that over time, the clay will get softened by the wood chips and pellets, and the plant roots will bury deep into it as well. I will also add some limestone and gypsum to the commercial topsoil, as those also have a softening effect, however not as strong as organic matter.

I have only done the Ruth Stout system for less than a year in my vegetable garden, but I'm already sold on it! Almost zero weeding, the hay constantly gets broken down and feeds the soil, and it's great to walk/crawl on. And I expect to see many more benefits from it in the coming years.

How do I best establish a "strip" of flowers and berry bushes on lawn?

I would like to make a strip of soil 1 m (3.3 ft) wide and 20 m (66 ft) long on the edge of my lawn, where I would like to grow lots of berry bushes and flowers, and where the flowers are for honey bees.

My current plan is to lay down cardboard first, then a 2-5 cm layer of wood chips, then commercial topsoil, add some oak wood pellets, and cover it with hay, Ruth Stout style. We have previously added oak sawdust/pellets to raspberry bushes, and they responded very well. The wood chips are for long term feeding of the soil, inspired by Hügelkultur.

I know most people are using compost on top of the cardboard, but I don't have access to quality compost, and I would like to get started with seeding and planting in a few months.

I live in Denmark, where the climate is cool, temperate and mostly wet.

Are there any changes to my plan that will give a better chance of success?