Above ground flower garden
by
Sue K
+5
I want to make in my yard a flower garden but with approximately 4 - 6 ft above ground flower beds. My ground is pretty much hard clay and rock. I want to have walking width paths between beds. I was thinking of somehow using wood pallets.
7 answers
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Question wood pallets for the paths? Before you can even think about planting your soil is going to need alot of amending.You will have to add gypsum and lime to break down the clay, however that takes a long time.At this point I suggest starting your flower garden on pots until the soil is plantable. Also pictures would help .
Janet Pizaro
on Oct 04, 2015
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We decided to forget amending the soil and had a dumptruck of topsoil delivered. I have added all of the soil myself (hauling numerous wheel barrows full to the location) and we are putting in landscape timbers to surround the bed. So far looking great. Our soil is just too hard to work with and a raised bed was the answer for us.
169756
on Oct 05, 2015
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Certainly adding soil on top of existing ground is probably less work for about the same cost. But there is another consideration: what happens when the raised bed is watered? Does the water seem to run off or perk out onto the paths or down hill? How often do you have to water and does it seem to be enough? If these are the case then the water is flowing to the original hard crusty surface and running off, with little benefit to your raised bed. Before you add soil dig (and remove some) the clay and gravel deep enough to create a moisture reservoir for your plants to draw on as they need it.
Dot D Collett
on Oct 05, 2015
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Somewhere on Home Talk ( maybe another site) I saw a way to use hay bales as garden bases. You have to start early and add fertilizer (sorry I forgot what chemical) You let the bales absorb that and do it again 3 weeks later. I think you water them and let the second application of fertilizer work in. Then you plant. I would not like the look of hay all over, but you can pull out a chunk of hay, put in some potting soil and add, alyssum or petunias that hang down the sides If you plant tomatoes on top, you would add marigolds to the sides, but they don't hang like the aforementioned flowers.
Grandmasue10
on Oct 12, 2015
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We paid $200 total for our top[soil and delivery. It is at the back of our property under a tarp with no chance of losing it to runoff. I may wind up using the rest in the spring to refresh some of my other beds. We have previously done mulch, going the bag route (75 bags) at our last home for one large kidney shaped bed. Here we hauled our mulch in a pickup and also saved a ton of money doing it that way. I guess it all depends on the way you look at it.
169756
on Oct 13, 2015
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Hey sounds like a nice garden, my friend introduced me to Hugelkultur. http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/ Imagine big mounds of soil and wood growing whatever you want. Google it. I was interested for waterless gardening in huge masses.My beloved Oregon is getting dry, trying to preserve our shallow well. Takes prep work, key thing added is wood, logs to be more direct. They absorb the water and hold it for slow release. First year isn't great, but third year it rocks! Good luck. Oh forgot to add, yes we have clay here, mid-valley Oregon, the straw bale gardens helped the soil a bit. We didn't treat it, just bought big bales, used them as garden bed supports, piled in soil, planted, and in fall kicked the stuff over as mulch and weed killer. I like the easiest approach to amending soil, more time to play my computer games :)
Corrina
on Oct 13, 2015
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Way to go Corrina. You sound like my kind of gardner!
Grandmasue10
on Oct 15, 2015
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