Re: OT:Raised Beds

I also garden in heavy clay and have gone to raised beds for both my iris
gardening and strawberry beds.  I use railroad ties cut with a chain saw to
whatever lengths I want.  While not elegant, the ties are sturdy, long
lasting and have a rather rustic look that is pleasing to my unsophisticated
sensibilities.

I am lucky in that the man who sells me the soil for my raised beds lives
right down the road and I can examine the soil before I buy it.  Sometimes
all he has available is clay "topsoil" just like mine and other times he has
good rich,  black sandy loam, depending on where he's currently excavating.
When he has the latter, I stock up in anticipation of expanding my iris
beds.  If you can find a contractor that will allow you to inspect the soil
for approval before delivery it might be worth the effort to start over. I
know that would mean a tremendous amount of work but in my 20+ years of
working this clay, I've learned that no amount of compost will give
permanent results when it comes to improving the soil.  The compost breaks
down and has to be added year after year.  You have my sympathy.  It's a lot
of work to garden in clay!

Janet in Denmark  WI
zone 4


----- Original Message -----
From: <Autmirislvr@aol.com>
> When I moved here I was told that I wouldn't be
> able to garden unless I built raised beds.  I've since learned that most
of
> my local soil is the brightest red clay imaginable.  I had enough soil
> trucked in to build three beds, each the equivalent of approximately 5 X
50
> ft.  This was three and four years ago.  I've since found that the soil
> hauled in is almost as bad as the soil that is here . . . maybe worse.
The
> last load hauled in has deteriorated into yellowish muck.

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