I am a new member to the forums, and a semi-first timer in the garden, although I do raise orchids and other tropical plants. I used to help my Dad out planting tomatoes and flowers when I was a kid, but haven't ever had a yard of my own until now. I recently moved into a brand new house in Columbus(read - no mature trees in the yard) and am ready to tackle some gardening projects this year. I would realy like to put in some raised beds in an area of the back yard, but I have 2 questions. 1. What is the best way to make new beds? (I have heard of the idea of putting down newspaper and then just shoveling topsoil over it. My soil is pretty much pure clay) 2. Can I make a raised bed in an area that I already planted some small spirea? (I got them free last fall and had about 2 days to get them in the ground)

Thanks in advance for you insight and help!!

Martha

I'm by no means an expert, but I can tell you that I have been gardening "lasagna" style for two years now and wouldn't have it any other way. To do it, I lay down nice thick newspaper layers (7-10 sheets thick at least), then put a mix of topsoil and compost over it. If I have shredded leaves I put them on top of the paper before adding the soil and compost.

Gardening this way has many benefits: 1) no digging!!! 2) it's all biodegradable--the newspaper will eventually break down and feed your soil 3) worms will LOVE you and that will also help break up the clay soil 4) you can plant in it right away 5) did I mention NO DIGGING?

Not sure about your question with the spiraea, but my guess would be that you could dig them up temporarily (depends on how large they are, I guess) and replant them once you've got your raised beds made.

Have you been over to the Get-Togethers forum? If not, pop on over and sign yourself up for the Columbus Plant Swap on May 21. Last year was an absolutely wonderful time! It's a great way to meet fun people and to pick up lots of nice plants. :)

Gina

While I shouldn't be saying anything here....because I'm not IN OH yet.....I do have very clay-ey soil here and I do the newspaper trick all the time. Sure beats shoveling, peeling off the sod, trying to figure out what to do with it..... I usually commence in the late summer/early fall so taht the newspaper can really do it's killing over time and the material has time to compost. You can cut holes in the newspaper and plant this year, but I don't really suggest it. I usually use compost and if I can get it manure....then do a top dressing just to pretty it up. For me, it's the only way to fly....

I'm packing the 'chids next week and moving them lock stock and barrel to Troy. Lis

By the way, welcome to Ohio! Troy is such a cute little town. My Mom and Dad grew up there, and I still have lots of family there. You are going to be right in time for the Strawberry festival.
Martha

I grew up in NW Ohio where the soil was wonderful, but I now live in SW Ohio, where my soil is almost pure clay too, phalphreak.

I would highly recommend building a raised bed. My husband and I built one last fall using those retaining wall blocks you get at HD. We worked the soil as much as we could (which wasn't much), then dumped in top soil, compost, shredded leaves and some other garden waste, and let it stew all winter! Not only does this give the leaves, etc., a chance to break down, but the soil also had a chance to settle, so it was easy to add more soil BEFORE we had planted anything.

We got a bunch of perennials from Bluestone April 15 and planted them right away. The soil in the raised bed was like chocolate cake and the plants are taking off, even making it through the SNOW we got last weekend.

Good luck!

P.S. Those plastic edgers have been pretty useless for me. They don't go down very deep, so they have a tendency to shift around. I've used some black satin mulch in my new bed. It's chopped up pretty small as I hate big chunks. I think it helps a lot keeping moisture in, weeds down, etc., and it's more aesthetically pleasing than just looking dirt. Plus, in my neighborhood, it also makes the squirrels ever-so-slightly more hesitant to dig! :)

Good idea on the raised beds...this wonderful Ohio clay makes famous pottery - but is lousy for gardening.

You can dig up your spireas and put them in your new bed..just get a huge root ball out when you dig them up. I wouldn't put a raised bed around them..then they would be planted in too deep.

Some of the soil places in town have topsoil mixes..that come with some peat and compost. - you can buy them. Call around.

Otherwise...just start making layers of topsoil, peat, composted manure and other organic matter (grass clipping etc). in the area where you want to garden.

...Beverly

I meant to mention that if you build a raised bed, stacked stone looks great. We used those ubiquitous cement blocks from HD, but I'd have loved to use something more natural looking. But the area of the yard where we built the bed sloped off in several directions, so we needed something uniform to be able to make it stable.

Again, good luck!

-Amy

I'm missing the Strawberry festival....that's the first weekend in June, and I"ll be moving in on June 14... I went this weekend (Sat. - Wed.) to bring the fish and some of the orchids down and really see what is in the yard (Just ick) and what the house will take (a very thorough cleaning).....