I would definitely do a raised bed, it will save you much time in the short and long runs. I didn't even prep the area, just made my square (I used cinderblocks), layered some newspaper and started filling it.

If you don't want to do that for some reason, you should search the forums for lasagna gardening, which is just layering materials.

Have fun!

Tracy,

That's not what I wanted to hear, but thanks!

Kathy

You could take your soil to your local cooperative extension office and have it tested for a few dollars. Once the test results are clear they will make a recommendation as to ammending the soil or raised bed. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our pond and gardens

Great suggestions above.
Raised beds are really wonderful, and, by the way, easy to make. Compost/organic material is a must addition if you actually have clay. As Kareen suggested, having your soil tested will give you many answers.
Anne-Marie

Thank you everyone!

Kathy we have clay soil and I use a modified lasagna method using whatever materials I have avail. I cut the grass as short as possible in the area I plan to make my bed in. I then put down several layers of newspaper and soak it down then add compost, bagged leaves, peat moss and top soil in alternating layers to build the area up at least 6 to 8 inches above the existing turf. All this stuff will break down and the soil at the base will become very workable. No digging Just pile the stuff up. I use cinder blocks, bricks or whatever is avaialbe to keep everything contained. I can also plant in it as soon as I have it all put together and the results are phenomenal. I won't garden any other way ever again.

I also make my own compost with the leaves, kitchen scraps dead plant debris, and of course coffee grounds...everything but meat and dairy products go into the compost. I don't have a large area so I keep my compost contained in a large storage bin that I have drilled holes into.

Penny

I have clay that is so hard in areas, that it kept bending my shovel tip as I dug my bed!

I cannot afford to buy the lots & lots of soil, peat moss, etc, that making a raised bed entails, and I don't have compost. I simply dug up my sod, and amended the heck out of the soil with peat moss and cow doo. I also made sure to dig down deep and mixmixmix my soil in with the additives. It was pretty tough work. A very sharp shovel helps tons. To do a small 3 by 7 foot bed took me 3 days (well,I didn't work ALL DAY for 3 days..LOL.)It was hard work, but I only had to do all that dang digging once. Now, when I plant something, I mix some vermiculite (by hand) into just the area where I am planting. I also now top-dress with manure every spring. The soil is fabulous.
If you suck it up and do the job right when you first make the bed, you will have an easier time maintaining the soil as time goes on.

d5

I save some of my bags of leaves from the fall to use in my beds in the spring. The bed I did last week end cost me about 3.50 and I could have done it for less. I bought a bag of better top soil for that particular bed and that was 1.97 at a local garden center and then I used what was left in a small block of peat moss (I think it waw the 1 cu. ft. size. The leaves I already had from last fall in bags, and the grass clippings I raked up after we mowed the grass a few days earlier. The bed is also approx. 3 x 7. I had it done and all planted with my canna rhizomes, Liatris seedlings and cardinal flower seedlings by the time my husband came home from work on Saturday afternoon at 1:00. I started it about 9 in the morning.

My neighbor was so impressed with how fast I did it that he and his wife redid and enlarged the bed going down his walkway on Sunday afternoon using the same method. THey did an area about 25ft. X 3ft and had it planted out by late afternoon.

Penny

Kathy

I had really hard clay soil at the last place we lived. It was horrible! But, if you wait until it rains to work in it, the going will be MUCH easier. As said above, add anything you can to it to loosen it up. I really didn't add too much to mine because we didn't have compost, but after I planted all my plants I put mulch around everything. The next season's soil was 100% better.

How old is your mother? I think a raised bed is easier to maintain the older we get. Hey, I'm only 34 and have fallen in love with my raised beds! Not so much bending over, AND the weeds can't get in as easily. ;)

Good luck!

Great information!

Joy, my Mom is 72. I normally plant the garden and she helps me to maintain the weeds. She's in great health, but my Dad's not and takes a lot of her time and energy. I agree with the water theory. It was harder than a rock, rained over night and then there was a world of difference the next day. There may be hope!

Thanks.
Kathy

I have clay soil full of rocks. My garden is way too big to use the lasagne method, so I have a tiller. It is rough going the first time around, getting through the sod, but then the grass rots nice, fluffing up the soil some, and I till in peat moss and compost, either mushroom compost, composted cow manure, or compost from kitchen scraps. A good thing about clay is that you probably will never have to add any minerals to it. Even though it is frowned upon because of possible soil loss, tilling under at the end of the season helps keep down the bugs a lot. I have to admit that I actually enjoy tilling too.

I do use mulch in the small areas around the house that are planted with flowers and where tilling would be a PIA. It works well covering the grass with cardboard and then mulch with wood chips. The following year, the cardboard has rotted and you can dig holes for planting without a major battle. If I were rich, I'd do this with the entire garden--hell, the entire yard! Can't afford it, though.

If you don't have a tiller and don't want one, folks are usually happy to come and till your garden for a reasonable amount in spring and fall. Just look in your local shopper paper for ads.