Planting flower beds (Loudon: house, landscaping, buying)

[LilCabinGirl]

Hi everyone!

I'd like to make more flower beds around my house but I'm worried about getting through the hard clay. I think I want to buy a roto-tiller but I'm not sure which tiller will get the job done. Does anyone have experience with a tiller that can get through the clay without a problem? I see that there are tillers that are in horsepower and cc's but I don't know which is better. Thanks!

LCG

[allen phillips]

Hi: Did you have any success in your search for a tiller. I am in the same boat you are in. My back yard is rock and red clay and I am having a hard time getting anything to grow. What did you end up buying and were you happy with it. I am also trying to find a farmer nearby [Loudon County] to maybe till by back yard up , but that is another story. Thanks for a reply.

[hiknapster]

Well, we just attempted this and it was a nightmare.

We rented a tiller from Home Depot and attempted to till three small patches in our yard for vegetable and perennial gardens. It took us two days, we threw in lots of Miracle Gro soil, about 14 bags, and I bet that we got down about one inch, maybe a little more.

We see lots and lots of gardens and we just can't figure out how they do it. I have bought or checked-out from the library about 20 books, including the whole Southern Living series, and numerous magazines and I still don't have any answers.

My solution, at this point, is to create raised beds.

I don't even want to attempt to reseed this lawn. It consists mostly of moss and massive roots from humongous trees. We would have to truck in topsoil at huge expense and, in the end, getting grass to grow will still be a gamble, even with the red fescue.

My husband REALLY wanted a lawnmower. Must be a guy dream, or something. I finally broke down and said we could buy one and he said, "Nah. We'll never have any grass. Forget it."

[gemkeeper]

Hik, if you don't have a couple of loads of good topsoil on top of that hard clay, it will take a couple of years to get a nice yard going. Trying to till that kind of soil is a project that takes a couple of years to mix in loam, peat, topsoil, and even some sand to gradually break it down.

I would check with a local nursery or lawn care service and ask them what type of grass is the best for your soil type. Don't give up on the lawn and a garden. There are grasses that will grow anywhere.

We have rye grass planted on our lousy soil in the back yard and it has been beautiful with a little reseeding every spring.

Raised garden beds are a very good idea. Then, you just have the raised bed area to keep mulched, loamed and broken down. It will give you a nice garden without investing in soil improvement on the entire yard.

(Save your leaves, grass clippings, leftover vegetable scraps, and start a nice compost pile. Be sure to throw in some earthworms and turn it often. It will help create wonderful additives for your flower and vegetable beds. NO animal refuse.)
Gardening : Other : Easy Composting : Home & Garden Television

[hiknapster]

Way ahead of you on the compost!

We bought a house with leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. Leaves that had just been sitting on the lawn for a few years. Nice compost!

So we piled them all up in the backyard, I threw in lots of coffee grinds and vegetable scraps, threw some rabbit pellets in, dampened it and threw a tarp over it. It was the first thing that we did, and because a lot of those leaves were already decomposed, we almost have compost now. I'll give it another month, though. The only problem with it is we have waaaayyy to much sticks in it.

Red fescue is what you use for shade. I wouldn't mind some grass in the front. I envision gardens and stepping stones and a tree house in the back, so no worries there. But do we have to put some topsoil down first before we throw seed down, or can we just throw it willy-nilly?

By the way, this is my front yard. The green is moss and not grass.

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[TheShadow]

If you have that much moss , you may not have enough sun for a lawn. Have you thought about a ground cover that grows in mostly shade?

[goodbyehollywood]

I wouldn't have believed this red clay soil if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes! It took four guys two days to dig my fence posts and they broke two commercial post diggers doing it. About an inch below my grass, they hit that red clay and it came up in chunks. If you had thrown it at someone like a baseball, it would have killed them!

When they dug out my rose garden, they wouldn't even attempt a tiller. They used huge mattocks and chunked out a foot of clay, then filled in with good dirt and soil amendments. They used a tiller to mix that, but were careful to keep the clay out. I had wanted them to go down 18" for the rosebushes, but they looked at me like I was nuts! They hauled the red clay off in bags, because there really isn't any easy way to use it where you want things to grow.

If you want a flower bed, you can try chunking the clay out with a mattock and shovel, then use your tiller to mix in good dirt. It'll be much easier if you select tolerant, shallow rooted plants that don't need big holes. Rosebushes need deep, wide holes, so they're really a pain to plant here. And don't get that red clay on your concrete-- it stains like dye and you'll have to power wash it off (another pricey lesson learned too late).

The good news is-- it takes effort, but it can be done. My roses have grown two feet and are covered with blooms. I've fertilized them once and they are very happy.

[LilCabinGirl]

Originally Posted by allen phillips

Hi: Did you have any success in your search for a tiller. I am in the same boat you are in. My back yard is rock and red clay and I am having a hard time getting anything to grow. What did you end up buying and were you happy with it. I am also trying to find a farmer nearby [Loudon County] to maybe till by back yard up , but that is another story. Thanks for a reply.

We haven't tried anything yet. I've talked to some people I work with and have found that tillers are difficult to work with and worse in the clay. We were going to wait until the fall when the weather gets cool before trying anything but after reading Hiknapsters post, I think I'm going raised beds too.

[gemkeeper]

LCG, we rented a tiller when I wanted to do a small vegetable garden. The soil was hard, a mix of clay and firm dry soil. I put on long jeans, socks, hiking boots, and a heavy long sleeve shirt and fired that baby up!!

That doggone tiller just walked across the top of that soil like it was concrete. It didn't even penetrate!! DH later got it kind of broken up into clumps that had to be pick-axed into salad bowl size, but it was a battle that I wouldn't take on again.

Raised beds can be lovely, controllable and save your back a little when weeding and planting. You aren't bending over quite as far even if it is only 8 - 10 inches high.

[LilCabinGirl]

Originally Posted by gemkeeper

LCG, we rented a tiller when I wanted to do a small vegetable garden. The soil was hard, a mix of clay and firm dry soil. I put on long jeans, socks, hiking boots, and a heavy long sleeve shirt and fired that baby up!!

That doggone tiller just walked across the top of that soil like it was concrete. It didn't even penetrate!! DH later got it kind of broken up into clumps that had to be pick-axed into salad bowl size, but it was a battle that I wouldn't take on again.

Raised beds can be lovely, controllable and save your back a little when weeding and planting. You aren't bending over quite as far even if it is only 8 - 10 inches high.

I am of the belief to follow in the path of those who tread it before you. Thank you both Gem and Hik for treading that path for me. My back thanks you for it. Raised beds it is.