Bad soil! (flowers, irrigation, grow, manure)

[dreameyes]

Hi there all you green thumbs!
I have a triangle shaped flower garden at the front of my house which I have been digging up for the past month. Our house is 40 years old and for I don't know how many years before we moved in it was rented out (and still is). We moved in 5 years ago so before that absolutely nothing was done. We tried planting flowers the first summer; failed miserably. So for the next 4 years we didn't do anything cause it was just too much work to dig up and too expensive. The soil is so bad. I have been digging up roots the size of my arm and rocks the size of my hand! Now I would like it to look somewhat descent instead of the weed garden that it's been. I will probably only plant annuals and a little a time cause we don't have a lot of money (especially to spend on a garden right now). We're only renting so even if we had the money I wouldn't wanna put too much into it. Is there anything quick and cheap that I can do to make my garden look descent? And really that's all I want, I'm not looking for some beautiful flower garden or anything. Well with our soil that would probably be a miracle! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[FLPL75]

couple questions dreameyes
where are you
what kind of sun does the garden get
is there irrigation or do you have to hand water
is the soil sandy or more clay like

that way we can make good suggestions

karla

[Racelady88]

You can put silk plants/flowers out there. They look o.k., but reds fade in the sun.

[jmarkey]

You could try raising the bed. I don't know how long you're going to be renting there - I guess that would dictate how much work you want to put into it. We've had rocky areas where I really wanted to plant something and raising the bed solved that problem.

I've attached a picture of a raised bed I have. You could scale it down somewhat and have a nice little garden area.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k145/jmarkey/100_1372.jpg (broken link)

[ellie]

Take a soil sample to the county extension agent. You can call the office and get instructions. They will even give you advice on what and how to grow almost anything.

[dreameyes]

Thanks for the suggesstions. That's a beautiful pic. jamrkey. We're only gonna be here two more years so I really don't wanna put a lot of effort into this not to mention money.

[dreameyes]

Originally Posted by myfask

couple questions dreameyes
where are you
what kind of sun does the garden get
is there irrigation or do you have to hand water
is the soil sandy or more clay like

that way we can make good suggestions

karla

Thanks karla, I'm in SLC, UT so the soil is very dry and quite sandy like. (I think I'm not a soil expert ) We have a sprinkler system that gets that front of the bed but I have to water the back myself. It is in the front of the house which faces east so it gets quite a bit of sun in the mornings.
It also gets extremely hot and dry in the summer which I think was part of the problem why our garden didn't do very well the first year. It is hard to keep up with enough water. Any suggestions of some real sturdy flowers??

[jmarkey]

What I know about gardening in UT you could fit in a thimble, but even in areas with poor conditions I've had good luck with geraniums, petunias, and begonias. I mix in some peat humus and cow manure. But everything has to have water, at least the first couple of weeks. Maybe someone who lives out that way can suggest some regional flowers that can stand up to heat and dry soil.

There's always container gardening. A variety of pots and tubs always looks nice and can be gotten even at Wal-Mart.

Wish I could be more help

[dreameyes]

Thanks jmarkey. I appreciate the suggestions. Can you by peat humus and cow manure at the store in the garden section? I looked for it once but didn't see it.

[ellie]

You could also try plants that are native to your area, plants that will tolerate drought and heat. I saw some wonderful examples in Tucson, Az where people mixed succulents and native flowering annuals.