g'day ediej,

i wouldn't be bothering with peat moss, not realy an enviro' friendly material there are many other materials that can be used to give more benefit.

we prefer the raised 'no-dig' bed method as then you don't need to be too concerend about the soil you currently have. an application of gypsum will break the soils up for you, and if you go the ph testing way and it shows acid then add some dolomite maybe.

the addition of composted material humus will do far better than peat moss.

you are welcome to check our site see how we do gardens, ours are mostly over clay the same as you have.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

I've got heavy clay as well. The issue with clay is compaction and poor drainage. Vermiculite holds water and is thus not the best for improving drainage. I use coarse perlite in larger quantities instead, plus peat moss and a little coarse vermiculite. And plenty of compost from our fertilizer factories--two horses and a dozen chickens.

I think the best way to start from scratch if you have a couple months is to put down a layer of currogated cardboard (overlapped generously to block out light) and heap compost or mulch on top of that about 8" high. You can use your straw mixed with manure with wild abandon. What this does is break down any plants underneath your new growing bed and layer some nice compost right on top. Earthworms seem to love the process as well--any time I turn the soil after this is done they're just crawling down there. It's a lot easier than trying to break the ground fresh, suppresses the existing weeds/grass, and improves the soil.

I've also read that rice hulls are one of the best things for improving drainage of heavy clay soils, but I sure as heck can't find them. I think I found one source that requires you to buy it by the truckload, but I'm not quite ready to resort to that yet. Maybe if/when I decide to grow for the local farmer's market I'll do it.

Oh--I forgot to mention that you can also use a thick layer of newspaper if you don't have currogated cardboard available. Thick means about 15 sheets, overlapping again. Don't be shy and use only 4-5 sheets. If using newspaper, it's easier to handle if dampened and on a calm day, so they'll stay still long enough to layer with mulch. I've started new garden beds without waiting using these techniques by simply layering finished compost and peat moss/perlite/vermiculite and transplanting directly into that. My husband returned from work later in the day and was astounded that the butterfly garden had doubled in size in a matter of hours. Less for him to mow!

Hi Ralliea and Len,

Thank you for the advice! I didn't think about this -- the electric company cut down some of our pine trees well over a year ago and chopped them into mulch; the mulch has just been sitting in a pile next to the garage. Has it been long enough that I can mix that into my "mix"? We only have one horse, but since she's a draft, she has lots (and LOTS!) of output so there won't be any shortage there LOL. We don't have real compost; I keep saying we need to start a compost heap but most of our fruit and veggie scraps go to the chickens. We haven't composted any chicken manure either so I won't be using it, no worries there! OK, so no peat moss and no vermiculite, but plenty of perlite. I love the cardboard idea; we constantly have stuff delivered where I work and the boxes just go into the trash. I am going to outline the entire section with cement blocks to try to help stop the weeds and fill the interior to the top of the blocks.

Thank you SO very much. Happy gardening!!

I've got a question, or a couple:

How big is the area you have been growing your garden?

In the time you have been gardening, have you ever moved where you were growing your tomatoes?

Our current garden is a long strip, about 60' by maybe 20' wide. The tomatoes have been in either end and in the middle. Corn and beans did well there, tomatoes did not. Strangely enough, neither did the cucumbers or squash. But we planted one tomato plant on its own by the house last year and it did splendidly, so that's what gave rise to the thought that we should do a new garden spot for the tomatoes there.

My experience with wood chips is that they take nigh forever to break down. In the meantime, I believe that they can tie up nitrogen. It's unlikely that they'll have composted properly left in a pile with no "green" matter. Before you use them in the mix, you should check them out and decide if you think it has decomposed properly.

If not, you can use some sparingly (perhaps 1/4 of the mass), mixed with the straw, horse manure, and other compostable materials. The rest of the chipped wood can be used as mulch after you've set out your plants to suppress weed growth, retain moisture, and prevent mud from spattering your plants during heavy rains. That's where all of our chipped wood goes--we live on 11 partly-wooded acres.

The perlite comment I made was geared towards planting down into clay soil. If you're building a raised bed, some vermiculite and peat moss (and plenty of compost) are a good idea to help retain water. Raised beds dry out faster than level or sunken garden beds.

If you get the project started soon then your materials will have a good amount of time to decompose and move towards being fine compost before it's time to set out the tomatoes. Don't worry about adding perlite, vermiculite, or peat moss now--those can be added at transplant time. Just get the cardboard down and the mulch on top of it so nature has time to do its "magic."

Since I haven't had the horse long enough for any of the piles to have really "cooked", that was my thought to go ahead and build the bed now and it will have about 5 months to decompose before I plant anything. And the bed really isn't going to be raised, it will be down in, just outlined with the cement blocks to keep the good stuff from getting washed away (it's on a slight incline, although I am going to try to make the bed itself as level as possible.) Thanks for the heads-up about the wood chips. I had planned on using the black fabric mulch after I got the plants in and using some of the chips on top of that, but just wondered if I could use some of them in the mix, too. Sounds like it's not really going to help at this time.

So thank you so much for all your help, I really, really do appreciate it :-)

Ok you said you have a horse and chickens, don't plan on planting for around 5 months. I would layer the wood chips(which i am betting are well on their way to good rich compost, evergreens are loaded with greens.) Then layers of either the horse manure or chicken manure, wood chip, manure, wood chip, manure. Topping it off with wood chips. I am not a huge fan of the weed cloth, like newspaper or cardboard better. Topping with wood chips. After 5 months those layers should be mellowed and ready to plant in.
Sandy

Compost lasagna--yummy! :)

Ya, wouldn't bother with the fabric. Woodchips are best on the bottom or the top rather than mixed in. Put them on top and they're a great mulch.

The bed is on an incline- may try swales, and an inch of native soil on top and a cover crop would provide roots to anchor everything in place.

Thank you all so much. OK, no fabric but yes to the wood chips. I am going to be the envy of the neighborhood this summer!! I really, really appreciate that you all took the time to help me out :-)

Okay, you got something funky. Have you had peppers or eggplants where your tomatoes and curcubits had problems? How much of a problem is powdery mildew?

My best advice is keep wood material in the flower beds. A little is okay, but unless you have saw dust don't expect to get anything great out of it for a couple of years, at least. Load up on nature's finest and water timely.

I'd consider a soil test. I'm not sure what it would tell you, but you got something happening that needs remediation. I'd also consider growing deep penetrating root crops, potatoes, horseradish, carrots. And load up on the nature's finest.

For the short term, I'd consider growing your prized tomatoes in pots and areas where you have had success. You do well in moving the tomatoes from area to area, and there's a reason for that.

There was no claim of disease or funkiness- just poor/thin/scraped soil.

As long as the wood chips are not mixed in, they won't cause issues. This has been proven beyond doubt.

Rotating crops is really important for large scale growers and those who don't use intensive methods (and not often so important for the home gardner). I grow the same things in the same place every year without issue, and so do many others. I ADD to the soil every year, however.

I'm confused. I thought you was suppose to "retoate" crops, aespecially toms to prevent disease, etc.

Am I wrong? Can I plant toms, corn and beans in the same place every season?

Thanks,
Tina

The only problem with clay soils is the lack of organic matter that allows the soil particles to bind tightly together so water, nutrients, plant roots find it extremely hard to move around. All that is needed to make clay soil into something workable is lots of organic matter and in central Ohio there should be lots of organic matter fairly readily available from all of those deciduous trees that grow there.
The builder scraped the "topsoil" off your lot and sold it to someone else, but what passes for "topsoil" in central Ohio usually isn't anyway. With the exception of a few of the older homes in Granville I saw nothing that could be called "topsoil" when I was there, although a few places at Dawes Aboretum did have a little where they added compost.