Right next to my new house I have a beautiful flat area of grass measuring 100ft by 50ft, where I plan to start my garden. It has 100% sun exposure. I guess gravel will not hurt anything and may help a bit as it mixes down into the clay to allow air/water channels. My concern is getting roots down into the clay, so it can breathe and accept organic matter.
What is your suggestion on using Gravel?
Thanks in advance.
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jeromesmith
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Gravel or cinder can be used for drainage but if you are going to plant root crops like carrots, daikon and potatoes, sand would be better. But, there are other ways to improve soil drainage.
Adding organic matter to clay improves tilth, enhances clay's moisture holding capacity, buffers the soil and helps to hold nutrients. The carbon in organic matter feeds and promotes healthy soil biota. Compost from multiple sources is better than one and composts made primarily from forest products should not make up the bulk of your compost. Compost is not fertilizer, you still need to fertilize. I still like to get a baseline soil test because you should only use as much as you need. More is not better. A healthy soil web needs both nitrogen from greens and fertilizer and carbon from organic matter to stay healthy. It is a resource that needs to be constantly replaced because it is not durable, it gets consumed and must be replaced every time you plant. As compost gets used up, the soil sinks and loses its fluffiness until you add more.
Make sure the area you plant has good drainage. If it puddles during heavy rain, pick another spot in full sun or plant in raised beds at least 18 inches high.
If you keep adding organic matter, and provide habitat for beneficials you won't have to worry much about aerating the soil. Good soil attracts all kinds of life from the microscopic bacteria and fungi, to earthworms which will do a lot of the aerating of the soil, beetles, and millipedes. It will also attract creatures that feed on decaying matter like beetles and grubs and centipedes which are not pleasant for humans to interact with but they do serve a purpose as they eat some of the less desirable bugs that live in the soil. A healthy soil environment is not a perfect one, good bugs and bad bugs live side by side, but if predators and prey are in balance, the net result is a healthier environment for everyone.
It is always better to work with nature than to work against or try to control it. The natural world does a better job and we are the students not the masters and we should just let them do their job and just support them by providing habitat, let the predators do the work and not reach for the bug sprays. If something does not grow well in a particular location, maybe it doesn't belong there. Put the right plant in the right place. For healthier plants, do your research and provide the environment they need to succeed and choose cultivars suitable for your location. Plant a diverse garden with a variety of plants (no monoculture like lawn). Provide trees, shrubs, hollow logs, rocks and bare ground for habitat as well as a source of water and nectar plants for beneficial insects.
If this is your first garden, I would start with a 10x10 unless you have a lot of time. It takes a lot of work to start a new garden and gardens take a lot of time to maintain so start with something maneagable then when you have mastered that you can expand. You can start with building a compost pile.
Adding organic matter to clay improves tilth, enhances clay's moisture holding capacity, buffers the soil and helps to hold nutrients. The carbon in organic matter feeds and promotes healthy soil biota. Compost from multiple sources is better than one and composts made primarily from forest products should not make up the bulk of your compost. Compost is not fertilizer, you still need to fertilize. I still like to get a baseline soil test because you should only use as much as you need. More is not better. A healthy soil web needs both nitrogen from greens and fertilizer and carbon from organic matter to stay healthy. It is a resource that needs to be constantly replaced because it is not durable, it gets consumed and must be replaced every time you plant. As compost gets used up, the soil sinks and loses its fluffiness until you add more.
Make sure the area you plant has good drainage. If it puddles during heavy rain, pick another spot in full sun or plant in raised beds at least 18 inches high.
If you keep adding organic matter, and provide habitat for beneficials you won't have to worry much about aerating the soil. Good soil attracts all kinds of life from the microscopic bacteria and fungi, to earthworms which will do a lot of the aerating of the soil, beetles, and millipedes. It will also attract creatures that feed on decaying matter like beetles and grubs and centipedes which are not pleasant for humans to interact with but they do serve a purpose as they eat some of the less desirable bugs that live in the soil. A healthy soil environment is not a perfect one, good bugs and bad bugs live side by side, but if predators and prey are in balance, the net result is a healthier environment for everyone.
It is always better to work with nature than to work against or try to control it. The natural world does a better job and we are the students not the masters and we should just let them do their job and just support them by providing habitat, let the predators do the work and not reach for the bug sprays. If something does not grow well in a particular location, maybe it doesn't belong there. Put the right plant in the right place. For healthier plants, do your research and provide the environment they need to succeed and choose cultivars suitable for your location. Plant a diverse garden with a variety of plants (no monoculture like lawn). Provide trees, shrubs, hollow logs, rocks and bare ground for habitat as well as a source of water and nectar plants for beneficial insects.
If this is your first garden, I would start with a 10x10 unless you have a lot of time. It takes a lot of work to start a new garden and gardens take a lot of time to maintain so start with something maneagable then when you have mastered that you can expand. You can start with building a compost pile.
yes start small. a fresh garden bed is not easy to establish in n already established lawn especially if it isn't just grass growing in the lawn. this is why I have decided to build raised beds, I got tired of waging an all out war against weeds with no end in sight.
I have a full time job and some weeds will go from not noted to setting seeds in just a few days. unless you have time to spend multiple hours a day in your garden exclusively for the purpose of weed control, not even counting the rest of the work that goes into caring for your plants. you don't want a huge garden. its better to start small and then grow your border a little each year.
I have a full time job and some weeds will go from not noted to setting seeds in just a few days. unless you have time to spend multiple hours a day in your garden exclusively for the purpose of weed control, not even counting the rest of the work that goes into caring for your plants. you don't want a huge garden. its better to start small and then grow your border a little each year.