Comments

1. Debra Lequieu says

   August 8, 2023 at 7:51 pm

   Hello,

   My name is Debra Lequieu. I live in Oklahoma & we have Red Clay for soil. We added many bags of compost & garden soil. We moved here from Nevada, last year. There is an existing garden here & I tried to grow roma tomatoes, pumpkin, russet potatoes, corn, spinach, chard & sunflowers. The only plants that survived, are the tomatoes, the corn is so sickly, green beans & lima beans, that are not producing beans but they flowered twice. The heat wave has been horrible here. Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the soil. What about planting them in a raised bed on stilts or wheels? How expensive would this be? We have only one fixed income & we are on 5 acres with our own well.

   Thank you in advance

2. brian says

   August 13, 2023 at 11:22 am

   Thanks for reaching out Debra. Red clay is actually pretty good soil for gardening, but it does have it’s own challenges too as you are learning. The best thing I could recommend is to add a substantial quantity of compost to your garden and to mix it into the top layers of the soil. This will be a great source for slow nutrient release. More importantly, it will improve the structure and water retention properties of your garden. Red clay compacts easily and then doesn’t allow air and water to reach the root zone well. I’d say aim for adding 3″ of compost to get best results. If your garden is large, you may want to look into a bulk delivery from a landscape supply company locally. If smaller, garden centers will have a variety of composts available.

   As for the raised bed question. They are great and the key benefit is that you get to control the soil mix 100% rather than work to amend the red clay. Many people choose to build their own raised beds to keep costs low and be able to customize. There are also great pre-made options available. Hope this helps and best of luck!