Aspasia Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The "soil" where we live is very dense clay. It's horrible and severely limits what we can plant. So I would like to raise up our flower beds and fill them with a nice, fertile mix of materials a la square foot gardening. Our vegetable garden is easy--we're just building square boxes. But the flower beds in front are a little more complicated. What are my options? We're considering using pavers, but they're kind of expensive and I don't always love the look. What else? How expensive are bricks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggie96 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 In the Houston area, it is common just to mound up the beds instead of using hardscape materials. They use a deep-ish gully around the mound to keep the grass out. (That was harder to describe than I expected. :confused1: ) We have built up beds and used large river stone laid along edge of beds. In my neck of the woods brick is same cost as landscape stone/pavers. If you have a stone yard, buying in bulk helps with the price. A variety of monkey grass-type plant looks nice as edging as do day lilies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Rose Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 We also have this problem and after 5 years of trying to get things to grow in the "soil" I gave up. Instead, last spring and summer I put down pavers 45" wide by the length of 2 sides of our front yard. Then I bought the big resin planters from Costco and filled them with potting soil and arranged them on the pavers. The width of the pavers was wide enough for the planters as well as a walk area. I staggered the planters so they weren't just a stark row of planters. Last year was a test to see what would survive. I planted rhodies, azaleas, lilies, honeysuckle, peonies, lavender, sedums, hydrangeas, blueberries etc. etc. as well as annuals. This year, I'm going to add a couple of roses and see what else I like. I'm really happy with the way this turned out - I was a little nervous going into it. I'd like to do one more long strip of the paver/planters and am hoping to convince my dh to do it for me. He's unemployed and I work full-time. But, what are the chances of getting his help? Another plus to doing it this way is that weeding is much easier. Last summer I loved to just go out on my front porch and watch the flowers. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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