lawn to garden: tips?

[prairiewindmomma]

We are ripping out our tiny bit of grass (6'x10')and converting it to garden because it's getting harder to get fresh greens and I don't see that improving anytime soon. The farmer's market doesn't open for a few more weeks, but I suspect greens there will sell out early like they always do, only more so now with increased demand. Time to grow my own.

Because it's so tiny, we're planning on just using a flat shovel.

My question is--how do I get the heavy clay soil that leans acidic amended and ready to plant pronto?  Normally we'd pull out the tiller but I can't get it to start, so we'll be breaking it up via shovel. I can't find gypsum or lime anywhere. I can find limited compost and garden soil. I have a plug coring aerator and a digging fork. I am going to start a compost bin, but it's going to take a while to get the compost going. I realize there's no quick and easy fix....and I don't want to spend more than I'm going to realistically pull back out of this, so making raised beds with lumber prices what they are doesn't make sense right now.  We're talking about a 6'x10' area.

Thoughts? Dh is working crazy long hours and I need someone to chat this over with....

If you had to pull a garden out of this, what would you do? 

[MEmama]

I’ve always just covered grass with cardboard and tossed compost and soil on top. Let it sit overwinter and it’s usually good to go by the next growing season.

At this point, would something like City Picker boxes work for you? I have several and they work amazingly well.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/CITY-PICKERS-24-5-in-x-20-5-in-Charcoal-Gray-Plastic-Patio-Raised-Garden-Bed-Kit-with-Watering-System-and-Casters-2346D/301298664?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=Shopping-BF-F_D28O-G-D28O-028_023_LAWN_ACC-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-SMART_SHP&cm_mmc=Shopping-BF-F_D28O-G-D28O-028_023_LAWN_ACC-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-SMART_SHP-71700000063988474-58700005690512855-92700051915081058&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwZW4mqKS9wIVxPrICh183w1XEAQYASABEgJhNvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[LostSurprise]

Are you sure it's acidic? Usually sandy soil is more acidic and clay soil is more alkaline. 

One thing I like about gardening is that there's no real hurry. Don't do the whole thing this year. Amend a patch for greens. Buy some compost or soil at the store (some towns have compost available for free), a few bags, just a couple of inches over a some layers of cardboard/newspaper/leaves/etc., just enough to plant in...and do that much in greens. Then around it plant some flowers that do well in clay soil (monarda/bee balm, echinicea/coneflower, sedum.).  

I personally like leaf lettuce because it allows for small harvests, just what you need, and it keeps growing until it gets hard. 

I've also seen a thing where someone grew greens in a plastic container. They did it for winter lettuce but it would work like a planter if you didn't have a yard or wood for building. I've also seen straw bale gardening (gardening with very little dirt) too. 

Gardening is very flexible. I find trying small things and seeing what will work is the best. Will I eat this? Will it grow? How much work/water/space/sun does it need? Little steps. 

[mum]

Perhaps sheet mulching and putting a raised bed on top of it? Or containers for this year while the sheet mulching does it's work for next year?

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/soil-compost/sheet-mulching-aka-lasagna-composting-builds-soil-saves-time

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page it talks about raised beds on top of existing grass. We've done it with 3 layers of cardboard and we haven't had any weeds come up through it (2 years). 

You might ask/look around for places that do bulk loose compost-either pick it up yourself or have it delivered.

[livetoread]

You really can't do anything to the soil itself this time of year if it is heavy clay. It needs to be much dryer to work, and unless you live in a dry area, clay soil in the spring is far from dry. If you do work it when it is wet, especially with a tiller, you'll end up with cement like soil. You can use your flat shovel to shave off the grass and then buy/scrounge enough garden soil/compost to put on top of the clay to make about four inches. That should be enough for greens. Then next fall, if you want you can work the soil, but personally I have found it discouraging to try and keep amended heavy clay soil from just turning right back into heavy clay soil. The compost disappears and you are back where you started from. You are better off just layering on top in my experience.

Editing to add, grab a handful and squeeze it lightly. If it doesn't crumble a bit, it's too wet. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by livetoread

[Rosie_0801]

Grow greens with shallow root systems. They won't mind. 

I've got silverbeet, bok choi, purslane and tomatillos growing in my dreadful clay soil.

[mum]

No-till is the way to go. Especially with clay soil. Just layer compost/amendments on top. The soil is it's own ecosystem. The most nutrients are in the top 4 inches of soil. When that is tilled, it disturbs everything good, plus it bring up weed seeds from the depths. Plus it's extra work.

[prairiewindmomma]

1 hour ago, LostSurprise said:

Are you sure it's acidic? Usually sandy soil is more acidic and clay soil is more alkaline. 

Yes, I am sure it’s acidic. I am not far from volcanoes. 🙂 My hydrangea stay nice and blue naturally and people have to sweet lime their lawns to grow grass.

My soil is clay-y because the healthy top soil was removed when they cleared out the fir trees to build here and they sold off the top soil. What was left underneath was clay.

I have herbs and roses growing elsewhere and snuck zucchini and tomatoes in between the bushes last year—I am sure of my sunlight patterns and soil type. I am not new to gardening at all—just new to trying to put in a new bed with limited compost, garden soil, and other things. Everyone else around me has the same ideas about expanding growing space and I am having a hard time sourcing things.

[Sneezyone]

Do you live in a manicured lawn neighborhood or no anyone who does? Here, I can drive around and get tons of grass and leaf clippings to layer on top/mix with topsoil. My neighbors are perfectly happy to have me scavenge. I’d try building up vs digging down too. Now, take that for what it’s worth b/c I can’t grow basil and cabbage to save my life. Everything else is good.

[mum]

Any bulk sources of compost?

Or have you heard of the Berkley method of composting? It produces finished compost in 2 weeks (I haven't done it in that time, but I did it in 3). I got huge trash bags of leafy greens from the grocery store when they do through and throw out the old stuff each day. Browns are the hardest for me to find, but I shred free newspaper if I get desperate. It would take a bit of scrounging to gather the volume needed to produce a good bit of compost, but it could be done.

I got a compost tumbler this year (free through Buy Nothing) so that I could consistently produce my own compost and be a bit more self provisioning.

[prairiewindmomma]

I am going to call the bulk compost people again. For a while they weren’t delivering because of a driver shortage. I need delivery or for it to come in bags of a size I can manage. The hardware and farm stores have been pretty much wiped out in our area—I got two bags of mushroom compost back in February but haven’t had luck since. I tried new stores last weekend and got some tools and a Swiss sharpener I had been looking for, but no compost. 😞 

I’m going to start looking further away from home when we head out hiking if I strike out again with the bulk compost place.

[Tap]

Have you seen the fabric bags sold for making temporary raised gardens? I wonder if you can create edging with those and then fill the center also. By making a raised bed, you won't have to amend the underlying soil this year but will still have the benefit of using the existing lawn area. You can buy fabric weed barrier, but just layering cardboard works too. 

[Melissa in Australia]

What I would do, and have done in the past is mow the area right to ground level.  Poke a fork in and sort of broad fork if it is heavy clay.Leave the lawn clippings on top. Cover the whole area with a few sheets thick of newspaper cover with as much compost as you can get, then plant right into the ground, poking through the newspaper with the garden trowel. It is a fast way to get veggies going . Then as you can source more compost and mulch, add it around th e plants. Keep building it up through the season.

can you get some Dolomites or gypsum or lime? If you can then put that under the newspaper

it isn’t as good as putting down cardboard and a thick layer of compost, but it is fast.

It doesn’t work if you have kikuyu. That stuff goes right through anything.

 

[Melissa in Australia]

Another thing you could do, if you don’t live in an area with lots of slugs, is still mow down to ground level then newspaper or cardboard, then a very thick layer of wasted hay, lucerne is the best as no seeds like about a foot thick. Then put handfuls of the limited compost into hollows right where you plant a plant. 

 I have done this as well. it works great if you have largish seedlings. The hay rots down as the plants need more root space. I don’t bother with wood sides or anything. They just harbour pests.

[Melissa in Australia]

Both of my suggestions above are very fast.  And you could have a garden within days if you can find the supplies. They are both starting a garden on top of your soil really.
 I just reread over your post and see you are going away. I suggest covering the whole area today or tomorrow with cardboard or plastic or something to start killing the grass while you are away. 
 

 

wood ash also helps with acidic soil. As does mortar off old bricks, just in case you happen to have some lying around. Can you find builders lime? It has to be used very lightly as it is quick and can hurt the plant roots. You can start the garden then water around the plants with water that has lime added to it afterwards when you can find some. I have very acidic soil, as low as just below 5.  But after years of soil amending it is in the veggie garden 7

[Carrie12345]

I’ve always been satisfied with mixing manure, top soil, and some peat moss and/or vermiculite and just dumping it on top. I’d like to get into more detailed amending eventually, but the basics do work. Especially last minute.
There’s little to no point in messing with my clay soil because it’s full of rocks, and I mean FULL, lol.

[kbutton]

I think the idea of building on top is good--you might eventually want to work some of the clay so that you don't have a hard layer, but you don't have to do that now or for greens. We had a garden that was partly fairly heavy clay, and if we weren't careful, we'd have carrots that hit the clay layer, and they'd break when we harvested them (even with digging). It was more economical to garden in-ground even with clay than it was to do raised beds--we tried a bit of both.

Pots are also an option. People use stock troughs too if your only reason for avoiding raised beds is because it's hard to get lumber. You can get big plastic ones by Rubbermaid, or you can use the metal ones. I think they also now have oblong metal rings that look like stock tanks but are open at the bottom just for raised beds. Tap's idea of the fabric bags for a boundary is a good idea too! Here, our soil would just wash away in the rain if we didn't have some attempt at holding it in. 

11 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

 I just reread over your post and see you are going away. I suggest covering the whole area today or tomorrow with cardboard or plastic or something to start killing the grass while you are away. 

wood ash also helps with acidic soil. As does mortar off old bricks, just in case you happen to have some lying around. Can you find builders lime? It has to be used very lightly as it is quick and can hurt the plant roots. You can start the garden then water around the plants with water that has lime added to it afterwards when you can find some. I have very acidic soil, as low as just below 5.  But after years of soil amending it is in the veggie garden 7

Yes, and be careful if you compost leaves, though leaves are probably still your friend for building soil. You just have to balance them. They can make it more acidic. It might be worth testing to see how acidic it is. My parents have perfect pH, I think, and they don't have to work hard to get blueberries and other acid loving plants, but when they compost (right onto the garden in the fall), they at least used to do both wood ash (had a woodstove for heat) and leaves, so that might balance things. My grandfather used to have to lime his garden because he had a lot of leaves in his compost, and the soil was already just right without it (similar soil to my parents). He didn't have a wood stove for ash.

[Melissa in Australia]

20 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’ve always been satisfied with mixing manure, top soil, and some peat moss and/or vermiculite and just dumping it on top. I’d like to get into more detailed amending eventually, but the basics do work. Especially last minute.
There’s little to no point in messing with my clay soil because it’s full of rocks, and I mean FULL, lol.

you see rocks, I see minerals

 

[Carrie12345]

3 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

you see rocks, I see minerals

 

😆
I see increased costs.
For everything, including gardening! But, again, it’s less than ideal soil anyway. So up we go!
I do think I’m going to attempt a few fruit trees at a less than ideal time of the season, simply to try getting deep (non-mechanical $$$) digging before the ground has more time to really settle.

[BlsdMama]

On 4/13/2022 at 6:48 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

We are ripping out our tiny bit of grass (6'x10')and converting it to garden because it's getting harder to get fresh greens and I don't see that improving anytime soon. The farmer's market doesn't open for a few more weeks, but I suspect greens there will sell out early like they always do, only more so now with increased demand. Time to grow my own.

Because it's so tiny, we're planning on just using a flat shovel.

My question is--how do I get the heavy clay soil that leans acidic amended and ready to plant pronto?  Normally we'd pull out the tiller but I can't get it to start, so we'll be breaking it up via shovel. I can't find gypsum or lime anywhere. I can find limited compost and garden soil. I have a plug coring aerator and a digging fork. I am going to start a compost bin, but it's going to take a while to get the compost going. I realize there's no quick and easy fix....and I don't want to spend more than I'm going to realistically pull back out of this, so making raised beds with lumber prices what they are doesn't make sense right now.  We're talking about a 6'x10' area.

Thoughts? Dh is working crazy long hours and I need someone to chat this over with....

If you had to pull a garden out of this, what would you do? 

Heavy clay? I’d skip in ground and go to raised beds. Truly with lettuce and cruciferous, you want to net the address so it’s easier with a raised bed. It will also keep casts from using it like a litter box. 
 

ETA: I live in Iowa - land of perfect black soul and I still prefer raised bed gardening. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by BlsdMama

[Kanin]

I'm in your same boat, a little. I'm going to dig up the grass and get the nursery to deliver some soil. They do 50/50 soil/compost. Last summer they dumped a big pile in my driveway and I used a wheelbarrow to move it over to the garden area. 

 

[KungFuPanda]

Digging is a ton of work, but 6x10 isn’t THAT scary. I also have acidic clay. I’d get a soil sample. It’s not that expensive and they’ll tell you exactly what you need. In the mean time, I’d double dig the garden and mix in any organic matter I could get my hands on. 
 

The trick with clay is drainage. You can fluff up your garden soil, but your nice garden soil is pretty much sitting in a solid clay bowl. You want to raise your beds a bit. You can do this without framing them. Your soil will mound up when you work it and amend it. Don’t try this when it’s wet and never walk on it once you prep it. With the space you have, I’d probably do two 10x4 beds with a 2’ walkway between them. You can grow a lot of food in that. 
 

I think the easiest trellises are made with cattle panels, t posts, and zip ties. They go up in 5 minutes and are really sturdy. Then you’ll have a place for tomatoes and cucumbers to climb because tomato cages are a joke. 
 

If digging is too hard in your location and you want to plant quickly, you can frame your beds with cinderblocks and fill them with a mixture of equal parts peat moss, compost, and vermiculite. 
 

[Halftime Hope]

Where do you live? Do you have a Walmart or get Amazon deliveries? 

I've had marvelous luck in raised beds with compost, bedding mix bought in bulk (1/2 cubic yard), vermiculite by the great big bag, compressed shredded coir, and worm castings.  My garden in on it's third spring, and the first year a lot of the bedding mix was pretty raw = it needed time to break down. This year my beds are absolutely loaded with all the earthworms that have hatched from the worm castings.  It could not believe it when I tidied up the beds after our non-winter!  The coir blocks came from Walmart, and the vermiculite was from Amazon. The compost and worm castings were from local nurseries. 

Also, cattle panels are the bomb. If you cut them in pieces and frame them, they are super attractive at the ends of the beds for morning glories or something nice to pretty up your garden.  I use them cut in 5 foot length and zip tied as teepees for growing my favorite pole beans, cucumbers, peas, etc. And in the shade underneath, my leafy things do well even in our hot summers. 

[KungFuPanda]

20 minutes ago, Halftime Hope said:

Where do you live? Do you have a Walmart or get Amazon deliveries? 

I've had marvelous luck in raised beds with compost, bedding mix bought in bulk (1/2 cubic yard), vermiculite by the great big bag, compressed shredded coir, and worm castings.  My garden in on it's third spring, and the first year a lot of the bedding mix was pretty raw = it needed time to break down. This year my beds are absolutely loaded with all the earthworms that have hatched from the worm castings.  It could not believe it when I tidied up the beds after our non-winter!  The coir blocks came from Walmart, and the vermiculite was from Amazon. The compost and worm castings were from local nurseries. 

Also, cattle panels are the bomb. If you cut them in pieces and frame them, they are super attractive at the ends of the beds for morning glories or something nice to pretty up your garden.  I use them cut in 5 foot length and zip tied as teepees for growing my favorite pole beans, cucumbers, peas, etc. And in the shade underneath, my leafy things do well even in our hot summers. 

I might be wrong and a complete clown here, but I think your local earthworms just showed up because they like your garden. Compost worms are red wigglers and don’t look like earthworms at all. 

[Halftime Hope]

On 4/15/2022 at 7:33 PM, KungFuPanda said:

I might be wrong and a complete clown here, but I think your local earthworms just showed up because they like your garden. Compost worms are red wigglers and don’t look like earthworms at all. 

Well then, that's wonderful news. :-)  It could be that the first two seasons the cardboard under my beds had to break down enough to allow the worms to migrate up.  I don't really know, but I do know there are boatloads of them, much more than in any of my in-ground beds.  Either way, I'm happy to have them! 

[lmrich]

I also vote for raised beds. Heavy, clay soil is difficult to amend, but with a raised bed you will be growing easily this season. Plus, as you age, the raised bed are a little more gentle on all the bending over one does in gardening. I used pebbles between my raised beds to make a nice and clean look and then used stepping stones, etc.. Have fun! And if you don't have it started yet, begin your compost bin. 

(I also did the layer of cardboard thing - worked great!) 

[prairiewindmomma]

I priced out lumber for raised beds. 8’ length lumber is triple what it was 2 years ago—$24 a board. That’s just not happening anytime soon. 
 

We are removing sod, and then hand tilling with a cultivator to break up the soil a bit and mounding it to create drainage and then overtopping it with purchased soil. I am planting with clay soil in mind, and trying to save the garden soil where it is really needed. I do have the composter going already.

Edited April 18, 2022 by prairiewindmomma

[livetoread]

Sounds like the best way to do it without spending $$. Fingers crossed for a great bunch of greens!