Rocky Soil

Green Please

Green Please

Active Member
Im starting to get ready for next season by leveling the side of the hill in my backyard to build a green house and I want the plants to be in the ground so they can grow to their full potential. The problem is I live in a town known for its shit soil because you cant even get 4 inches deep without hitting any rocks with your shovel. my problem is i dont know how I should be growing my ladies if I cant easily get enough depth to plant. Is a planter box a good idea? Or is going out with a digging bar not a bad option? I have friends that are into landscaping and they are giving me alot of ideas but they do landscaping not growing. if you guys think pictures will help ill get right on it. Thanks.
 
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tartooth

Active Member
I say dig out the grass etc and then put down a foot or so of topsoil/soil mix of choice. I like to keep things simple
 
*BUDS

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
Dig wide not deep. An area 15x15' dig it all up to 4-6 inches, lime and ferts ,compost,water crystals and mulch.Roots can spread wide and just a few inches deep and still grow to full potential.
 
Green Please

Green Please

Active Member
Oh okay great! I think im going to dig like you said but then I think im going to construct a planter box to hold the soil and greenhouse because its on a hill. I appreciate the input guys.
 
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doser

Well-Known Member
I agree with Buds there! I would go as deep as you can and screen that material for clumps and rocks, then put a 12" raised bed on top of that. I'd make square boxes so the roots wouldn't intermingle but that setup will do ya fine. I'm sure of that! In fact, that's exactly what I have planned for spring, if not sooner
 
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tartooth

Active Member
You can make them 6x6 if you wanted, xD
You gotta remember roots can penetrate like, anything. A few rocks may stunt them a tad, but they can make there own path easy. Strong beings plants. But if the road is easier for them its much more optimal.
 
Green Please

Green Please

Active Member
I have limited funding which sucks and i don't want to get to out of control. im going to build a bigger operation the season after that 6x6 seems a good size.
 
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TWS

Well-Known Member
*BUDS said:
Dig wide not deep. An area 15x15' dig it all up to 4-6 inches, lime and ferts ,compost,water crystals and mulch.Roots can spread wide and just a few inches deep and still grow to full potential.
Click to expand...

Yep. I hear Kiddie pools work great, more so for clones.
 
psychedelictripper

psychedelictripper

Well-Known Member
Try not to upset the subsoil. Start with the top soil and get going with the mattock and garden fork and remove all the rocks in that top 6-8 inches or 4 inches if that's all you can go. Since the top soil sounds eroded to me you might want to get a truckload of loam. Then you are going to want to work in some peat moss, cow manure or horse manure. The peat has to be wet before adding. It shouldn't be totally dripping though. It has a unique characteristic, it repels water but holds many times it's weight in water. It's also acidic so the ph will have to be adjusted. I like a lot of peat moss. It turns clay soils into loam and sandy soils into soils that can retain moisture. I'm guessing you have the former. If possible I'd build a raised bed and build that soil up over time. One final thing that is crucial is plant a cover crop to winter over. This will not only protect your soil from erosion but will add valuable green manure. Till it under in the spring when the soil can be worked.
 
psychedelictripper

psychedelictripper

Well-Known Member
As far as lack of funds go there are solutions. One is to compost and make your own organic matter. Collect leaves. Avoid grass clippings from lawns that use herbicides otherwise known as weed killers. No wastes from dogs or cats either. If you look around you might be able to collect quite a lot of free organic matter. The worms are your friends and work for free. Bale of peat moss is usually $10 or so. Cow manure can sometimes be had for free if you find a dairy farm. Sell some things you don't need on ebay. Avoid anything named miracle grow or those high nitrogen fertilizers like vertigo etc etc. Organic is best. For a small bed all of what i mentioned shouldn't cost much. A truckload of top soil could be cheaper if you either have a truck or have a friend with one. Again look around to see what you can sell. Ask yourself do you need that or do you want to build a better garden? For such a small bed 2 cu yards should be enough. The deeper your bed the better. Raised beds can be made of of many things including brick(discarded brick can sometimes be had free for the hauling), stones(farms have piles of these that can be fused together with mortar which is very cheap), you have cedar products near you which can serve a bed well. Avoid tires, treated lumber, and other poisons.
 
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