A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening Starting a new Vegetable Garden in Clay Soil

I live in Michigan and once you get below the sod and a few inches of top soil, I am on some pretty heavy clay. I don't think a vegetable garden will thrive in this clay.Instead of digging out 12+ inches of clay throughout the entire garden area and replacing it with a top soil mixture (lots of labor!), I was thinking of taking 5 gallon buckets and planting them about 1/2 way into the ground,like this (the "X"'s represent buckets):

X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X

And then planting the vegetables in the buckets.

Is this a crazy idea? Will it work?
I am new to this and looking to plant my first vegetable garden. Thanks for the help!

Welcome! And welcome to veggie gardening!

I don't know about your idea, I'd be worried about drainage & other problems. SOmeone else may have better thoughts.

Have you considered just constructing a raised bed garden? Or a lasagna garden? Basically you construct what amount to nothing more than sandboxes on top of the existing yard, and fill them with good soil (which gets talked about a lot on this site). The advantage here is that over time (a couple of seasons) the soil gets better & better.

Look into this & tell us what you think of this idea. It's a pretty common thing to do when you have problematic soil.

Also, now that I read again, it wouldn't be necessary to dig *out* the clay at all. What you'd do is till it up (wouldn't have to be 12" deep, 6-8" should do it), and then till in organic matter like rotted manure & compost. (The general consensus here is that commercial top soil can also be a problem.)

Thanks Marcia. Yeah I am thinking raised beds are the way to go after doing some more reading.
Any idea where I can get some plans on constructing raised beds?

you can buy kits if you want to get fancy. Other wise rail ties laid out in 2 x 10 foot retangles work fine.

I live in NC and we have red clay through to China. If you're going to the trouble of filling your buckets with compost and good stuff, just dig your holes and fill them instead. Then plant directly into the ground. Raised beds are nice too . Try the ground for some stuff and a raised bed for others.

This site has two good videos on bed construction; I like the second video best: http://hubpages.com/hub/Raised-Garden-Bed-Construction.

Here’s another: http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g06985.htm.

One super important thing to remember is that the beds should be sized so you can reach across into them, without stepping in the bed.

One of my clients (I teach people how to grow veggies)-- a true novice veggie gardener-- wanted raised beds & I put together step-by-step instructions, including a companion planting guide for the four 3' x 8' beds he wanted. Let me know if you want them & I'd be happy to send them to you.

Keep in mind that French Intensive gardening incorporates raised beds with no boards or other sides, the outer edges slope and provide a bit of extra space (diagnonal space is longer overall than horizontal.) Strawberry plants and other fast growing plantings help retain the slope's stability, in some designs, but mounded earth is the basic idea and need not have solid borders.

I live in south central TX we only have rock and clay. I added bags of top soil mulch and straw when I first started. Then my husband built beds for me.
Then we tilled the soil and mixed in all the above. Laid the beds down and then repeated top soil and mulch. Now my soil is very loose and easy to weed and things are doing ok. We have not had much rain so I have to water. Already have picked tomatoes, pole beans and a few cukes. Good luck it is alot of work at first but then it is so much easier and very rewarding. Txsdar

WOW! That's great. You may need to keep at it, supplementing the soil, for some time, but it sounds to me like you've got the process down. We had an area so bad, (well, many areas!!!!) that we had to amend every time we planted anything at all, and even so, watching in dissapointment as this or that crop simply gave up the ghost.
I suspect you've got a handle on things now, just keep it up and you'll be pleased with your results!

We live in central PA, our development was built on old fairgrounds, so lots of clay and not much dirt. I built my raised beds from treated lumber, beds are 4 feet by 8 feet and about 10-12 inches high. Added stakes to hold up chicken wire to keep out my son and other 4 legged critters. I used bags of cheap dirt and Miracle Gro dirt and add grass clippings and leaves throughout the year. Tomatoes, beans, strawberries do great, not much luck with peppers or squash. Get plenty of flowers but no veggies. Good luck!