The only way to know whether the Phosphorus and Potash is too high, too low, or about right is to have a good reliable soil test done of the soil in that proposed garden plot. An in depth look at the soil will also help answer other questions that are just as important such as the soils pH, drainage, soil life, type of soil, and about as important as the rest how much organic matter is in that soil. Contact your state universities Cooperative Extension Service office about having a good reliable soil test done and also dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsâ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what else you can about that soil.

Malmason, this sounds like a lovely, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-have-a-grand-time project! This will be so much fun for everyone involved. For the past couple of years I have been using well-aged, well-composted horse manure on my garden, which has a sandy clay loam soil (about 65% sand and 25% clay, so strong characteristics of both). I use a top dressing of 2-3 inches each year. It is lovely stuff, friable and completely without odor, and also free. They give it away, and only charge a modest fee if you want them to load it for you. If you load it yourself, there is no cost. It comes from a very large horse stable near my house that manages their manure much like a municipality would manage city yard waste composting. Because of this, I have no fear (and no evidence) of weed seeds, one of the two possible drawbacks of using horse manure. The other potential problem is that using horse manure can increase the alkalinity of alkaline soil due to the salts present in manures. My soil is quite alkaline, around pH 8, something I understand is also true of parts of Texas. So far this has not been a problem for me, but next time we get a series of low rainfall years I may skip using it on alternate years. Plentiful rainfall washes the salts out of the soil. Fresh horse manure can burn plants. I personally would use it only as a top dressing. Actually that is also how I used the aged stuff. I would also cover it with a mulch if I could find one cheaply -- wood chips from a tree trimming service might be available to you free. Avoid black walnut, and probably eucalyptus, but most other woods would be fine. And if the leaves were on the trees when they went through the shredder, that is better yet. Tree trimming services in many areas have to pay to dump the wood in a landfill, so they are happy to give it away. The problem might be that they want to dump off a truckload or it is not worth their bother. If this property is small, you might want to find a company with smaller trucks, not one of the big boys. An alternate mulch, low cost but not free, would be straw mulch. I got this tip from Mendocino Rose, who uses it on her incredible garden up in the mountains. Get bales of the straw and wet them down, then let them age a few weeks and begin to decompose a bit. Then spread them thickly around the roses and other flowers, after weeding of course. This does a superb job of repressing weed growth, and enriches the soil as it breaks down. I use wood chip mulch on my rose beds and in my orchard, but I now use rice straw on my vegetable beds. Chamblees and Earthkind roses are good bets for your area. You might also consider the book Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses, published as part of the Creative Homeowner series. It is written by Field Roebuck, a Texan and a former GW member. I think this is really an excellent book for anyone, but especially good with growing roses in Texas. He knows his stuff. Finally, Marie Pavie does very well for me despite quite alkaline soil. The only roses that really suffer for me are rugosas, and how they do complain! Sherry, I suspect that your MP may be suffering from some other factor, though never having gardened in Florida I cannot say what it would be. In any case, using generous compost and an organic mulch that breaks down over time acts as a buffer on pH. Back to Malmason. Good luck with your project. If you think the owners would not object, please post pictures so we can see how it is going. Rosefolly

Pic helps a bunch. Your raised beds look good, and looking at the far one it looks like you used the plastic only on the sides where the wood is. So I don't see a problem with the plastic. You simply have raised beds, not containers. At 8" depth the cardboard is unnecessary. You can just pile the dirt into the beds on the grass, on the grass will be smothered. At 8" in the near term it will limit your root depth, and may cause problems with deeper rooting plants and roots veg's. If it were mine, I'd take it out. With the soil on top of the underlying turf, it will settle over time as the grass underneath decomposes. My experience with St. Augustine is that settling will be ~ 1". With the cardboard the settling will be a bit more, maybe 1.5". Now, the grass -- it looks like you're in Cocoa Beach (zip code), and the turf looks like a very decent stand of St. Augustine. Your problem with the grass won't be the stuff in the beds that gets smothered, it will be the stuff on the outside that comes right up to the edges. It will try to find a way into those beds, and usually St. Augustine is successful (if there's any Bermuda in there it tends to be even more invasive). I would encourage to develop a turf-free zone around those beds. There are many options. On the soil - since you're dealing with uncomposted horse manure, I would suggest no more than 1" of that per bed. Add it on top of a base soil fill in the beds, then mix in in well, trying to get it distributed through the entire 8" depth. The base soil in those beds would ideally be a loam or sandy loam, if you can get it. Being in Cocoa Beach I suspect your base soil is rather sandy. You could use that (if you have some to move) along with some compost and the horse manure, but you'll probably have better luck with bringing in new soil. Check landscape supplies in your yellow pages. Final point - exposure. Don't know when that picture was taken, but the beds are in complete shade. Where do those beds sit relative to the fence -- west side, east side, etc, and what is the direction of the fence line (N/E/S/W)? The good news is you're in the beginning so with just a bit of work you can get it right and enjoy some great growing. Since you are using raw manure I would encourage you to heed to 90/120 day before harvest recommendations. Someone getting sick because you were in a hurry just isn't worth it. Be patient. Since we're already into May, and you're way down there in south FL, your timing is really good for fall planting. This post was edited by TXEB on Sun, May 12, 13 at 15:23

A lot of people think so, I like Ruth Stout no till garden with hay & straw, but the new fad is wood chips, which is okay if you can get them free. We use dry but not rotten saw dust years ago & everyone said it will kill your garden. Never had a problem. I must tell you I am 54 yr. & was raised in the row field type garden. I remember when everyone who was organic raved about the double dig garden fad. Now it is no till, have no ideal about the next fad. But no till works with my asparagus & sunchokes, so it should work for you beans too. I use cardboard in my first blue berry orchard, it worked every well. I still till under compost for my annual garden.