Welcome to the Oklahoma Forum.

I am at the opposite end of the state, so far south that I'm almost in Texas. I have clay, but no rocks, so I improved the soil first by adding organic material (compost, cow manure, leaf mold, chopped up oak leaves added in the fall before planting in the spring, greensand, lava sand, rabbit manure, etc.) and then built raised beds above that. My beds range from 4" to 8" above the surrounding grade.

If I had rocks, as you do, I would either remove all the rocks, which is very laborious and time-consuming, or go with deep beds as you plan to.

In Oklahoma, you have to be sure your raised beds will hold moisture well-enough in the brutal summer heat. If they drain too well, your beds will stay impossibly dry. The Tulsa/Broken Arrow area gets a whole lot more rain than we do in our part of the state, so I think someone from that area could better advise you on what to use to fill your raised beds. In my part of the state, we have a lot less rainful and somewhat hotter summer weather, so here I think that 1/3 peat, 1/3 compost and 1/3 vermiculite would dry out too quickly here and would require a LOT of irrigation in the summer. In Broken Arrow, though, it might work so hopefully someone local to that area will let you know what they think.

When I built raised beds in Texas years ago, I was able to buy a compost/sandy loam mix by the dumptruck load from a composting/soil/gravel company and it was WONDERFUL. I think it was 1/3 compost and 2/3's sandy loam soil. You might find a company in the Tulsa/Broken Area area that has something similar.

Do you know what kind of grass you will have? If it is bermuda grass, keep it as far away from your raised beds as possible. It WILL infiltrate and take over everything in its path. Personally, I am not a fan of grass paths and my pathways are bare ground with a landscape fabric laid down on top of them and 2"-3" of bark mulch. If you have a grass that is a clumping grass and not a running grass like bermuda, then grass paths might be doable.

For watering, I prefer to use soaker hoses or drip irrigation. Both save a lot of money as water is not thrown up into the air where it will evaporate. Also, due to the summer heat and humidity, the more moisture you can keep off your plants' foilage, the less trouble you will have with foliar diseases.

Once you arrive at your new home in Broken Arrow, check out the lay of the land and how protected it is (or is not) from the wind. Oklahoma has tons of wind almost every month of the year and the excessive wind can be tough on garden plants. I sited my garden where it is protected on three sides (north, south, west) from the wind, and I think it makes a difference. Sometimes I till up a separate plot in a different location for a larger corn patch, and it does not have as much protection from the wind....and I see the difference.

Also, our spring weather is highly variable, with alternate periods of warm weather that make you think spring has arrived...only to be followed by Artic blasts that bring cold fronts with sleet, snow, etc. So, don't let the occasional warm period trick you into planting too, too early.

If you have more questions, ask! We have a lot of gardeners here from the Broken Arrow area, and I am sure they will give you lots of good advice.

Finally, mulch, mulch, mulch! We have a long, hot summer and mulch helps conserve moisture which is very important. Mulching also helps keep weeds from sprouting in your soil and competing with your plants. As the mulch breaks down, it helps "feed" and improve your soil. That is important here because "heat eats compost" in the sense that heat speeds up the rate at which organic material breaks down, so you have to be continually adding more organic material to the soil. If you don't keep adding organic material to the soil, one day you wake up and realize that all your organic material is gone and your soil is back to what you started out with in the beginning.

Dawn
in Marietta in Love County, OK

The southern half of Broken Arrow has really good soil overall, so I'm guessing you will be living up north nearer to the high school and the new additons in the Bass Pro Shops area.

You can get garden soil (loam and compost mix) delivered for about $250 for 250 cubic feet at a place in southwest Tulsa called Gem Dirt (?). Other places have seemingly good compost by the yard at about $25. I have not yet bought any of this myself, so I don't really know how good it is.

Welcome to Oklahoma!

I would suggest you dig out the beds, not raise them. I also would not suggest peat or vermiculite. Compost, compost, compost :) I have used a mix similar to what ScottOkla suggested and it was very nice stuff.

Dawn makes a good point that raised beds will dry out quickly. I don't know if you have any clay, but despite the bad rep it gets, clay will help keep the moisture in.

The Soil Forum can also help you.

I like the look of grass paths, but in full sun, what you will probably need is bermuda, and you will regret ever planting it near your beds. I really like the look of fine bladed fescue, but it is a water hog.

I use wood mulch in my paths. It can be expensive, but after this winter, there should be free piles of it everywhere :)

I'll warn you...horseradish is MORE than a thug here :)

Lisa

If you've lived in Minnesota all your life, you're in for climate shock. You're nice daytime average temperature highs there are much colder than our "extreme" night time lows this time of year. If you think 90 is hot there, wait til you have a taste of our summers.

You won't be needed those extension cords for your vehicle engines any more and your car will actually wear out before it rusts away. :-)

I have a number of good friends from your part of the world and I can safely say it is another world. I was up there last August and almost froze at night camping out. :-)

randy

I've only been in Minnesota for 9 years. Before that I was in Oklahoma, so I know what you mean about the climate shock. I'm looking forward to learning new things! I didn't garden before in OK, just a little container stuff. Thanks for the tip about using sandy loam and compost. I'll try that.

Phil,
I have done well with raised beds here. If you much well and use drip irrigation, the summer heat isn't so bad on drying things out. I used 2 x 12 lumber with 10 layers newspaper right on top of the sod. By the time the roots reach the bottom the grass is all composted. It sure saves alot of digging.
Phil

I'm not experienced with raised beds but am a Broken Arrowan. You'll love it here! Welcome

We have fescue paths in our garden between the large sections and do not water it but we are over here in extreme eastern okla where we get even more rain usually than Broken Arrow. We also sited our garden to the east of woods and planted pine trees to the north--far enough so the roots don't intrude. It not only cuts down on the wind, but gives blessed shade in the evening when I work in the garden. If you have Bermuda grass keep it away from you beds as Dawn says. We don't like to use Roundup but have resorted to it applied very carefully to some Bermuda that got too close to the beds. Our smaller raised beds have dirt paths which are just wide enough to be weeded with a weedeater. We use soaker hoses placed under mulch of grass clippings, sawdust when we can get it, or rotted leaves.

If you have Bermuda grass, the best solution is raised beds. You can till up a spot, but one little sprig of Bermuda gets in there from the wind, the lawn mower, or weed trimmer, and you might as well start over again. A raised bed about a foot high should be sufficient in keeping the invasive grass and weeds out. Put some newspapers or something on the bottom that will eventually break down. I used landscape timbers nailed together with long guttering nails which is a little more attractive than cinder blocks, but the timbers tend to warp and degrade over time.

There shouldn't be too much clay in the native soil around here, but I'm not an expert. If you are thinking about having a load of dirt brought in, I would look at it first to ensure it is what you want and is free of weeds and rock. I just have a little spot, so I bought several bags of Green Country top soil available at Lowe's. It has some weeds in it, but it is nice soil. I live a few blocks from the the river, so the native soil is a rich sandy loam. It is not as good as everyone says. During hot weather, my lawn is nearly impossible to keep watered. During rainy weather, it stays too wet.

Mulching is a must. Everything should have 2-3" of mulch to hold the water in and the weeds under control. I think cedar mulch is worth the extra $1 or two a bag. It takes a few years to break down and is a natural bug and slug repellent. You can also pick up a truck load of free mulch from Tulsa's green waste site. There is plenty of it after the December ice storm. The free mulch only lasts about a year, but it makes a very nice compost.

I think what I need to do is get a soil sample off to a lab ASAP and find out what I'm working with, rather than just guessing.

The "maybe" move has become more of a certainty.

So: Raised beds, edged/bordered with something solid, maybe with a "moat" of pea gravel and black plastic to keep the bermuda at bay. The house lot will have sod. I figure it's bermuda sod, but I'm not sure. Of course I won't have them sod the part where I'll put the garden.

Sounds good! Just remember that "bermuda grass is evil" (only because it is highly invasive) and act accordingly.

We're looking forward to having you here.