free sand and gravel mixure
brooklyner
15 years ago
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Comments (6)
hendricus
15 years agodonco
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Gravel under soil - remove it?
Comments (13)I agree, there's no reason to go through al that work to remove the gravel. the weed barrier is under it you say? Well if it were me, I'd just get to the end of gardening season, (oh my I wouldn't want to disturb rhubarb!), and pile leaves, brush, dead plants, anything dead on top, and wait out the winter. If you have any compost, put it on the beds before the mulch/brush/leaves, and leave it be. Come Spring, you'll have deeper soil to plant in. Like Kim said, free is the way to go, at least for me. I garden in pure rock and rubble, and the only way I can afford to do it is with raised beds of soil I've created for myself, with my own compost and time. If you want to dig in the Spring and meet the weed barrier, try to rip it and pull out bits at a time. The gravel won't harm your garden, might even help it drain over that clay layer. Mulching with black plastic is not my way to go, as plant mulches are, yes, free, and eventually turn into nutrients for the garden. Since you still have room above the current soil level to the top of the raised bed, mulching over the winter is good. Do you have any containers? Every time a plant dies not from disease, I dump the plant part into the compost, and the dirt in a corner,and cover it with brush. About once a year, that pile gets mixed with compost and dumped on the raised beds. Plants which need deeper roots go there, and the rest kind of grows higher as the seasons pass. Slow, cheap, hey it works! Good luck....See MoreVolcanic gravel/sand
Comments (15)Sorry for delay in replying and thank you all for taking the time to reply. I learned a lot from all of you! 1st, yes, this is to be a vegitable gardern. 2nd, yes, I will have access to a tiller Well, money is short, but before the snow flys, I will be bringing in probably 2, maybe 3 yards of compost from the local recycling company. Possibly before then, I may be able to aquire some horse manure. But meanwhile, since so many were reccomending organic matter, I got to scrounging around on the property looking to see if I could find anything. I had a lot of grass clippings around and thought to start a cubic yard of hot compost, but no brown. While searching my floodplain and slough areas, I discovered many VERY old lodgepole pine stumps. These were cut over 25 years ago. They are at the edge of the derilict slough, and ALWAYS wet. I was able to harvest 3 wheelbarrows of rotten punk duff from each of these. The stuff would crumble in the hand except it damp. I have scrounged all I could find, and was able to cover my garden plot with approx 4 inches of this stuff. Hope it wasn't a mistake. Also used it as "brown" for my compost bin. (had some aspen leaves too) And then I decided to go ahead and start bringing up some silt. After the first 6 wheelbarrow loads, I got a suprise. Under the 10 inch layer of black sandy silt, is a very deep (don't know how deep yet, I have not hit the end of it after a foot!) layer of what I think is sedge peat. It appears to be in a sandy/clay matrix. Howerver, the deep I dig, the higher the percentag of organic matter is. I did some Googling, trying to determine how nutrititious sedge peat is, and I really did not come to a conclusion. Nevertheless, the gravely, pumicy, ashy crap that I have within my fenced garden area is SO poor, I figure the combination of the black sandy silt, and the sedge peat can only be an improvement. I'm just spreading all this on top for now. Looks like I'm getting close to a 6 inch layer of the silt/sedge peat on top of the rotten pine punk/duff. I have thought to go ahead and dig it all in now, then add the compost this fall, then till it in again. Any thoughts welcome....See MoreBuilders sand? would sand from the pasture work?
Comments (9)Almost all plants in an Alpine garden needs a slope. Usually rocks are used to support the slope. Drainage is paramount, no matter how you achieve it. Adding sand to good loam or clay and you get stucco if you have no slope and it retains water. Free draining is the key. Build your berm as high as you are able. Some alpine plants prefer limestone based soil and some prefer acid. Some don't care what the ph is. I smear mud on rocks, plop some sedums on it, and walk away. You can arrange the rocks as in a rock outcropping, dump gravel between them , squeeze a few plant in, and watch things grow. An alpine garden does not need plants wall to wall. Mike This next picture isn't meant to look good, but to show how sedums and succulents can be grown in even the most adverse conditions. Here they are growing on wood and rocks with just a minimum amount of soil. Friends come by and add or subtract stuff all the time. I'm not in charge. lol Ignore the telephone booth. It's a joke. I'm still trying to find an appropriate place for it. Mike Here's another part of the garden that looks a little alpine. It needs a major makeover as I haven't touched it in about two years. Time constraints, you know. I have done nothing to the soil except give it a slope. It's good loam on the acid side. Mike...on vacation...See MoreSand or gravel?
Comments (9)Hi there, FBT? fire belly toads? I hope! If thats the case I can help a bit, I kept eight FBTs in a 55 gallon terrarium, they love the water and love to hide out in rocks and cliffs in and around the waters edge, when they are actually in the water all they seem to do is float around on the surface, I personally wouldnt use sand as it seems to get into everything no matter what! LOL! but if you decide to use it I can say that my frogs never went to the bottom of the pool and it was about 4 to 5 inches deep, I saw them dive a couple of times but it was always to catch small fish they are very good eaters but can only take smaller crickets/insects/fish, feed them insects that are a bit smaller than their mouths, remember, this was just the way it went in my tank, also I read about their natural habitat before setting up my tank =) thats why they lived happily ever after! LOL!...See Moresierraeast
15 years agoThe Fed up
8 years agomillworkman
18 days ago
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