Yup, perfect time to do it is after the leaves yellow. Dig some of that compost down to where the bulbs are planted and they should bulk up again. I like to replant in a new spot since it seems some plants tire out the soil and will do well moving around every few years.

Interesting question. I did some research recently and found that the people who say tires are safe equal the number of people who say they are NOT safe just about 50-50! I was researching planting potatoes in them. The one site said that the ground tires (now used to make mulch) weren't good because grinding up the tires allowed the bad stuff to leech out into the soil where whole tires have anything that's a potential problem sealed in. Not sure if that's true, but that's what I read! I know I've seen a lot of tire retaining walls in pics in various places...maybe you could contact a state office that deals with pollution or water and ask them. I'd like to hear what you find out!

Hi, and thanks for the responses. nona i really enjoyed your pictures! I'm still trying to get my own trellis picture on the forum. it's in my laptop, which is currently being stored while we do some remodeling.

yeah, it's in my favorites, too. I e-mailed the same person who is responsible for the study of the tires used in the gardens. To his knowledge, there hadn't been any danger and if there was a possibility of snakes wanting to make a home, there would be a few things to counteract it. If you choose to pile the tires for planting, then the inside could be lined to discourage any snakes trying to get inside. Check any and all tires before even beginning to use them. See, I wouldn't have had that concern because we only have little garden snakes around here. In eastern Washington, there are rattlesnakes but I'm on the west side of the state. It isn't the dry flat lands of the desert type of land. Anyway, check tires. Then choose how you plan to use them. The way I want to do is to use only the actual part of the rubber that touches the road. Everything else is cut away. It leaves strips of rubber to work with. The same idea used to make sandles. When the rubber is in these strips and laid out, they're stapled to pieces of wood at intervals, to make a continuous runner, to be set in place. The length, width and height are all a personal choice. Basically, instead of 2x4's running the length of the planting bed, it's flat rubber. One tire width or more high, to make the border around the planting area. That's how I have intentions of using them. I can't imaging a snake wanting to cozy up to that. I think if I had any snakes around like you do, I'd be gardening inside a warm sunny vault of some kind. No way would I be outside any where near that kind of critter. Hope you still try the tire frame beds.