Non-SFG soil

VirginiaA 2/27/2021, 5:39 pm

I moved from the Chicago-area to near Houston 20 years ago. We moved into the house in the middle of summer and it had lots of existing garden beds, and it quickly became overwhelming for me to troubleshoot. Over the years, the soil has become more compacted and weedy. Most of them do not received consistent sun, but I think a bigger problem is the soil. What can I do to improve the existing soil? Some areas seem relatively lighter but some have lots of sand. Would weeding the beds and putting compost on them every year be the solution? Would planting cover crops be better? I have an herb garden with the same problem, and the soil is SO dense. The ants seem to till up more clay making it denser.

OhioGardener 2/27/2021, 6:10 pm

If you are not going to do SFG, or at least raised beds, you might want to check out the Youtube channel for Charles Dowding, and No Dig Garden concept.

VirginiaA 2/27/2021, 7:49 pm

These are a bunch of existing beds with less than ideal soil. I want to improve the soil condition since weeds seem to proliferate and plants don't thrive there. They don't really receive consistent sun either for me to want to invest in a SFG in those areas.

markqz 2/28/2021, 2:37 pm

VirginiaA wrote:These are a bunch of existing beds with less than ideal soil. I want to improve the soil condition since weeds seem to proliferate and plants don't thrive there. They don't really receive consistent sun either for me to want to invest in a SFG in those areas.

If they don't receive consistent sun, I wonder why someone built them there?

Here's a link to a thread where forum member Plantoid explains how 'e converted clay soil to usable soil.

VirginiaA 2/28/2021, 2:45 pm

They get sun but it's not consistent shade nor consistent sun (what veggies need). Thanks, clay is what we have a lot of along with sand that is often used in amendments here.

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