Georgia clay is filled with nutrients and offers good water retention, and if it were at 10% of a planting mix, would be a great additive. Though, at 90%, like the some of the red clay in Atlanta, it is a drainage nightmare. Trying raised beds increased my success rate by 90% with some cultivars. Luckily, some trees grow well no matter how bad the soil.
To create a raised bed, pick your spot, and outline the size of the bed to be created. Add your dirt, or bring in top soil, to fill the space created. Augment the dirt or top soil with Nature’s Helper or any soil conditioner (generally a sphagnum moss and milled pine bark mix). Mix in some of your clay for nutrients and a few bags of mushroom compost, cow manure, or worm castings, if desired, and a good slow release fertilizer. Mix it all together, giving you at least 10” to 14” inches on planting depth. Voila! A raised bed.
Raised beds have the added benefit of adding contouring to your flat land and viewing plants at from a different perpespective. In nature the land is not always flat, though most contractors try to flatten out the land to make it easier to build on. Your garden will look more interesting with different height raised beds. You can ring the bed with rocks, landscape timbers, stone walls or leave them to integrate with the the flat area on their own.
Once your raised bed has been created, plant directly into it. Once planted, top off with 2 -3 inches of mulch. We at Just Add Water we recommend using cypress
mulch. It is a little more expensive than pine straw but not as acidic, and it deteriorates a lot slower, lasting sometimes three years.
