Gardening Tools - what do I need?

[dontstopbelievin]

So I have gloves, a trowel, some hand held pruners, and a little hand rake thing. They have been all I need for my container gardens that have had flowers and herbs. This year, I'd like to plant some veggies, flowers, and replace our hedge.

The previous owners put down landscaping fabric where I want to plant things, but there's not much soil on top. I think I need to remove that and dig down into the soil and mix it up/ mix in some good stuff to help my plants grow. Right? So what do I need? Any good websites or books for me to read for me to figure out how to do this?

I live in NC and the soil seems to be mostly clay once you dig down a few inches.
Thanks!

[amiee]

I have clay soil as well. It is hard to grow in, and should have looser soil mixed in. I add organic stuff and cardboard in the fall to break down over winter as well as a lil soil when I plant. It is doable to not add these in (but I have noticed a difference in the looseness and richness of my soil since I started this so you may want to consider it at the end of the growing season).

Last year my husband got me one of the those small hand held soil tillers (looks similar to a weed eater in size) and that made breaking up the clay soil so much easier. If you find you like gardening it might also be something to consider.

For this first year I would get soil to put down a layer of to plant in or mix with what is already there. See how things grow and then decide. You will want a bigger shovel for sure. Depending on what you are planting and where you may need supports (for tomatoes and peppers). Some plants I like to grow up (peas, beans, cucumbers). I try and use as much of the existing structure I am planting near if I can (fencing, porch posts to attach something to etc).


I wish you lots of luck!!

[silentsara]

Feb 12, 2015 21:50:51 GMT -5 dontstopbelievin said:

So I have gloves, a trowel, some hand held pruners, and a little hand rake thing. They have been all I need for my container gardens that have had flowers and herbs. This year, I'd like to plant some veggies, flowers, and replace our hedge.

The previous owners put down landscaping fabric where I want to plant things, but there's not much soil on top. I think I need to remove that and dig down into the soil and mix it up/ mix in some good stuff to help my plants grow. Right? So what do I need? Any good websites or books for me to read for me to figure out how to do this?

I live in NC and the soil seems to be mostly clay once you dig down a few inches.
Thanks!

What part of NC are you in? I'm in central NC and have clay in some areas of my yard and good dirt in others. I borrowed a tiller and dh mixed everything up really well with some compost. Look at your cooperative extension website, they offer free classes about all kinds of gardening in your specific area. That, and my local farmer's market were very helpful.

[bonzo2012]

I'm also dealing with pulling up landscape cloth, though we have sandier soil below. My method so far has been to rake the mulch and good soil off the landscape cloth in chunks, cut it out, use a hand tiller to loosen it, lay down a few inches of compost and manure, cover with newspaper, then rake the good soil and mulch back on top. We will see if this is a successful method!

[dontstopbelievin]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

[dontstopbelievin]

Feb 15, 2015 13:14:08 GMT -5 silentsara said:

Feb 12, 2015 21:50:51 GMT -5 dontstopbelievin said:

So I have gloves, a trowel, some hand held pruners, and a little hand rake thing. They have been all I need for my container gardens that have had flowers and herbs. This year, I'd like to plant some veggies, flowers, and replace our hedge.

The previous owners put down landscaping fabric where I want to plant things, but there's not much soil on top. I think I need to remove that and dig down into the soil and mix it up/ mix in some good stuff to help my plants grow. Right? So what do I need? Any good websites or books for me to read for me to figure out how to do this?

I live in NC and the soil seems to be mostly clay once you dig down a few inches.
Thanks!

What part of NC are you in? I'm in central NC and have clay in some areas of my yard and good dirt in others. I borrowed a tiller and dh mixed everything up really well with some compost. Look at your cooperative extension website, they offer free classes about all kinds of gardening in your specific area. That, and my local farmer's market were very helpful.

I'm near Charlotte, I'll have to check out that website.  I love our farmer's market, I'll start asking questions there too.