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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Introduction

© Diana Pederson

My townhouse borders the community parking lot driveway. This means the 22-foot x 3-foot strip between the brick wall and the asphalt driveway is very dry and hot even in the shade! To top it all off, the soil is almost solid clay with a few pieces of bricks thrown in for good measure. The garden plots also face snow plows in the winter and the salt from de-icing operations. Combine this with car exhaust, and you have a poor place to garden. Neither side gets strong sun for long. Both receive noontime sun. This sounds like an impossible spot to garden even for the able-bodied. What does the physically challenged person do? Let's begin by preparing the garden bed. Future articles will talk about the plants that thrive in these conditions.

My first step was to strip all sod and weeds off the bed. Then the soil was turned over. Since this was too difficult for me, I hired a neighborhood teenager. He worked for several hours for minimum wage. I simply had him turn the soil over the depth of the shovel and rake it smooth for me. This was my first summer of gardening and I didn't know I should add humus or compost.

I learned the hard way! If I were to start over, I would first cover stripped soil with at least six inches of chopped leaves or compost and let it sit through a winter. That would give the earthworms time to do their job. In early spring I would dump several bags of Michigan Peat (not Canadian style peat) or topsoil on the surface. Then, I would have someone plow it for me. This would give me good quality soil to start with.

Due to bike riders who can't keep on the driveway, I've lined the edges of my side with patio blocks. This provides a good barrier that even the worst rider can't accidentally ride over. On my neighbor's side of the driveway, I used bricks set at an angle for my edging. You could use landscape timbers or railroad ties if you wanted to simply create a raised bed and have good quality soil delivered and dumped in the beds. Hire as much work done as you can possibly afford; this is the hardest part of creating this garden.

If you have a plot similar to mine that you would like to turn into a garden, please take some time this week to check the moisture content of the soil (dry or wet clay), and the direction the plot faces. If possible, estimate how much daily sun the plot will receive. This strongly affects the type plants you choose. The next few articles will talk about plants which have thrived in the very tough conditions described in the first paragraph.

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