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Old 05-13-2008, 09:19 AM   #8 (permalink)
Schmitti
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Schen. NY
Posts: 7,936
CN - We use raised beds because our "native" soil is crap. It's a sandy silt clay. It drains poorly and has no real nutrients (topsoil) past the first 2 inches or so. Also augmenting soil, especially a silty clay doesn't give a you a real net benefit. You still end up with relatively crappy soil that will not drain well and which will eventually settle into a tight silt clay matrix which is crappy for the fine roots that vegetable plants have.

I'm sure incynr8 has very similar soil being in a semi urban environment in PA. The topsoil was probably stripped off when the house was constructed and the underlying sitly clay was just giving a "generous" sprinkle of topsoil so that grass would grow. Just about any one living in a suburban area will run into this problem on the East coast.

E
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