"John McGaw" wrote in message
...
On 8/16/2011 1:02 PM, Steve B wrote:
The location of my garden is on rock. On caliche. I could pick another
spot, but this one is convenient, and another would be much farther from
the
house.

Digging down more than a foot or so hits caliche. This presents a
problem
in that it is impenetrable by roots, and water runs off it.

I want to do a greenhouse, and do some raised beds, both for convenience,
and easier on the back. But what about the floor? If I were to frame up
a
concrete pony wall, say one foot high and then fill the floor with good
composted soil, is one foot or slightly more enough for the roots of most
gardens? I could then use that pony wall as the base for a greenhouse.
I
know I would have to watch the water so as not to soak the soil.

TIA

Steve



In most of the Las Vegas area (where I lived) caliche was a fact of life
and people managed to plant things successfully by the expedient of
breaking up the caliche, correcting the myriad problems with the soil (OK,
so what was there couldn't even be called soil), and then going at it with
usual gardening practices (with addition of shade structures and
irrigation). In the old days I'm told that dynamite planting of trees was
considered normal. Later heavy equipment and cheap labor from down south
were the solution.

At least here, the caliche seems to come in layers, the widest about 12".
So, one can dig a hole, 3x the diameter of the rootball, and go deep. If
they can punch through the layer, there will be drainage. Otherwise, you're
just making a bowl, and most stuff rots or drowns.

I lived in Vegas for a very long time, and am familiar with caliche. It
ain't bad if you hit a layered deposit, or just run into the edge of one
where it breaks up reasonably easy. But if you're the lucky guy who lands
on top of a big deposit, it is pure d hell.

Steve

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