I inherited a few raised beds that are located along the foundation of the house with a brick front wall of them. There are no weep holes in the brick wall. The beds are about 2 feet in depth and 3 feet wide.
None of the beds are well sited. In the summer they get hot, hot afternoon sun and since they are located under the eves of the house, anything planted there would have to be watered periodically during the winter months.
The corner bed seems to be fine. I have a rose planted there and some thread leaf coreopsis and they are healthy plants, which tells me they have good drainage.
In the most western facing bed, I planted some black eyed susans this year, and they handled the summer heat and reflected heat from the wall very well. Again, I think the bed is draining properly.
It's the bed next to the patio that is the problem bed. Everything I have planted there has died. Since I was guessing that drainage might be the issue, I dug it out today. There is no drainage. So watering that bed is like pouring water into a bucket with no drainage holes. That doesn't work well for plants.
The bed was filled with almost pure clay soil, which only made things worse.
Is there any way I can prepare this bed and plant shallow rooted plants that can handle the heat or does the lack of true drainage make that impossible ? I am certain I need to remove all of the clay soil, but don't know what kind of soil I should use for this bed.
All suggestions are both needed and very welcome.
Lyn
