Frost Heave: Preparing for Winter

[Earthling]

Frost Heave: Preparing for Winter - good info:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1854/

[LEVE]

Here on my little piece of dirt, it's mostly clay. It frost heaves at the drop of a hat in the winter and cracks from the heat in the summer. Someday I'll be rich and haul in topsoil... till then... I bought a self propelled riding Roller/Packer that weighs 1/2 ton and will hold another ton of water. If it can roll over it, it'll squash about anything in its path. It doesn't do too well if the ground's slick but it sure takes care of the heaves. Not a bad investment for $300 off Craig's list.

[mgriffith]

I don't understand why frost heave would be bad for the garden. Perhaps I'm just dense?

Mark

[Earthling]

Frost heave is why we keep getting rocks in the garden - despite the fact we toss out a ton every year. Frost heave also heaves out your plants - especially perennials. Sometimes this causes the roots to be exposed and then they die from the cold.

[mgriffith]

Frost heave is why we keep getting rocks in the garden - despite the fact we toss out a ton every year. Frost heave also heaves out your plants - especially perennials. Sometimes this causes the roots to be exposed and then they die from the cold.

Oh! So that's it! I though someone was sneaking into my garden each year and burying a bunch of rocks! :l0 (41):

[prairiemom]

Oh! So that's it! I though someone was sneaking into my garden each year and burying a bunch of rocks!
:l0 (59):LOL! That's one thing I LOVE about gardening in the Midwest--no rocks. None. If you want a rock garden you have to either leave the valley and go ask someone if they'd like their rocks removed (most don't--rocks have good uses and are highly valued) or you go to the garden store and buy rocks. YES--you have to buy rocks. A nice sized rock for a garden rock will cost anywhere from $30-80. Can you believe that? You all just load up your pickup with a bunch of rocks and you can get rich out here.

We have a pole barn with sliding doors. I'd like to choke the genius who thought sliding doors was a good idea. Every year the ground heaves and settles and moves the sill plate so the doors either won't close or there's a huge gap between plate and doors and they swing in the wind because they can't be anchored. Dh has had to remove the sill plate, shave it down or build it up about 5-6 times now and it's really getting old. Dh has been threatening for 10 yrs to replace them with an overhead door but the doors are so big, it will cost at least $2000. I told him he better do it this summer or I'm going to live in town for the winter--I tired of battling doors that won't open or close every time the ground heaves.