Tire Garden

(Updated 7-26-2022)

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After 6 years of wood chip gardening (described in the link above), we began to discover some drawbacks. One was that early spring planting was challenging due to wet soil. We were also discovering that getting wood chips was increasingly difficult as more and more gardeners and landscapers began requesting chips from arborists. With fewer chips available, the mulch was thinner and weeds more easily grew up through it. The worst were thistles, which thrived in the wood chip mulch. With their deep roots, it didn't matter how many times we pulled them up, enough root was usually left that they would spring back up within a few weeks. They grew up through the mulch no matter how thick it was. Even on the chip storage piles, thistles easily grew through chips 2-3 feet deep. It was time for a change.

What we decided on was a radical shift to a form of tire gardening. We're still in the early months of using this new technique, but so far we love it. The garden has become a place of joy, not drudgery. There are no weeds, the quantity of chips needed is greatly reduced and the planting soil in the tires is far more pleasant to work with than our heavy native soil. The planting soil also drains well, which will allow early spring planting. We always look forward to going to the garden now. Rather than experiencing it as a place to pull weeds or push endless wheelbarrow loads of chips, the garden is now more of a meditative space. Our gardening has never been so easy or enjoyable. 

The major challenge of this garden is the initial setup, which requires quite a bit of work, especially if the garden is as large as ours. Tires have to be located, transported and prepared, plastic laid down, tires positioned and filled with planting soil and finally wood chips spread between the tires. It should also be noted that the growing space is limited by the area of each tire.

So far, the gardening has been so pleasant that we feel the initial work has been well worth it.      

 Overview photos:

The garden is made from 117 tires laid out like a snowflake. We used large truck tires with  17, 18 and 20" rim sizes and all about the same overall width and outer diameter. Begg's Tire, a local tire store in Philomath, Oregon, was happy to have us take away used truck tires which they would otherwise have to pay to recycle. Les Schwalbe Tires was also a friendly place to get tires.	After a couple weeks, the garden begins to turn green.
6 weeks later, we're harvesting daily.	The veggies are growing well and with composted planting mix in the tires, planting is much easier than planting into the heavy native soil. Note the complete lack of weeds.

Making the Tire Garden:

Plastic:

The first step is to level the garden bed, then lay down 6 mil black plastic sheeting. If the wood chip mulch gets thin or brushed away, the black plastic will hold up much longer in sunlight.

If plastic isn't wide enough, overlap it at least 1 foot and tape it using 20 mil pipe wrap tape, available at building supply stores or online. This will prevent weeds from growing up through the overlap.

Tires:

To cut one sidewall from each tire, we used a jig saw with a coarse blade.	We first drilled a 3/8" hole in the sidewall, then inserted the blade and cut around the sidewall.
After cutting part way around the tire, a stick helps to support the cut side.	The tire is then flipped over and 4 holes are drilled with a hole saw. This side of the tire will be down, so the holes allow for drainage.
A screwdriver is helpful for removing the rubber plugs after drilling.	Needle nose pliers can then be used to pull the plug out of the hole saw.

Layout:

Tires are positioned according to whatever plan is desired. To make the garden aesthetically pleasing, it's helpful to make a plan before laying out tires.	After tires are laid out, the plastic sheeting under each one is cut out so plant roots can grow down into the native soil.
Tire with plastic sheeting cut out.

Soil:

The native soil here is heavy clay. We wanted an easier soil to plant into, so ordered two truck loads of planting soil from Corvallis Landscape Supply. We used about 15 cubic yards of soil to fill 117 truck tires. The soil is mostly compost and was still hot when it arrived, so is somewhat nitrogen deficient. We've been adding extra nitrogen to the soil in the form of urine, which corrects the deficiency within a few days. By next season the carbon/nitrogen ratio should be stabilized.

The planting mix is loose and wonderful to work in, in contrast to the heavy native soil.

Filling the tires with planting soil. It took about one 6 cubic foot wheelbarrow load to fill a tire.

After all the tires were filled, wood chip mulch was put down between the tires. This makes a cushioned surface to walk on and protects the plastic sheeting from sun exposure and other damage.

Watering:

All the watering is done with a wand. We share half the garden with our neighbors Michael and Pamela, so have about 60 tires to water, which takes about 15 minutes.	We added a hook on the watering wand that slips into a circle of wire to hold the wand.
The advantage of the holder is that we don't have to bend down to pick up the wand each time we water. Just one of the little details that makes gardening more pleasant.	Watering wand in holder at center of garden. Green faucet "Y" near base sends water through black hose to wand or to watering can.

Mini Greenhouses:

We discovered we could use the sidewall cutouts to make mini greenhouses. A piece of 1/2" PVC pip about 18" long is pressed into the center of the tire. The top of the pipe is rounded off with sandpaper or a file to keep it from punching through the plastic.	Circles are cut from greenhouse plastic and ventilation holes punched in them with a hole punch.
The plastic circles are put over the pipe and weighted down with sidewall cutouts. This warms the seedlings and significantly reduces watering until the seedlings are large enough to remove the covers.