clay soil

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Gardeniadreams Joined: 10/21/2006 Location: Posts: 9	Posted: Oct/21/2006 1:06 PM PST hello I have clay soil lots of wild weeds red clover grasses soggy areas my garden is quite large for european standards some 900 metres former gardens of mine where around 50 to 120 metres so this is big I did read somewhere adding builders sand so did that in some areas where I moved over some small trees and shrubs from my former house still some tips and hints needed on how to amend soil.Thanks for any useful advice. Quote \| Reply \| Report

fozbot3 Joined: 1/18/2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 7893	Posted: Oct/21/2006 3:42 PM PST my best advice would be to start composting and add, add, add. there's nothing better than compost to improve the quality of the soil. clover is a great 'green manure'. you can till that in. for the soggy areas you might consider putting in some sort of drainage system OR consider starting a bog garden. Quote \| Reply \| Report

treeman Joined: 3/29/2002 Location: Posts: 2874	Posted: Oct/22/2006 11:26 AM PST Careful about adding sand alone to clay soil. I would add twice as much by volume of organic amendments as sand. My experience is that clay + sand = concrete. Before messing with soggy areas too much do a through evaluation as to why they are wet. If you can't alter the root cause of this, then go the with plants that like wet feet. Quote \| Reply \| Report

Whitmore1 Joined: 4/02/2002 Location: Manistee County, MI, USA Posts: 496	Posted: Oct/22/2006 11:46 PM PST Sawdust is a great soil amender for clay. However, it may not be available to you in any great quantities that would make a significant difference. Quote \| Reply \| Report

Amigatec Joined: 8/19/2006 Location: Oklahoma Zone 6b Posts: 179	Posted: Oct/23/2006 12:52 AM PST Quote: Originally posted by Whitmore1 Sawdust is a great soil amender for clay. However, it may not be available to you in any great quantities that would make a significant difference. I would careful adding to much sawdust to it, It will use the nitogen in the soil to break it up. I added a LOT of wood chips last year and it was a bad year for me. Quote \| Reply \| Report

jbb2388 Joined: 7/28/2003 Location: Connecticut Posts: 265	Posted: Oct/23/2006 12:00 PM PST You could also start by planting a cover crop before winter and then tilling it in in the spring. Something like clover, vetch, rye, or a combinaation of all. The key is adding organic material. It does much better job of loosening clay soil than sand would alone and it adds MUCH more to the soil in doing so. Quote \| Reply \| Report

username5 Joined: 7/14/2006 Location: zone 5 wisconsin Posts: 49	Posted: Oct/23/2006 4:10 PM PST Quote: Originally posted by Gardeniadreams hello I have clay soil lots of wild weeds red clover grasses soggy areas An assessment needs to be made as to why the soggy areas are soggy. If the garden is in a low lying area then this is where water will gravitate to. If this is the case then you can either raise the area so it is no longer a low spot (preferably with topsoil) or you can install drain tiles (not sure what they are called in your area) which will direct the water out of the area. If you opt to raise the soil level beware that the water will now go elsewhere. You will want to know where that 'elsewhere' is before making any grade changes. No amount of soil improvement will get rid of a soggy area if it is a low spot. It may speed up the water percolating into the soil a few inches (the improved area), but once that water hits the unimproved subsoil it will start to back up. Quote: Originally posted by my garden is quite large for european standards some 900 metres former gardens of mine where around 50 to 120 metres so this is big I did read somewhere adding builders sand so did that in some areas where I moved over some small trees and shrubs from my former house still some tips and hints needed on how to amend soil.Thanks for any useful advice. Generally organic material is used to improve soil health, but in a soggy clay area it isn't likely to be possible to improve it enough to deal with the drainage issue. Resolving the drainage issue is best done by elevating the soil level or using drain tiles. Once this is done and the water problem under control, then any organic matter will assist in easing compaction, restoring fertility and other good things. The alternative, as has been suggested, is to grow plants that appreciate wet soils. In some cases you may even be able to plant trees accustomed to growing in or along waterways that consume a great deal of water every day. Their presence, at least once they are grown to a decent size, can result in their being less sogginess n the ground. Quote \| Reply \| Report

Amigatec Joined: 8/19/2006 Location: Oklahoma Zone 6b Posts: 179	Posted: Oct/24/2006 2:01 AM PST Quote: Originally posted by Ron If you use wood chips or saw dust add some high nitrogen fertilizer to help decompose the wood without depleting the nitrogen in the soil. I figured it out to late, I do have some 46-0-0 to add now. Quote \| Reply \| Report

butterfly1 Joined: 3/17/2006 Location: Aiken SC Posts: 552	Posted: Oct/24/2006 3:49 PM PST That's what I saw on TV the other day. I was watching a gardener out of Georgia, which is known for the red clay, he said to use a soil improver. Here you can buy it in bags just like garden soil. It's not really anything other than pine chips that are small. He said to start with that always when amending clay soil. HTH Quote \| Reply \| Report

MsLilacLily Joined: 11/12/2006 Location: Temecula, California Posts: 12	Posted: Nov/21/2006 3:20 AM PST Anybody have success with gypsum? Quote \| Reply \| Report

clay soil

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