Hard clay soil
By Rickrocks8
@Rickrocks8 (1751)
United States
April 10, 2007 7:58am CST
Hello I have been in our house now for 4 years. They took away all the good soil, and I am left with a very hard clay soil. I can littaly stand on the shovel and it will go nowhere. I would really LOVE to have a veggie garden. What do you suggest I should add to my soil to get in in better shape? I do compost and I do have a tiller that I will be able to use on my garden. Anyone have any helpful hints?
rhonda
1 person likes this
4 responses
@mrsbrian (1949)
• United States
10 Apr 07
Hello and welcome to Mylot. we have the same problem and we add some pete moss,perlite and a bit of gypsum. We try to add some good soil every year.
that stuff sure is hard to work with and it seems wherever we move we have it. good luck with the garden.
@Rickrocks8 (1751)
• United States
10 Apr 07
OK I know what pete moss is, but what is perlite? and gyypsum? I was thinking of adding sand too because it will not drain at all! Thanks for the welcome!
rhonda
2 people like this
@DarlingGirl (745)
• United States
10 Apr 07
Perlite is the little white rocks that you see in potting soil. They are very light-weight, and can suck up moisture, to keep it in the soil. They also impart lots of calcium and potassium to the soil (fertilizer!)
Gypsum is a sedimentary rock (sandyish) that contains lots of calcium. People make lime out of it. It's kind of slippery, and will help your soil to flow. Eventually, though, it will be absorbed into the soil.
Just one more thing to mention about amending your soil - take a moment and think about manure as an additive. Usually the local farms will have horse manure ready to take home - just call them and see if they compost it.
When you arrive, they'll direct you to go to the back of the farm, and there, in large heaps, will be steaming horse goop! You may want to bring some heavy-duty black plastic bags and a big shovel (although they will probably have lots of them). Scoop from the oldest pile first, and you'll find it looks a lot like soil!
It's mostly a mixture of hay and grass and oats, partially digested and broken down by naturally occurring bacteria.
Store your black plastic bags in the backyard in full sun for a few days, just to make sure that any oats or grass seed is killed off by the heat. Then spread it on your garden! It's amazing stuff.
@Jennifer16628 (184)
• United States
10 Apr 07
Hi there! There tiller will definately be usefull. There are probably several different things you could do to help but here is my suggestion. Add sand and organic material. Now, you will need to make sure that the sand and organic materials are course. The sand is often refered to as "builders sand". If you get the finer sand you are going to have a whole lot more trouble. Put about 3 inches of each on the area you want to ammend and then till away. Make sure you don't try to work it when it is wet. This won't work well. You can't fix this overnight but you CAN work toward a wonderful veggie garden! One more note: remember to ammend the soil in an area larger than where you want to plant...a plant doesn't do well trying to spread it's roots from nicer ammended soil into clay. Good luck and happy gardening!
@CatNPK (461)
• United States
10 Apr 07
You have already gotten some great advice, I would add that raised beds will help you maintain the veggie garden. It will improve drainage and contain all that additional soil matter added to improve the clay. You might also want to get some soil test strips (available in any nursery or ardware store) to make sure your soil is not too alkaline (high pH) because that is common with clay soil.
@Rickrocks8 (1751)
• United States
10 Apr 07
You brign up a very good point. I had an herb garden and it was raised. It worked out great, and it did very well. My parents added a mother in law apartment on the back of the house right over my herb garden. Oh well!
thanks and have a great day
Rhonda
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
10 Apr 07
This will require a lot of work. You will have to amend the soil with compost, peat and sand. Make sure the sand is not too fine and nothing from the beach. It has salt in it.
WAIT until the soil dries. If you try to alter the soil when it is too wet you will do more damage than good. It will take YEARS to fix it.
You should turn the soil before you till it if possible. If you use peat make sure it is moist or wet. NEVER use dry peat because it will rob the soil of its moisture.
Gradually add the amendments. Till them into the soil. Then repeat.
Make sure you have a good balance of organic materials. If you put too much sand versus organics into the soil you will create a concrete type of soil. Good luck.
@Rickrocks8 (1751)
• United States
10 Apr 07
YOur right it will be alot of work. It is my one goal for our yard this year. My dad just got a tiller so I can use it as long as I need to. It's really wet right now so I cant do much. THanks so much for all your help and tips!
Rhonda
