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Urgent soil advice
2oaktrees
Posts: 160
Hi
Amateur gardner! I have thick clay soil in my garden and I want to mix it with soil improvers and add some quality soil to it too. Would really appreciate any advice on what type of soil improver and soil I should use. I want to order some bulk bags for the raised beds too and need some quality soil.
Does anyone have any experience of ordering online? I am really nervous about ordering soil online as it could be hit or miss depending on each supplier. Any recommendations would be welcome. I was looking at MrWattmores soil but having read their reviews I think I will stay clear.
Thank you
0
Posts
Hi
You could add top soil but what is required is large amounts of manure and compost dug in to the soil including some grit. Mix in as much up to a spades depth. This over a period will break down the clumps of clay by encouraging worm to tunnel in to the manure/clay mixture. This will allow air and water to permeate the soil, The grit will break the clay down as it will improve drainage. The more muck you can put in will speed and improve the soil for planting
Clay is the basis for very good soil.
Lots of organic matter is what you need to break up the clay and release all the nutrients that are bound within.
For the last 2 years I've ordered from here
https://www.cpa-horticulture.co.uk/compost/farmyard-manure
2016 I had 3x40 bags of the Horse manure compost which was good, but did have a lot of woodshavings (though nowhere near as much as in others I've bought)
Last year I had 2x40 bags of the Farmyard manure/Mushroom compost. Not a single woodshaving to be seen. Excellent stuff and it smelt just right too! Highly recommend it.
For very good topsoil have a look at silverton aggregates, or for smaller amounts Oakley turf
Last edited: 27 January 2018 20:26:48
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I buy composted stable muck from a local supplier. It comes in those big bags that B&Q use. They advertise in the local paper and deliver.
Thanks greenfingers steve & pete8,
Great advice, thanks!? I want to make 3 large beds and a long border so is it best to imorove the clay soil with compost and manure rather than soil and manure?
Im looking to plant all kinds of shrubs, conifers and perennials in my beds but want to make a single bed for acid loving plants. I will add ericacious compost but what else can I use to improve the soil in that bed alone? Can I use manure for camellias, rhododendrons etc...?
Thank you in advance.
Hi
Do a soil ph test to confirm if you have acid or alkaline soil ( get them from GC or major stores ie Wilko). If you do not have an acid soil it would be best to not plant acid loving plants as they will not thrive 100% even if you add ericaseous compost.
There are plenty of shrubs and plants that will thrive in an alkaline soil so you will not be disappointed with the selection you have, plus you can always but avideo loving plants in containers if the soil in your garden is not compatible
Correction - acid loving plants
Manure should be a well rotted mix of straw and poo. Shavings aren't as good as straw and take a lot longer to rot down. To improve very heavy clay soil the best mix is all types of compost and grit.
Different people have different approaches: some tell you to put the stuff on top and 'let the worms do the work' but this wouldn't have worked for me - not in my lifetime, anyway. My soil was wet, solid clay with almost no life in it at all and the only way to get it going was to mix the stuff, like making a cake! I also had to avoid creating a pan - a solid surface under my improved soil - by making sure I broke up the clay before the improved mix was left to settle. If you don't do this the water will sit on the clay and not drain.
After that I mulched with garden compost, well rotted manure and leaf compost as often as I could: I still do.
Like others have said Manure is best for breaking it down also adding grit and forking it in helps, and then every year to then mulch on top building up the next layer on top.
If ordering just small bags which I have not got time for picking up at the garden centre shop here online https://www.maxwellsdiy.com/gardening-outdoors-c1/compost-soil-improvement-c101
Also wickes online is good for quick delivery they do delivery small bags depending when you look on the site or big bags that come on lorries http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Gardens/Garden-Maintenance/Compost+Topsoil/c/1000742
Get an idea of you soil pH from here -
http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
If you do have native acidic soil, it's better to use composted bark chip or leaf mould rather than manure - which can have lime - and especially don't use mushroom compost, which always does. Chopped bracken is another option. I'm one of those that goes for the no dig approach - I spread a thick layer of mulch on the soil each spring. It takes about 3 years to get from pot clay to usable soil. The harder frosts you get the quicker it works - frost is the very best clay breaker. This is why I don't mulch in autumn, but leave the soil surface clear over winter and mulch in spring. It's a slower process than digging it in but in the long run the soil structure is better (and my knees are grateful, too).
I do plant clay happy plants in it from the start though - into the pot clay - members of the rose family, predominantly and all planted 'bare root' with a handful of seaweed granule food, so there's no lump of nice compost around the roots. Digging planting holes in clay and filling them with nice gritty compost results in your plants sitting in small ponds - if they can't survive in the thick clay then don't plant them until the soil is better.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”