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Novice question - clay soil/mulching

Kat FootKat Foot Posts: 10
in Problem solving
I have just added some plants to one of our beds and the heavy clay soil concerns me. I have added manure to improve the soil where I’ve planted, but I’m also considering mulching around the plants to retain some more moisture. However, as the ground is nearly solid would this either:
1. Stop water getting into the soil in the first place, or
2. Contain the moisture in the soil too much as it’s nearly solid and not well draining?

I hope that makes sense and is not a silly question. Any advice much appreciated!

PS: I couldn’t even dig into the soil with a spade. I had to use a mallet and a hand tool to loosen it first. It felt more than concrete than soil...
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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    You are right, don't mulch dry soil. Wait until the soil is damp.
    You would have been better improving the soil in the bed before planting.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Kat FootKat Foot Posts: 10
    punkdoc said:
    You are right, don't mulch dry soil. Wait until the soil is damp.
    You would have been better improving the soil in the bed before planting.

    Thanks, unfortunately, the bed already has some plants in it so it’s hard to add manure like you would in a new bed. I will hopefully gradually do the whole bed as I move/split plants. Wouldn’t the moisture in the soil get trapped if I mulch when it’s damp?
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    Clay is a lot easier to dig if it is wet. In fact, if it has just the right amount of water then it becomes nice and crumbly, so you can easily mix in compost etc. to improve the soil. I would not bother trying to dig if it is bone dry.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    You want water to be trapped, most plants do best in moist soil.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    If you mulch in the late autumn/winter, putting down a thick layer, it will penetrate the clay over the years and improve the soil. You can dig some into the clay also, around the plants. It's a long game.
  • Kat FootKat Foot Posts: 10
    punkdoc said:
    You want water to be trapped, most plants do best in moist soil.
    Thanks! I think I’m just paranoid as I’ve lost some Lavender through mulching. One of the few that don’t like wet feet...
  • Robin NicholsonRobin Nicholson Posts: 14
    I have very heavy clay - the heavy nature is best illustrated by the fact that a spade full is virtually impossible to lift. This is a new build garden up on the Durham Coast so I laboriously worked in a very good quality Cumbrian Soil improver. The method was to work in Spring every square foot, dividing 4 times one way and 4 the other. Each spade depth had some improver kicked in. It was finished off with a good 2" mulch
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Fire is right it really is a long game. I inherited impenetrable rocky clay and had to dig in literally tonnes of compost and composed manure, plus bag loads of grit to aid drainage. Two years later I am still adding and mulching and will continue to do so. I used acid compost to mix in and as a mulch because my soil is very alkaline. In your situation, I would be tempted to drastic action come the autumn, lifting and temporarily potting the perennials and shrubs I had in the cheapest plastic pots I could find, working the whole bed then replanting. That way you can buy organic material by the builders bagload which would be cheaper in the end and give your bed a good head start. That may or may not be practical for you though and would be a considerable financial outlay upfront.

    Lavender likes a free-draining, not too rich soil and a mulch of grit or gravel would be better than organic material.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Kat FootKat Foot Posts: 10
    Thanks for all the suggestions! Happy to do the hard work and play the long game as it’s our forever house! 
  • IamweedyIamweedy Posts: 1,364
    edited August 2018
    Once the ground is damp you need to mulch clay soil to keep the soil open and with silty mud, you need to mulch the soil aka (silt mud) in my garden to open the soil.   
    For those of a certain age. who remember this :D 1950s light program. 

     "I think the answer lies in the soil"? 
    Kenneth Williams' character, Farmer (Arthur) Fallowfield. 



    'You must have some bread with it me duck!'

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