I have a heavy clay soil which is not good at the moment as everything is waterlogged or soaked .I can not do anything as it is to wet and slippery and clay is the worst soil to have.
Flowering rose - although initially clay soil is difficult, potentially it is very productive - with good drainage and the incorporation of plenty of organic matter it can be turned into some of the most fertile land in the country
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dove's right - clay is great. The secret is adding the right things and having patience...easy to say I know, but it gives the best growing medium when you get it right.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Your photo looks exactly like a patch I have in my garden (although I must say ALL of my garden is waterlogged) I have a home at the bottom of a sloping field and the drainage is nonexistant there isn't even any provision for run off. My soil is also heavy clay so water tends to stay on the surface. Digging grit or sand in won't help much and after some reserch I've decided to buy a couple of dumpy bags of composted bark to dig in and use as a top dressing once I can actually get a spade out of the ground! What the compost will do is help break down the clay into smaller clumps. I intend to enlist an army of helpers, WORMS available on line they will help to transfer the compost into the clay, this isn't going to be a quick fix bur should work in the long term, till I can afford to have a more "industrial solution" installed.
Keep off of clay when squidgy. Add lots of well rotted farm yard manure or mushroom compost or fine bark and work in when the weather is better. As Dove says, clay plus humus can be really productive.
I too live with heavy North Devon clay. I agree with posts from Fairy, and Doveand o thers: avoid walking / working it when waterlogged. All you'll do is to squeeze out any air spaces there and make drainage worse. I also totally agree with garden compost / manure / worms: they're your best friends on clay. The bulkier, chunkier the better, if you can get it. Raised beds need only be a few inches higher than the surrounding area to have a surprisingly beneficial effect.
My last garden soil was literally 12" of builders sand. I could work it even in the rain, but I was a slave to the hosepipe in summer, and all the goodness leached out. I think , on balance, I'm happier with the clay.
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I have a heavy clay soil which is not good at the moment as everything is waterlogged or soaked .I can not do anything as it is to wet and slippery and clay is the worst soil to have.
Flowering rose - although initially clay soil is difficult, potentially it is very productive - with good drainage and the incorporation of plenty of organic matter it can be turned into some of the most fertile land in the country
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I dumped all my heavy clay at the local tip.
If left it will only cause problems every time it rains.
Heavy frosts will also break it up, you could try to dig it all over leaving the lumps and the frost will break it up.
Dove's right - clay is great. The secret is adding the right things and having patience...easy to say I know, but it gives the best growing medium when you get it right.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Your photo looks exactly like a patch I have in my garden (although I must say ALL of my garden is waterlogged) I have a home at the bottom of a sloping field and the drainage is nonexistant there isn't even any provision for run off. My soil is also heavy clay so water tends to stay on the surface. Digging grit or sand in won't help much and after some reserch I've decided to buy a couple of dumpy bags of composted bark to dig in and use as a top dressing once I can actually get a spade out of the ground! What the compost will do is help break down the clay into smaller clumps. I intend to enlist an army of helpers, WORMS available on line they will help to transfer the compost into the clay, this isn't going to be a quick fix bur should work in the long term, till I can afford to have a more "industrial solution" installed.
Keep off of clay when squidgy. Add lots of well rotted farm yard manure or mushroom compost or fine bark and work in when the weather is better. As Dove says, clay plus humus can be really productive.
I too live with heavy North Devon clay. I agree with posts from Fairy, and Doveand o thers: avoid walking / working it when waterlogged. All you'll do is to squeeze out any air spaces there and make drainage worse. I also totally agree with garden compost / manure / worms: they're your best friends on clay. The bulkier, chunkier the better, if you can get it. Raised beds need only be a few inches higher than the surrounding area to have a surprisingly beneficial effect.
My last garden soil was literally 12" of builders sand. I could work it even in the rain, but I was a slave to the hosepipe in summer, and all the goodness leached out. I think , on balance, I'm happier with the clay.