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Clay Soil - Help!
aaronrichardsonn
Posts: 3
0
aaronrichardsonn
Posts: 3
aaronrichardsonn
Posts: 3
aaronrichardsonn
Posts: 3
Posts
That certainly is clay soil Aaron. In fact, it's just clay. What you need to do is introduce as much organic material as you can get and lots of course grit and mix it in. You can hire a small Rotavator to help with this very heavy work. Basically, the more muck you add and the longer you keep adding it, the better your soil will become. My borders used to be like yours but the soil is lovely, now. Good luck!
Aaron, you can take heart that a clay soil improved in the way Posy says is amongst the most fertile soils there is. It does take a lot of effort and time but it really is worth it.
Rather than battle against it, I'd work with your soil type by creating a bog garden and planting things that like boggy soil:
http://www.gardens-to-go.org.uk/merriments_bog_garden.htm
As Posy and Bob have said - add loads of manure, and grit, to open it up and make it usable for all sorts of plants and shrubs. It's a great medium once you have it more friable, and it won't take long. Otherwise it makes gardening hard work because it's solid and sticky during the wetter months, or rock hard like concrete in hot dry spells.
A bit of effort now will really pay off in future
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Planning to use the excess to what? Some of the thread seems to be missing so i'm not sure what you need advice on exactly.
I had to vigorously go at my clay soil with a large pick axe last year, and then begin the amendment process once it was all broke up.. The Soil is a lot nicer this year but still needs a bit of work i think, hopefully the plants will actually survive this time round. I'm sure it's worth it in the end Aaron.
When I first arrived here an elderly local with wonderful soil told me how to improve mine. Then he did that traditional gardener's thing and said, "Do that for forty years and....." It doesn't take forty years but every year is an improvement. Once the grit is in you just mulch, mulch, mulch.
More than ten years ago, we built a house in a forest. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. We tried to improve soil, however, it was so difficult. Then, we made raised beds and thrown large amount of good soil (compost, manure, leaf mold, etc.). Plants grow very well in the raised beds.
Thanks for you replies everyone, I have looked into getting some grit and soil to try and break up the larger chunks. Its seems some of my post got cut out but my question has been answered
Thanks again!
I'm not a particularly knowledgeable gardener, but our soil is also clay and have noticed that roses absolutely thrive in it
Yes roses love clay. I have heavy clay soil, but a layer of compost each year creates very fertile beds.