Clay Soil Exposed and Enriched
This may sound strange, but I Love My Soil.
I’m so proud of the dark, rich texture, and the way the water soaks slowly out of sight into the ground.
Why?
Because it means I’m going to have a great garden with lots of good veggies and flowers.
But it wasn’t always so.
When we moved to our home, the soil was pretty lousy.
The first inch or so was covered with landscaper’s topsoil to give the appearance mother earth was good.
It wasn’t.
Digging down 6 inches, we found chunky clay soaked with water.
Imagine a potter spinning a bowl and your have a good picture.
How did we change it into a grower’s delight?
Compost, gypsum and worm castings (manure) deserve the credit.
And me …working a scheduled diet of mixing those three into the top surface of the ground.
Why just the top 8 inches?
That’s where the major growth action of roots takes place.
Here’s the good news.
Great soil can be made. And, clay “‘yuk” can be improved and made good.
Anyone can do it!
How?
Just read on and follow my simple advice.
But, first here’s why clay is the worst soil to work with for an organic garden.
The compactness (density) of mud does two things:
1) It limits the plant’s roots from growing good; And,
2) Drowns the plant with too much water.
This prevents plants from reaching their best growth possible. Think about it.
How is a root going to push it’s way through muck and gather nutrients? It’s not.
And, then the pH level is too high and stunts growth.
For all these reasons, root crops, like carrots and potatoes, don’t do well here.
There are ways to solve these problems and enrich the soil too.
Here’s how-
The first thing is to rototill the ground before you mix in organic matter.
Why before?
Because digging breaks up the clumps of muck and aerates the soil. Compacted soil has air knocked out of it.
Then, start adding organic compost and coarse sand without the small rocks.
And add bark, sawdust, compost, peat moss and soil mulches to break-up the clay soil.
They absorb the water and bring the right bugs to churn the clay.
Try to avoid large mounds of sand or compost. Spread it evenly. And, get it as deep with the tiller as possible.
Over time compost will add organic carbon and humic matter to the soil.
And, Gypsum (calcium sulfate) has also been known to be a good additive for clay soil.
It helps drain the water and can lower the high salt content found in clay. It will not affect your soil’s pH as limestone will.
For alkaline soil that tests low in calcium, spread up to 4 pounds of granular gypsum per 100 square feet.
Always get a soil test. It’s the only accurate way to know what soil needs before adding things like gypsum.
In addition to helping balance your soil’s nutrients, gypsum is an excellent soil conditioner. And, you can use it to loosen clay soil or to bind up sandy soil.
Both compost and gypsum will help attract worms to your clay soil, which then helps the worms burrow through the clay and leave their rich castings (worm manure) loaded with nutrients.
As you can see, you can easily improve your clay soil with just a few steps.
Happy gardening with another episode to come.
Want to know more?
Do this:
- Click on the blog link above to find more posts; And,
- If you want to ask a question, click on the contact link above and send me your question. Or,
- Post a comment for me to respond to. And,
- Follow me and tweet me in the Tweeter and Facebook links up above on the right side.
Yours truly for a great garden with outstanding veggies and flowers.
Polly-organic gardener
No related posts.
