Bonnie: if your seedling stems sort of got skinny right at soil level and they fell over and died--most or all of them in a container--then it was probably damping off. And this happened to a wsow container? Good thing I didn't say inconceivable! bencjedi, I found this info on using worm compost in your seed starting mix--it looks like you'll have to be careful not to let dampoff get started, but there are benefits to using the worm stuff: from http://www.pioneerthinking.com/tv-seedstart.html One of the most important factors when starting your seedlings is choosing your potting mix. It is often recommended to use a sterilized, soil-free starter mix to prevent diseases such as damping-off from taking hold of tender seedlings. I still recommend soil-less mixes to beginner gardeners but I, myself, have started to add compost and worm casts to my own mix. Here are a few reasons why: First, soil-less mixes are totally free of any nutrients whatsoever. While young seedlings don't require fertilizers until they develop their first set of true leaves, I find having to feed them solely through a liquid feed quite cumbersome. Organic fertilizers like compost and worm casts release their nutrients slowly and don't burn seedlings the way inorganic fertilizers may. Having these fertilizers already in the potting mix means I don't have to worry about feeding for at least 5-6 weeks. By then, I'm usually potting up the seedlings and adding fresh fertilizer anyway. Second, I have found that growing seedlings with organic fertilizers in the mix tends to produce healthier seedlings. The organic fertilizers help to mimic conditions in the garden where there is a multitude of fungi, bacteria and other soil organisms. Seedlings have to extract nutrients from the organic fertilizers just the way they would in garden soil. In contrast, I find that seedlings fed solely with liquid fertilizers tend to be less efficient at extracting nutrients since the liquid feeds provide them in a highly soluble form. Third, the organic fertilizers help the soil mix hold moisture for longer periods of time. Most soil-less mixes are a combination of peat, perlite & vermiculite and drain very quickly. They require frequent watering, especially when seedlings grow their first set of true leaves and really begin to transpire. Both compost and worm casts retain moisture well and keep it available for growing roots. Lastly, adding organic material into the potting mix helps to stretch the mix and make it go farther. This can be quite a cost savings, especially if your make your own compost or raise worms yourself. One word of caution about adding organic fertilizers to your potting mix - remember that they will contain a wide variety of soil organisms and your soil mix will not longer be sterile. If you've had a problem with damping-off in the past, i.e. you tend to overwater your seedlings, you may want to only water your seedlings from the bottom or else stay with a sterile mix.

I believe you gain little by trying to compost soil or to improve it in one location and later move it to another. Planting cover crops to improve the soil in one location and then moving it again to its final resting place seems to be a lot of work, on top of having already excavated it once. 4 to 6 bushels isn't a huge pile so what I would do is simply compost all the organic materials by themselves, and when done, mix in an amount of the clay soil to the finished compost that won't overpower it and spread that on the garden in areas that need fill. I'm suggesting an unscientific, visual measure where too much will look like heavy clay with some organic matter sprinkled in, too little will look like "what's that stuff mixed in the compost" and just right will look like really rich soil. You'll know it when you see it. Then start another batch of compost and when it's done, mix in some more of your soil. Eventually, you will have gotten rid of the excavated soil. Or, if you have some low spots in your yard or garden, simply fill it in with your clay soil, mix in lots of finished compost and be done with it. Moving soil is not light work, and if it gains you nothing to move it several times, just do it once. Wayne

Mad_gallica and Diane, thanks for the info. about multiflora. It sounds good to me, since I don't have time for suckers on Dr. Huey. I appreciate the conversation between Kim and Michaelg, I learn from you both. Kim, that idea about a brick walkway next to the house is GREAT! I never thought about that before, since I'm stuck in the norm of having plants next to the house. No one here do a brick walkway next to the house, but it's a smart iddea - no more mud splattering up to the white sidings, and less watering into the basement. Laura: My neighbor is wary of utility lines too, and he plants his trees in the weirdest place to avoid them. One time I was too impatient for ComEd Electric guy, I went ahead and dug a hole for the white pine. He came with flags and marked the line right across my hole. He assured me that it's OK to use a shovel to dig, and it's OK to put a tree on top. It helps if the utilities lines were put down before the builder put the top-soil on the lot. Then you have 10" of top soil, then 2 feet of gravel before you hit the lines. I prefer my trees to be on top of utility lines, since the gravel beneath helps drainage. Comcast and cable are different. They bury their lines very shallow into the grass. With them I have to use a hand scoop, or a spoon! LOL!

I have mostly silt loam, The heaviest corners are silty clay loam. As I said above somewhere, In 50 foot in one garden and 75 foot in the 2nd garden [the 3rd is flat ], I have 3 soil types. They have a very nice slope of about 1%. At the top end the original soil before amending was a lighter color and worked up lumpy...with fall plowing. The middle was loamier and darker brown. The lowest corner was nearly black and worked up like sugar if fall plowed...but a bear if spring plowed. I don't moldboard plow anymore. The very upper end was a bit of Glywood soil. The middle is Blount. The heavier corners Pewamo. About 4 miles from me there is a change in the soil types...mostly Brookston nd Crosby. Brookston and Pewamo are very rich soils, but tend to be low lying and damper in spring. Here is a site that can be moved around after you figure that out. https://www.acrevalue.com/soil/IN/Madison/