Hi John,

We have clay soil here in Maine too. I use "Premier Pro Mix" (most big garden centers have this) peat moss and any kind of seafood compost. I mix it all together in a wheelbarrow and work it into my soil as I plant. It hasn't failed me yet. Usually a bale of pro mix is about 11.00 but compressed so it goes a long ways. Seafood compost runs about 7.00 or so and depending on whether or not you buy the peat in a bale or bag, about 8.00 to 12.00. Hope this helps you. Good luck.

If you are in W PA, you probably have red clay, like we have here. The only ammendment I use, is pine bark fines, primarily to aid in drainage and to make the soil easier to till. It's usually available in 2-3 cu. ft. bags, as a partially decomposed product, such as Nature's Helper or Earth Helper. All of the big box stores and nurseries have it, in this area. It is relatively inexpensive, As most flowering plants do best in slightly acidic soil, you may want to add some Dolomitic lime and till it into the soil during preparation. Since clay retains moisture, it tends to become very acidic. I use about a cupfull per sq.ft. when necessary.
Good luck with your project, sounds like fun!

Are there any municipal compost sites around? In the north, they are usually almost entirely fall leaves, which is a great soil amendment. You might also want to see if a farmer has old manure for cheap. Stay away from sand or peat moss. The sand won't accomplish much, and the peat has undesirable water holding properties. Bagged humus or manure is decent stuff, but you'll need at least $20 of the stuff.

Don't fall into the mental trap that clay soil is bad, and desperately needs to be 'fixed'. It's usually very good growing soil, just compacted

Thanks everyone. I sincerely appreciate all the great feedback.

Sincerely,
John

peat moss

If there are woods nearby with decent leaf reside on ground and you're careful about poison ivy there should be lots of leaf mould under the surface leaves if you move them.

I needed so much to amend my father's cement clay soil that I got tired of spending money and time buying compost, humus, greensand, etc. that I went out to woods behind his house and dug out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of great decomposing black leaves with all the worms I could get my hands on. Only thing better than economical is free plus it's using what's already in the natural environment in the way plants grow naturally with advantages of decomposition.

Never in a million years did I think I'd be on my knees gathering up decomposing black leaves, relocating "good" worms, squishing cutworms and slugs that come along with decomposition and generally looking like a mud covered Mrs. Greenjeans by the end of the day...LOL. Found out I'd do pretty much anything to make the soil as "right" as I could so the plants could follow suit.

Broke up leaves by hand into very small pieces to avoid compaction and then mixed well into clay soil, which does have great nutrients but doesn't drain for eons, with some bagged compost/humus and sphagnum peat moss (which seems antithetical but some people say it loosens clay soil). If I had some garden gypsum or NJ greensand left I threw some of that in too. I took a scattergun approach figuring whatever I could work into that clay to aid in drainage would help. I've got quite a few inches of hardwood mulch in all new gardens from 3 yards delivered that cost more than I thought it would but everyone was yelling at me to get mulch on the clay so it wouldn't harden anymore than it already had. Broken up leaves and/or some pine needles might do you for part of mulch given the leaves are free for gathering from woods and pines are dropping their needles right now around here adding to years of the stuff under pines.

You're doing a great thing and I wish you lots of luck.

One of the very, very best times of my life was the summer when I was 19 and worked at a summer camp with kids from the city. It was glorious. Catching and throwing back little Sunnies in the lake, hikes through woods...just a great experience and one I hold dear in my heart all these years later.