I have heavy clay soil, and raised beds won't work. Do I amend
finz2left
16 years ago
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ltruett
16 years agolou_spicewood_tx
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Raised Bed Filled W/ 'Conditioned' Native Clay Soil?
Comments (6)I'm not sure what you read that made you so pesimistic. I will tell you that I certainly felt that way to start with. I live in the NC piedmont which stands for a deep vein of red heavy clay soil. White clay is even worse as it indicates that air can't get into the small particles and rust the iron to red. However it is plenty hard and slimy clay like when wet. We have the largest hand thrown pottery community here. Thirty miles south, the soil turns to sand and the interface is the brick capital of the country! I doesn't appear that anything except grass will grow in this soil. However, if ammended heavily with bulk, it does wonderfully as it holds water and nutrients extremely well. We are in the country. I found a cattleman who has cow manure/bedding piled up and mixed after being mucked out of the barns. I bought a dump truck load (I actually bought two and moved it multiple places later) and had a third to a half of it dumped in my ~25' x 35' garden and tilled it in. That could have been between 6 to 10 cu yds of black composted manure. That changed the texture of the soil and it is still there after 6+ years. Gas was much cheaper then and it cost me $60 for delivery and $50 for the manure. Would be much more now for delivery....See MoreWhat kind of soil do i have and how should i amend it?
Comments (5)Where in the world you are can be of tremendous assistance to some of us, although my soil is sand while my sisters soil (6 miles west of me) is clay. Usually sand atop a clay base indicates that someone dumped some sand there in an attempt to have a soil kind of easier to cultivate then the clay would be. The clay, under that sand, will keep that sand from draining properly, two different soil types with vastly different drainage capabilities. I would talk with the people at your local office of your state universities Cooperative Extension Service to find out what your soil type shoulld be....See MoreTermites, Mulch, Heavy Clay Soil, Raised beds
Comments (3)yes, what did you decide. I am where the sand blows up from Palm Springs into the higher levels of the desert. We have deep sand and crud for dirt. Takes a lot of compost for any reason. I am using containers (old trunk bottoms, plastic and chip board, deep wire trays) and putting up on top of legs (saw horses, old bath bench, old bench made with headboards and other table legs). I am lining it all with newspaper (and maybe also material), I also have some old drawers that I am gona do something with. I want to get up so I can use good dirt and be away from these pesky gophers and where the dogs will not dig. I also have a large bookcase that I will reinforce and add table legs to put in somethings. Still working this out bot in the yard and on paper. I plan on using some recycle type water in a big barrel to be able to water efficiently. I say recycle water cause if the grandkids play in a big tub or pool...I will use that water to water the garden. Thinking about setting up an outside shower and capture that water, lol. Who knows what will work annd what I will do. But I am gona try it this year. I am also going to try a potato tower....See MoreDo soil amendment products really help our adobe clay soils?
Comments (34)Someone here is having good results with amending clay with 50 percent sand and then topping the area with sandy loam. The nurseryman who runs Laguna Hills Nsy and gave the soils class takes the stock he buys and removes most of the mix around the roots. Then he replaces it in peat moss, perlite, pumice,sand and some charcoal. He would add more sand in the mix he sells bagged but the bags would rip or be too expensive to ship. The charcoal is there because the world's best soils have some charcoal content. A building supply in Costa Mesa sells something called Rick's mix that is sandy loam and decomposed granite for improving clay. I have used the best potting mixes I could buy and watch the plants die off in a year. With the mix from Laguna Hills, it doesn't happen. Now I use a mix of my own soil, sand and the Laguna Hills formula. I have been making charcoal all winter and sifting it to throw out the ash which is alkaline. In the old days the nurseries planted in Sandy loam and sold bareroot. No one amended the holes or they planted high in large mounds or raised beds if drainage was poor. Now the wholesalers who planted in real soil are being edged out by those who plant in composted wood. The plants grow fast and are lighter to ship but eventually the breakdown of the planting material kills the plant. You can slow the process by letting the mix dry out almost completely before watering again, but it stresses the plants, especially in our warm climate. In the old days, a nursery could water every day with no root problems at all. A nursery could keep their stock for years and water every day and feed once a month until it sold. Now it's a race to sell the plant before the mix degrades and the roots die. The nurseries have to move their stock quick before then. Even if you plant it in good soil, the plant might not make it to five years because the mix around the trunk has become poisonous to the plant. Some plants grow fast enough to get roots out beyond into good soil. Arborists use augers to drill out holes around the trunk and backfill with sand to get the oxygen into the toxic area. You can also dig into one side and replace with 100 percent soil and six months later do the other side. The formula is stay away from three times the diameter of the trunk when removing roots. That was the formula for moving plants sold in soil wrapped with burlap. Any plant you fix needs to be shaded for two weeks. You can also help them by spraying the leaves with 1 gallon water 1 oz Karo syrup 1 oz seaweed 1 oz fish fertilizer a little wetting agent I hope this helps anyone trying to save a plant. I think it's rotten that plants are being sold that they know will have problems later on. People think it's their fault. The landscape reflects the trend towards only plants that can overcome the crappy potting mix and we all get taught wrongly to add this stuff to the soil at planting time....See Morefinz2left
16 years agolou_spicewood_tx
16 years agoMike Larkin
16 years agofinz2left
16 years agomattlwfowler
16 years agoEmbothrium
16 years agoEmbothrium
16 years agodawgie
16 years agobotann
16 years agoEmbothrium
16 years ago
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