Small Area/Clay Heavy Soil Help
StaceyVonWolf
9 years ago
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Kale
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Termites, 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 MoreI have heavy clay soil, and raised beds won't work. Do I amend
Comments (13)Many kinds of maples are adapted to heavy soils and are planted in them by the thousands, as along streets for instance. It is the Japanese maple that is unusually touchy about drainage. If this planting site is big enough your best bet would be to excavate the clay soil and replace with lighter soil. If it is a narrow strip and the area becomes quite wet even that may not work, water coming in from the sides. Planting a tree or shrub over loosened soil is not a good idea because as the soils settles after planting the new specimen may sink to a level below the desired depth. Digging organic matter into a heavy soil will not have a lasting effect on the texture of the soil as the organic matter will gradually decompose and disappear. Even when non-decomposing amendments such as sand are used to alter the texture of backfill if the planting area is a small one there will still be the problem of how water moves into and out of the planting area being affected. Small areas of one soil texture surrounded by a much larger area of another are often a setup for problems. A large bed of soil amended with sand or similar material will also pose the problem of what to do when the dug over area rises up like a loaf of bread after the amendments are dug in - unless a soil already has a fairly high sand content a huge amount must be used to alter the texture of the finished bed significantly. If you can't excavate and replace a wide area of soil there or put a layer of more suitable soil over the top then it many just be that you can't safely plant Japanese maples in that particular spot. However, since you are in a fairly mild climate zone possibly it would be acceptable to plant them in suitably large tubs and place these on top of crushed rock or other covering in the same location....See MoreShrubs for heavy clay soil
Comments (18)Leftwood, Thanks for explaining the low oxygen level in soil. And thanks for narrowing my Virbunum search - now I know what to avoid. Added /willows & alders to my list. I just finished researching a variety of different weigelas, and some need well drained soil, others are not fussy. Usually at the end of the nursery season when plants are 50% off, we find plants worth buying, that we wouldn't-dare-pay-that-much-for in the beginning of the season, and weigelas are always among them - so might try planting one late summer-early fall. Maplerbirsh, If I need a huge hole like you described, I will definitely enlist DH's help! Marcia, I'm on the east Frontage Road, due west of Sturtevant, directly across the "I" from Sylvania Airport. I also have a couple of Highbush Cranberry shrubs, but they grow in partial shade in the open woods area. Thanks for the offer though! I know what you mean about the Honeysuckle, although I don't mind them, because they're mixed in with all the other native understory around here, and so far are not invasive. The burdock is what's horribly invasive. Anyway, thanks everyone for your helpful responses! Julie...See MoreHeavy Clay Soil Amendment - Garden Soil?
Comments (16)I guess if you purport to speak with more authority on the subject than those who spend all their time researching and studying these issues, Embothrium, then feel free to call that false. OTOH, I tend to give more weight to opinions of actual horticultural scientists : "Let's say you have incorporated the recommended 25-50% organic matter to your backfill. (Remember that an ideal soil contains 5% organic matter by volume.) The initial results are positive; roots grow vigorously in this ideal environment as long as irrigation is provided. But what happens when these roots encounter the interface between the planting hole and the native soil? Native soil contains fewer available nutrients, is more finely textured and is less aerated. Roots react much in the same way as they do in containers: they circle the edge of the interface and grow back into that more hospitable environment of the planting hole. The roots do not establish in the native soil, eventually resulting in reduced growth rates and hazard status as crown growth exceeds root ball diameter" The Myth of Soil Amendments, Linda Chalker-Scott, PhD...See MoreCascio Associates - Site Planning - Landscape Arch
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