Look into lasagna gardening. It sounds real easy and effective. I am saving cardboard, newspaper, composting everything, getting a huge pile of finished horse manure delivered (one truck load a time), and preparing to use the lasagna technique everywhere starting late October. My plants that got the heaviest application of the finished horse manure are by far the healthiest I have. I've been digging a hole here and there (where nothing is currently growing), moving my existing soil to the front yard in 3 gallon buckets and filling it with the manure. Eventually I'll soften up this "stuff" I grow in.

I feel fortunate to have a free and unlimited supply of very old completely composted weed free horse manure that has been solarized and mixed with mineral rich sand before I dig it up. It can be expensive to buy enough commercially bagged amendments to do the job. If you have stables or some other livestock operation nearby maybe have a chat with someone there.

Good quality compost is the best in my opinion. I started with clay soil three years ago and have been amending with homemade compost for three years now and have noticed a world of difference with drainage and compactness especially in my third year. It doesn't happen over night though. Its a progressive process and takes time. Soil conditioners are ok but usually contain lots of woody material in my experience. I wouldn't go crazy on the soil conditioner but moderate applications will help loosen the soil and improve drainage as well. Manure is good as well, I use composted chicken manure but again in moderate applications. I guess the only thing I go a little crazy with is homemade compost which is hard to over due and is so good for the soil. But I do think everything you listed will help in one way or another. Good luck.

Damon

I have a lot of places where people can board their horses near me. I talked to the stable owners and they let me drive my car right up to the stalls and the horse rings and pack as much of the stuff as I want. I save all the old manure bags I have purchased and I just put as much stuff in there as I can. I have never had a problem with weed seeds, probobly because the horses are not grazing in open fields. But the stuff is just wonderful. Horse manure is not as hot a steer manure. The cow uses urine in the part of digestion which is why you need to let it mellow longer before putting it in your beds. Because the horse stuff has been sitting out in the open for so long it is already significanty decomposed. What little heat was in it is gone. That is not to say that I would put fresh, out of the horse, manure on my garden, I would not, it is just that the stuff I get from theses horse ranches has been sitting out for months. I love to add it to my compost piles. There is so much straw and sawdust mixed with it that it makes the perfect complement to the compost pile. The stuff is just great.

Happy Gardening,

Tom

I like teh idea od lasagna gardening, but if I don't use raised beds, how would I stop the runoff?

Danny, in the gardens I am not raising, I'm digging holes (dynamite would be the correct tool if I had it), filling 3 gallon containers with the bad dirt and discarding it on a dirt pad in the front of the house; then filling the holes with lasagna ingredients. The ones I did in May shrunk about 75% and so they got more ingredients. The most recent ones have been piled into mounds about 8 inches above the original soil. They will work their way in. I'd love to take a year just to correct the soil and not grow in it, but that ain't happenin'. I know I have increased my earthworm population by putting so much food in the area. They seem to really go for coffee filter and kitchen waste. So I save about half of that stuff for them and the rest for the compost pile. When I have an amount equal to about a third of a three gallon hole, I dig, add it, add horse manure and cardboard and or newspaper in nearly equal amounts, not quite layered but you get the idea. I water it in, stomp it down lightly, add some more and top it with my ample supply of sand (to discourage flies and such). Two years ago I didn't think I had earthworms here, but a heavy rain revealed a few in the lawn, not in the hardpan I've converted to gardens. Now a good population is thriving. This is a very recent development and people think I'm weird because it made me so happy. I got worms! It takes time.

Also, spend some time reading in the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum. Plenty of information there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here

I'm in North east PA and we have some serious hard-pack kinda clay.. Been amemending my garden soil for years with leaf compost that I get from my town's compost center... It's good stuff, but doesn't compare to my homemade stuff... That said, my clay is now only visible when I turn over the garden in the spring, and even then, it's pretty deep down... Last year I planted annual rye grass late in the fall as a cover crop.. As the logic goes, your soil isn't exposed to winter winds and spring runoff which result in lost nutrients.. The rye is tilled under during spring prep, which provides an additional shot of nitrogen...

Mojavi Bob,

This is the process Bob Webster used to soften rock hard clay soil that he could not even bust up with a breaking bar.

If you are going to start a new bed (not a raised bed) then spread a good amount of organic fetilizer over the entire are that you want to work on. The put a three inch layer of compost over that. For the next several months water the entire garden area really well three times a week. The more time you give it the better. The microbes are leached out of the compost and into the soil, along with the fertilizer, and the microbes do the work of softening the soil. By the time he went to plant he said he could dig the soil with a teaspoon. The bacteria use the fertilizer as an energy source. Organic fertilizers have lots of energy for bacteria, so putting it down first is a very good way of feeding them so they can do the work. If you want to hear his entire seminar on this go to YouTube and type in his name. His 10 session seminar on vegitable gardening will come up and you can watch each 9 min session at your liesure. He is one of the more knowledgable nurserymen out there. He is very entertaining as well.

Tom

It looks like I forgot to mention Bob Websters name, didn't I. Well, that was just a bit absentminded of me. Actually, I edited the paragraph and I guess I went a little crazy with hitting the backspace key. Any way, Bob has some great ideas about how to prepare a new garden or to get the existing garden ready for next season's planting.

Tom

Danny,

In both late Autumn and early Spring I dig in amendments--I don't like to spend money so I have to use what's on hand.

In Autumn I use chopped fallen leaves. They're easy to collect--I just run the mower with the catcher bag on and mow them up, I probably turn in about two inches of chopped fallen leaves. I just strew them across the bed and turn them in.

I do the same in early Spring with the second or third cut from the lawn. I don't use the first cut because it's going to be loaded with any windblown weed seeds which have fallen onto the lawn throughout its cold-season dormancy. About two weeks after I turn in some grass clippings I use a scuffle hoe to knock out any weedlings. Depending upon how fast my own transplants are ready, I could have a couple of more weeks before I plant in the beds, so if possible, I will hoe again to knock out any more weedlings that have sprouted.

Adding grass clippings or chopped fallen leaves to your beds is like ringing the dinner bell for worms. They show up within a very few days. Worms are wonderful--they aerate your soil and leave behind leavings from their behinds ;-) Worm poopies are gentle and excellent fertilizer for plants. Amendments also, because of their cellulose, have water absorbing properties--you have less erosion because the ground is sponge-like and more consistent soil moisture.

T

I second all the motions for the lasagna approach, which works wonders over time. You can do this in a raised bed frame thereby filling the frame for use next year, or by mounding materials over an area without a frame, or as another has suggested just dig holes and do it that way if you prefer. The idea is to start piling layers of organic materials, and those can be whatever you can get your hands on in your area. Check out the soil forum for extensive information on this topic.

Wheat. Sow wheat. As early as possible after harvesting. Let it grow until about a month before you intend to plant next spring. Mow the foliage (add to the compost pile) then in a couple of weeks, till the roots into the soil.

Wheat is very inexpensive, about a buck for enough seed to cover 100 sq. ft., will survive frosts and freezes, provides huge amounts of nitrogen to the soil, gives a lot of foliage for composting, the roots are great organic material. It is about as close to perfect as you will find.

Mike