Tomorrow, huh? Compacted clay?

I'm thinking tilling in some compost/manure, building a raised bed over the area and filling with an organic mix from a soil place.....at least for now!( also check if there are gophers in the area and line with hardware cloth if needed!)

I have pretty bad clay, and after moving a compost pile after a couple of years was able to dig in fairly deep, but I'm talking a couple of YEARS!

Otherwise look into container gardening while you amend your soil! Nancy

Labeling is something. All compost is organic, although some may be more "organic" then others. "Compost with manure" is compost with more manure added or it may mean that manure was used during the process.

The others are right that adding organic matter to your clay soil today will not mean a plantable garden tomorrow although many people have done just that. Most all knowledgeable soil people will tell you that adding sand to clay will not do much of anything unless you add between 45 and 75 percent sand to that clay, a lot. To amend your plot to a depth of 6 inches you would need a minimum of 1.5 cubic yards of sand and that may not be enough to provide adequate drainage. The same amount of organic matter, compost, manure, vegetative waste of any kind, will do much more, next year.

kimmq is kimmsr

Agreed that the type of compost is not as important as the volume. And you can't turn compacted clay into fluffy loam overnight, but you can plant in amended clay and keep improving it year by year.

As for sand, another approach (if you don't mind having a raised bed) is to add some silt or silty sand soil in addition to the compost. You can sometimes find decent topsoil in a bag (poke a hole or find a torn bag and see what's in it). If it's not clay, you can add a few bags along with the compost and begin to alter the particle size distribution.

Don't walk on it, either. And mulch it with leaves, grass clippings, etc. during the growing season AND over the winter. Avoid letting rain pound on the surface. Don't dig or till it when it's very wet. You'll get there.

No one has bothered to inquire what sort of plants will be in this new planting bed. If more woody plants - trees and shrubs - or even perennials. I question the need to amend the soil before planting. A clay soil is not the deal breaker most assume it to be. Clay soils tend to be quite fertile because of their high cation exchange capacity - they hang on to soil nutrients - and naturally moisture retentive. And many plants like the firm texture of clay soils as their roots can more easily grip and therefore expand into a heavier soil.

Slow drainage can be enhanced by digging wide, shallow planting holes and siting plants high (top of root ball slightly above grade), bringing the backfill up to the top of the rootball in a small mound. Any amendments - compost or composted manures or any combination thereof - can be used as a mulch or topdressing. These will gradually break down and provide additional nutrients back to the soil as well as adding textural benefits. No muss, no fuss and minimal effort involved. And no waiting before planting.

There is a pretty significant horticultural body of evidence that demonstrates that planting in indigenous (unamended) soils allows for faster plant establishment and better root development than planting in a well amended soil, at least for any woody plants, as well as most perennials. There are a number of other valid issues that argue against amending as a matter of routine before planting but it is sufficient to just be clear that amending is not always necessary or even advised and that an indigenous clay soil is not necessarily a bad thing.

Maybe gypsum, maybe not. If the soil is quite sodic (salty) gypsum may well help, otherwise it is largely money not used well. If the soil has a fairly high amount of Calcium and you add gypsum you will increase the amount of calcium to no benefit to the plants and may cause even more growing problems since an imbalance of Ca to Mg can cause nutrient deficiencies.

http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Soil/gypsum.htm

kimmq is kimmsr

Thanks everyone. I needed up going over the whole area with a broad fork and removing the first 6" of clay (it came out in sheets. Nasty stuff!). Then I went over the stuff under that again with the broad fork and mixed in a bunch of half-composted hardwood mulch (with some bloodmeal for nitrogen) and then added 4-6" of bagged topsoil/compost garden mix. Then I made sure not to walk on it, because it is fluffy, happy goodness now!

FWIW, I am planting peony and bearded iris in that bed with one purple smoke tree.

Today my landscapers are coming to get rid of the pile of clay that I pulled out, and while they are here I may attack another area of my yard. Our clay is disgusting and absolutely not healthy in any way-- it smells rotten and there is not a single earthworm anywhere. Toxic!

Bearded iris hate fluffy. They are in many ways the anti-plant. If plants are assumed to like certain things, bearded iris like just the opposite. Before you plant them, make sure to walk over the area quite thoroughly to compact it. Otherwise, when the bed settled, the iris will be planted much too deeply.

Clay soils that smell "rotten" (putrid?) indicate poor drainage, a common problem with clay soils and one that adding lots of organic material can help, eventually, with. There is seldom a good reason to remove clay soils.

kimmq is kimmsr