found another useful website

Posted on 30 Apr, 2009 6 comments

for anyone who wants to deal with clay soils i found this website.

http://www.turfandstuff.com/page.php?xPage=how_to_improve_clay_soil.html

also found this out.

Heavy clay soil is excellent soil but the soil particles are so small they tend to run together and make the ground very hard to work. To improve clay for gardening, first spade or till the ground in the late fall or early spring, as deep as possible. Leave it rough for a time so that freezing and thawing can break it down.

Be careful not to work a clay soil when it is wet. Add all the organic matter to it you can obtain. Rotted manure, rotted leaves, and any fall cover crops that can be spaded under will help. Finally a dressing of limestone, or of hydrated lime, will help flocculate the clay and make it more easily crumbled. Use enough lime to make the surface white and apply it any time now. It can be worked into the soil as spring gardening progresses.

Comments

Davewebber

rosie, cheers old girl. youre a gem. dave

30 Apr, 2009

Seaburngirl

dont lime the soil if you have rhododendrons, camelias etc though !

good blog, lots of useful information.

30 Apr, 2009

Bobg

Good blog Rosina fortunately I don't suffer with clay soil thank goodness! That flocculating bit sounds painful :o)

30 Apr, 2009

Gilli

Great blog Rosina....Before you add lime, you should test the pH of your soil. Lime will increase the alkalinity of the soil. Clay soil is very often already on the alkaline side so you don't want to make it worse.

1 May, 2009