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my plot is undergoing a (very) slow clearing/cultivating transformation and of course with there being so little rain lately the next piece to dig has been baked hard for months, and i'm actually having to use an axe and hose to churn it up into soil again.

the problem is immediately below the surface is pure solid orange clay!

i can't afford a rotavator so my plan is to break up the surface as much as i can (1/2 inches at a time) and top dress with compost and manure, relying on the roots of the plants to break up the soil a bit more for me.

sound ok?

raised beds?

That would then make th clay deeper, and less problematic.......


Please please, can you have some of our rain!!

EVERYONE is complaining here.farmers included who normally welcome the slightest drop!
crops arebolting, weeds are thriving, and appearently most reservoirts areatfull capacity, and some have had to have te outlets opened, to prevent local flooding!

Someone told me they´d heard tthat this summer in UK could be worse than ¨76. and I do remember that one, and so do Sapniards.for brits saying it was colder here!

I would only do what you can do / really need.

If this is a clay "pan" then you might just want to leave lots of it, and plant things with tap roots that you can use, comfrey, dandelions, sorrels, that sort of thing, they are perennials so you could use them elsewhere or just let it all die down, and this will slowly build up a better soil?

Or just an annual green manure like Vetch might help for next year, or site clearing favorites Potatoes or Pigs, both hard work!

Raised beds are a good idea too, as are things like mint and strawberries who have shallow root systems which will spread and give you ground cover, but would require inital watering to get established?

Clay soil can be improved by mixing in sharp sand as well as compost. The tiny clay particles clump round the bigger sand grains, so the whole lot ends up more grainy (more room for air and water). I have done this for relatively small beds, but it's labour intensive. I guess if you just chucked some sand in with the compost it would probably help, even if it wasn't mixed very thoroughly.

thanks for the replies - the sand is a great idea!
i'm told by the allotment shop i can lime it after harvest, when i dig over for the winter - i have a feeling this particular patch may be just a density, a smaller area within the plot, i'll dig a bit in other areas to checj the theory and then maybe choose it for my comfrey patch!

thanks for the great ideas (sadly pigs are out of the running for me! would love a few snouters!)

Around here we use Lime to help break up clay soils.

I had terrible clay in Gloucester when I lived there - concrete like in the summer and if you walked on it in the winter you came away with wellies twice the size with clay. The best thing was sand with bits in, sort of small aggregate I think it's called. I imported several tons and with that and home made compost gradually it became easier to work. I still always planted all my seeds indoors - yes, even root crops, and planted out when they had a chance of coping with the soil. I don't think a seed could have started off in it.

that's what i have found henwoman, all my crops have been greenhoused and then hardened off at the plot in their pots till they were climing out the bottoms!

definatley potassium difficiency.

niknik wrote:raised beds?

That would then make th clay deeper, and less problematic.......


Please please, can you have some of our rain!!

EVERYONE is complaining here.farmers included who normally welcome the slightest drop!
crops arebolting, weeds are thriving, and appearently most reservoirts areatfull capacity, and some have had to have te outlets opened, to prevent local flooding!

Someone told me they´d heard tthat this summer in UK could be worse than ¨76. and I do remember that one, and so do Sapniards.for brits saying it was colder here!

Bizarre - you are STILL having loads of rain! Crazy old weather isn't it? And I'm spending at least 2 hours a day watering.

I know nothing about clay soil just wish I had some cos it retains moisture!

hmm *googles potassium deficiency* :D

Best to ignore my evening post!

Not very helpfull, sorry!

I definately would get the comfrey on the go!

Yes, of course clay does hold water, but then you get puddling and huge cracks when it dries out. I'd never consider gardening on clay again - I think the only things that thrive on clay are roses. It's just so hard working with it.

Oh I certainly wouldn't want really clay soil as that is just a nightmare to work - I would like that soil that has the right mix of a bit of clay to help retain moisture but easily workable like my orchard has (down bottom of hill next to a stream). So my fruit trees are fairly OK there although we are having to cart watering cans over to water the young plum trees planted the winter before last. Even there the grass is starting to go brown, but what a difference normally between the orchard and the rest of my garden in terms of greenness! It shows how moisture retentive it is.

you know i quite fancy having a couple of rose bushes up there! i'm told we're allowed up to 10% floral unless we seek permission for more from the council, and i could do stepover apples.... *possibilities emerging!*