Topic: How to improve my really clay soil

[David P]

Hello there fello allotmenters (not sure if thats a word). 
Our allotment seems to be right in the middle of a seam of clay, not that this is totally bad.  However I have been trying to make the allotment look nicer and encouraging wildlife by having a flowerbed, i'd love to improve the clay soil in this bed any ideas?

Thankyou all

[markyb23]

Hi David. I'd try digging in plenty of manure. It should improve the structure and increase worm activity.

[Deb P]

I'm a big fan of Calcified Seaweed, it acts as a claybreaker and improves overall condition of any soils.

I have a big seam of red clay on my plot that I could literally have made pots out of when I took it over! A year later it has been dug over and the lumps left exposed overwinter, a thick layer of manure applied, contents of an inherited compost bin dug in, mushroom compost forked in, and was planted up with potatoes, followed by squashes.

I used Calcified Seaweed twice throughout the year too before planting. You can see it still looks a bit lumpy (photo was taken in August), but it is now workable!

[saddad]

Deb seems to have got it cracked... unlike me wjho just has deep cracks in the soil(?) for half the year!!
 ::)

[Deb P]

Ah, but I only have one plot (at the moment) to lavish my attention on...... ::)

[cornykev]

Deb's right Saddad you do have half of the site.  ???   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[John_H]

Chuck any old compost from house plants, growbags, pots of spring bulbs all helps. Great time of year for collecting leaves to make leaf mulch with.

I improve the condition of my raised beds by putting layers of grass clippings and leaves on top of the soil in the autumn (to feed the worms) and then cover this over with pegged down roles of that green netting that gets left behind by scaffolding companies after they finish on big sites. I always try and let the worms do as much work as I can. In the words of Bob Flowerdew, "they may work that fast, but then you won't have to pay them very much!"

[louise stella]

Basically use anything that will rot down....Poo, compost, grass. leaves - then top it off with cardboard and more muck - leave it to rot down and the worms will do the rest!  The next year use a green manure, and/or grow spuds or courgettes (through the cardboard) there next year and by then you will be well on the way to winning the battle!

In my garden the clay is the least of my worries - it's the flints the size of two house-bricks that cause all the problems!  They bugger up all your tools and make digging immpossible - which is why I don't anymore!  My lottie on the other hand  - two miles down the road -  has gorgeous soil, you could dig it with a plastic spoon it is so clay and flint-free!!!!  But I still use the above method = it was very overgrown when I took it over and the areas I mulched as above are more weed free than the bits I painstakingly dug by hand!

Louise

XXX

[RosieMcPosie]

Hi David.
me and my mummy (weed-digga ;)) have very clay soil on our plot in slough. what we have done is make raised beds with paths , into the beds we put a gold ol' mix of the clay we dug up (to retain moisture) sharp sand (to aid drainage) and home made and shop bought compost. we stick any worms we find when preparing the paths into the bed too and they all do their bit. we've had quite good results too! (and the moles help)

[delboy]

Clay and Surrey sort of go together, so here we have to deal with it over and over again...

Some time ago here there was a thread about incorporating(clay)subsoil with topsoil when double digging and/or making raised beds. While the books say don't incorporate, just turn over with a fork and then replace topsoil, I went boldly ahead and mixed it all up and started incorporating manure, leaves and compost as and when each crop in the ground was harvested.

3 years later there are still nodules of plastic clay, but in nothing like the volume they were last year or the year before, and the colour and texture is becoming ever more loamy.

What was a pain to start with was that the yields of whatever went into the ground didn't match what was expected.

But, and this is crucial in land management and husbandry, Rome wasn't built in a day and improving soils is very much an ongoing process. Quick fixes don't last, and it's over the medium to long term that all your hard work will bear fruit(yukky pun - sorry!)...

[Robert_Brenchley]

It takes years, but it's well worth it. The worms will eventually break down and incorporate any lumps.

[tin can]

We used loads of free spent hops from the local brewery.
We had to take our own bags, but could have as much as we wanted.
It doesn't really add much to the nutrient side as muck would, but there is only so much muck you can add!
And it was free!
Where's your local brewery??

We also added sand and mushroom compost which helped a lot, but that's not cheap!

Hope you're collecting bags and bags and bags of leaves to rot down for next year????

Remember to dig deep too as you'll be creating a pan and fruit bushes won't do as well as they could.

[David P]

Thankyou all soo much

I'm up the allotment this weekend and also have got some leaves together ready to turn into mulch.  I'm liking the sound of using worms to do the work too!!

Cheers guys and gals

[louise stella]

On the plus side.......

Clay soil holds moisture better in the summer!

So it does have it's good points!

Louise
X

[SMP1704]

I'm sure it's been said, but just in case - and anyway it's worth saying again.....

Add sharp sand as well as all of the above.  I was able to grow normal carrots in my first year (as opposed to comedy/mutant/rude carrots)  I used the cheap 4 for £10 compost at Wickes - rubbish to grow anything by itself but great as a soil conditioner.

I have produced vast amounts of compost but last year it went on the strawberry bed and this year its in the polytunnel beds, so next year I look forward to seeing the benefits of it on the 'general' beds.

It does hold moisture but it can also dry out amazingly quickly, leaving Grand Canyon type cracks in the ground

[Plot69]

i'd love to improve the clay soil in this bed any ideas?

[ninnyscrops]

Have to echo Plot69 - plus a few bags of spent hops as a mulch in summer.