How do you dig /break up CLAY ,or whats the best thing to do with it ???
please no orders for pots Ha Ha
Basically, over the years you dig in loads of humus. Examples are the contents of your compost bin/heap, and some sharp sand (not builder's) to open up the drainage. Also, in Spring the likes of B&Q and Focus have offers of cheap bales of multiurpose compost which can be dug in.
It takes time, but you get there in the end. When we first moved here 30+ years ago the ground was claggy clay, but for the past 15+ years we have achieved a good friable compost for most of the garden.
valmarg
hiya, arky, welcome to the site, as valmarg says, dig in or mulch up with lots and lots of stuff, we've raised beds on top of the clay to about 10 inches, when we plant spuds, they break up the clay underneath but the other things seem to do fine, our carrot beds are more like 14 inches high, so they can grow better, clay's brilliant stuff, loaded with things plants like, minerals and stuff ;D
The best thing for breaking up clay is gypsum. If you know of a local builders yard or store which gets broken bags of plaster, dig this in. it separates the particles.
Gypsum (calcium sulphate) causes flocculation - grouping of particles into small grains with air spaces between. Soil becomes more workable, more favourable for root growth. Applying gypsum indiscriminately to soil won't harm most plants since very few species are affected by even saturated solutions of gypsum.
Builder's plaster is unhydrated, while gypsum is the hydrated form, but that would soon change when it came into contact with damp soil. But, like other clay treatments, little will happen if you just sprinkle it on and stand back. The clay would still have to be broken up and worked with all the other recommended additives (compost, manure, grit, etc.) to get the best results. Using lime in place of gypsum would work just as effectively to break up the clay but would raise the soil pH and decrease its acidity.
My own soil was originally clay with vast amounts of slate in it. After adding several tonnes of compost, manure & leaf mould anually & mulches which break down throughout the year & removing stones as I went along I now have to dig down around 2 feet before I see anything which resembles the original soil. My soil is now rich, black, very easy to dig & virtually stonefree after 8 years of adding organic matter to it.
Dig in anything to get more organic matter into the soil, shredded paper, cardboard boxes,kitchen waste, manure, leaves, in fact anything that will rot.
there's an article about this is kitchen garden, gives a website, www.rootwise.co.uk , might help ;D