hi

[Greenleaves]

Welcome to the vine, enjoy the benefits of the advice and humour

[Jay22]

A big 'HELLOOOO' from me too!

[begining at 40]

Thank you all so much fir all your reply's. I couldn't. Find my post , I was very shocked when I did find I ,that all you lovely people had replied. Will take I board all the advice and I'm really grateful. There are plenty more questions, sorry I advance and a big thank you.

[Nicos]

We're all here to help as and when we can!
More than happy to share our knowledge

[SusieG]

Welcome

Hi all I've just joined and I can't wait to get some advice on basically everything allotment. Related. Been looking for a forum site for ages. Would love some advice on the best way way to tackle a overgrown clay soiled patch. We have a lot of raised beds and have managed. To dig a few. I have very kindly been given sprouts, beetroot and broad beans that are in and I'm praying with grow as the soil seems very poor.

Hello, welcome. There's tons of really useful info from all the folk on various threads here. I've spent hours navigating my way through it all - and thoroughly enjoyed it!!!
Anyway, I too had clay soil at my old garden. In the 3 raised beds to improve the quality/drainage I incorporated a generous heap of well rotted manure, barrowed in a ton of lovely top soil and a dalek of home made compost. In the first autumn I over wintered with Hungarian grazing rye which I chopped up and left for the worms to pull in for about a month the following spring. Then it was a happy place for my first season of growing!
I managed in 3 beds: peas radish lettuce courgette. Sprouts cabbage. Onions garlic
I had some great results, all worth the hard work and waiting!
Unfortunately, I had to leave it all behind as we moved house, so I'm busy now restarting it all .......

[Starling]

Clay

Hi all I've just joined and I can't wait to get some advice on basically everything allotment. Related. Been looking for a forum site for ages. Would love some advice on the best way way to tackle a overgrown clay soiled patch. We have a lot of raised beds and have managed. To dig a few. I have very kindly been given sprouts, beetroot and broad beans that are in and I'm praying with grow as the soil seems very poor.

Hi 40,

all clay is not created equal--there are different grades, and different types of clay. Some drains, some does not drain--some can have its porosity increased, some cannot. In order for me to give you advice, I'd need to see a sample of the clay itself. Most yellow type clays are slaking types, which are bad kinds, whereas darker clays tend to be more stable. Acid Sulphate soils are particularly bad, but it's unlikely you'll have to worry about them.

My first piece of advice is to try and find a soil map that includes your area--this will determine what type of clay you're on. Or, you can avoid this buy sending in a sample of your soil for analysis in a lab. It's not very expensive, and is well worth it as this will tell you with perfect accuracy what clay you're on, what's in it, and what you need to add to it relating to which crops you intend to grow in it.

General advice:

a) Gypsum will help break up some clays, and contrary to popular belief, will not alter your ph.
B) Don't ever build on a mound on clay. This will do nothing other than result in your tree becoming 'potbound' in the mound itself.
c) Don't add sand to clay. That makes cement.
D) Ignore those who claim that Clay has high nutrient values--this isn't the full picture. Although Clay does have a high mineral value, it is so dense that most of this cannot be utilized by root systems. The nutrient s are 'locked in' so to speak.
E) Expect to do a lot of soil amending with organics. The best thing you can add to clay is sorghum/lentil type mulches, and anything that encourages earthworm activity.
F) If the clay is in a full sun position, the upper stratum of it will be very poor quality unless it has been covered by grasses. If this is the case, you will need to scrape this away before amending.
G) Dig massive holes, and backfill with good soil--NOT compost. You need a complete soil (loam) that is already broken down. When I say massive, I mean at least 1/12 meters round. This will give what you plant and opportunity to develop roots that will be able to penetrate the outer perimeter of the hole over time. Buy good soil in bulk. I generally use about 1/2 a cubic meter of soil when planting a tree.
H) Mulch everything. I can't stress this enough. The last thing you want clay to do is dry out. This completely ruins its structure--especially with expanding shrinking type clays, such as vermiculite. The goal is to make your clay as porous as possible; letting it dry out will set you back--big time.
I) Pierce the bottom of your planting hole with an auger of some description as deep as possible, and in as many places as possible. This will help with draining. Line the bottom of your planting hole with gravel, fine grade, at a dept of 2-3 inches. This also applies to trenches, and raised beds placed over clay.

[begining at 40]

Wow you have really worked hard looking at your pics. Thank you for advice. I have just ordered green manure seed, red clover I think so your advice has made me feel much more positive. I've noticed that any soil I have dug within a few days if left bear becomes,very clumpy and dry so hoping green manure is the way to go. I still have lots of diggin to do! But I love my plot.

[begining at 40]

Thank you starling. Great advice. Oh dear, my plot in most has full sun and the backed soil I have at moment looks so dry and sad. I have just added a load of horse manure. And it does seem to clump up badly in dry weather. Between that and brambles.

[begining at 40]

Thank you pp. Mine is a dull grey colour. Every one on my site tells me that its good clay soil. And use lots of compost! Was wondering what's the best green manure and when do u plant it? Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and advice.