Newbie with a clay soil

[giley69]

Hi there

I hope someone can help!

We've recently cleared our allotment and over the last 4 weeks, planted our pots,onions and garlic. We have earthed up the potatoes and put the onions & garlic in a bed with 'quite' a fine tilth...

We have noticed that the top soil is very dry & quite hard to manage. Although we have got the bashing/raking/pull & pushing etc down to a fine art

I am keen to try to recitfy the soil a little bit & although I know it will prob take a good few years, is there anything immediate that will help? compost/green manures? I really want to get the beans/salads/carrots/beets in soon... and I am worried that the soil will be too dry to work with. Also I do have some redundant land which I was just going to cover over

Also, my potatoes, although I have already earthed them up & they are starting to poke through... when do I need to do this again? and if the ground is too dry, can I put some compost over the top instead?

manure will have to wait until the winter now, I assume!?!

Thanks for your time
Louise

[syanide]

I'm in a similar position, although I haven't even got my spuds in yet....too much rain everytime I've been able to go over! now, the bits that I have dug over, are ROCK HARD!!

I'm determined to get the spduds in in the next few days.

giley, I've also got about half the pklot that i'm not going to get round to...(about 15M length worth) What are you planning to cover with?

syanide

[giley69]

I'm in a similar position, although I haven't even got my spuds in yet....too much rain everytime I've been able to go over! now, the bits that I have dug over, are ROCK HARD!!

I'm determined to get the spduds in in the next few days.

giley, I've also got about half the pklot that i'm not going to get round to...(about 15M length worth) What are you planning to cover with?

syanide

Good luck with your spud planting... we have our main crop to go in, which should be Saturday!

Regarding covering the land that wont be used... we are used a huge piece of tarpaulin,an old rug and also some weed suppressant fabric that I bought from Sainsbury's. When the winter comes, I am going to throw it back and put some manure on there over winter... hopefully that will help the soil

[HeyWayne]

I think spuds will help break up the ground, and with the combination of earthing up and the foliage from teh plants, should help keeps weeds to a minimum. Make sure you add plenty of organic matter - compost, manure anything you can get your hands on (though you might want to wash them afterwards) to help improve the soil structure.

Lots of people use cardboard to cover ground that won't be used immediately, covered with compost or grass clippings it has the added benefit that it will break down over time meaning you don't have to dig it out when you come to use the land. Carpets and tarpaulin can be a bugger to get out of the ground if left for a considerable time.

Clay soil does have benefits - it is better during dry spells at retaining water and moister, you can improve it even further by using a mulch to keep as mych water in as possible.

Soil is also a bit like hair. Those with curly hair want straight hair, those with straight hair want curly hair. People with sandy soil would love clay soil and vice versa.

Funny old world innit.

Good luck.

[giley69]

I think spuds will help break up the ground, and with the combination of earthing up and the foliage from teh plants, should help keeps weeds to a minimum. Make sure you add plenty of organic matter - compost, manure anything you can get your hands on (though you might want to wash them afterwards) to help improve the soil structure.

Lots of people use cardboard to cover ground that won't be used immediately, covered with compost or grass clippings it has the added benefit that it will break down over time meaning you don't have to dig it out when you come to use the land. Carpets and tarpaulin can be a bugger to get out of the ground if left for a considerable time.

Clay soil does have benefits - it is better during dry spells at retaining water and moister, you can improve it even further by using a mulch to keep as mych water in as possible.

Soil is also a bit like hair. Those with curly hair want straight hair, those with straight hair want curly hair. People with sandy soil would love clay soil and vice versa.

Funny old world innit.

Good luck.

Thanks for that... regarding the spuds... if i can't earth them up as the top soil is too dry n hard, can I just cover them with compost?

Also, regarding organic matter i.e kitchen waste, do I need to dig it in at all?

[Matt.]

It will only be the very top of the soil that is so dry. Less than 1" under it will still be quite moist and will stay like that. My clay soil is still very sticky if you dig down 6". A light turn with a fork or rake should sort it out. The only negative is large lumps on the surface. Try to break these down with the rake after its rained a bit.

[giley69]

It will only be the very top of the soil that is so dry. Less than 1" under it will still be quite moist and will stay like that. My clay soil is still very sticky if you dig down 6". A light turn with a fork or rake should sort it out. The only negative is large lumps on the surface. Try to break these down with the rake after its rained a bit.

Thanks Matt, you are right...it is fine, just a inch or so below - but rock hard on the top... I still don't think I can earth up the pots though... can I just cover them with compost maybe?

[HeyWayne]

Thanks Matt, you are right...it is fine, just a inch or so below - but rock hard on the top... I still don't think I can earth up the pots though... can I just cover them with compost maybe?

You can use compost - I did on mine last year. Someone on here - it may be Snadger, uses grass clippings to earth up his spuds I think.

[giley69]

You can use compost - I did on mine last year. Someone on here - it may be Snadger, uses grass clippings to earth up his spuds I think.

I might take a few bin liners down the park and scoop up the grass clippings later

When should I start to cover the shoots up? they are nicely earthed up at the moment already but just starting to poke through now...

[Janna]

I'm glad to say that clay soil really does get better and you will grow to be graeteful of it when its hot weather(like today, huray!), I used to be really jealous of my mums easy to dig sandy soil, but not now, as her veg needs constant watering.
I started growing things at the last minute in something that more closely resembled the moon than a veg plot, now, 3 years later it's beginning to look like soil I could show to an oldschool lottie guru!
I tip onto it every spare bit of potting compost, as well as adding as much horse poo as I can under black plastic over the winter. Then when it's too cold to plant out but I'm desperate to get gardening, I chuck on a couple of bags of sand, go mad with the hoe, a little nearly everyday for weeks, it worked!

[HeyWayne]

The more you earth up, the more tubers should appear under ground (I think - I'm new to this too). If there's a frost forecast make sure you cover them completely. Last year I kept drawing the soil up to cover the leaves because there were still frosts - admittedly I planted them a bit earlier than this year.

[giley69]

I'm glad to say that clay soil really does get better and you will grow to be graeteful of it when its hot weather(like today, huray!), I used to be really jealous of my mums easy to dig sandy soil, but not now, as her veg needs constant watering.
I started growing things at the last minute in something that more closely resembled the moon than a veg plot, now, 3 years later it's beginning to look like soil I could show to an oldschool lottie guru!
I tip onto it every spare bit of potting compost, as well as adding as much horse poo as I can under black plastic over the winter. Then when it's too cold to plant out but I'm desperate to get gardening, I chuck on a couple of bags of sand, go mad with the hoe, a little nearly everyday for weeks, it worked!

Yes, you are right, I think I iwll grow to be grateful... maybe next year when my biceps are like Rocky

Thanks so much for your advice... I kinda had an idea that I needed to throw some organic material over the surface to balance things out a little.

How often do you water your plot?

I was given some raspberry cane on Monday... I went to the plot last night and the poor thing has kiled over...oh dear!

[Janna]

I water a lot, but then I am lucky as my plot is at home. Having said that I'm away a lot in the summer, and my house mates don't like watering, and I've still had some great crops(mind you, no one needed to do any watering last year!!
I can really reccomend the hoeing little and often plan, my arms are weedy, but my plot isn't!

[giley69]

I water a lot, but then I am lucky as my plot is at home. Having said that I'm away a lot in the summer, and my house mates don't like watering, and I've still had some great crops(mind you, no one needed to do any watering last year!!
I can really reccomend the hoeing little and often plan, my arms are weedy, but my plot isn't!

will do, the weeds look like little bits of 'cress' at the moment... I am sure by next week they will be 8 inches tool

[Madasafish]

I have clay soil: northern edge of teh Potteries so it's very heavy and mixed with small coal lumps ( yes really: there was open cast mining in the fields above us- 200 years ago.)

Digging is a waste of time. I add layers of compost and leaf mulch and dig no more than 20 cms.. and plants in the mix.. After 20 odd years it's quite friable...

Still cracks in hot summers like 2 years ago: like 80cm deep, 0cm wide and 3 metres long!


Mulch like mad.. dig as little as possible. the worms do the digging...