New allotment with heavy clay. how quickly can I amend?

[Late Bloomer]

Hi all,

My new plot has heavy clay. How quickly can I amend it with digging in compost each year? How many years will it take?

Cheers,

Late

[greenishfing]

7 or so years on I am still struggling. It is better than it was but that is not saying a lot.

[Late Bloomer]

7 or so years on I am still struggling. It is better than it was but that is not saying a lot.

Have you dug in plenty of compo? I'm thinking of getting a couple of tonnes in.

Late

[greenishfing]

Lots of compost and well rotted manure.

[Late Bloomer]

Ah, I may beed to rethink then...

[greenishfing]

Despite this I manage to grow lots of great crops.

[Martin H]

Clay is the best once you've spread enough compost to open it up a bit.

[Late Bloomer]

Cheers Martin. How much per sqm?

[Martin H]

Wow, I dunno. I just put all the garden compost and mulch I can on, and keep doing it.

[Thelma Sanders]

I know there's a modern tendancy to go 'no dig' - but if you (and your back) don't mind digging it will make clay a lot easier to work if, each year, you roughly dig it and leave it for the cold weather to work on. The freezing and thawing break the top few inches into a fine tilth.

And never walk on the soil - use a plank to spread your weight, or divide your plot into beds -or you will just compress the clay into something resembling concrete

[skeggijon]

I've got heavy clay too. I've dealt with it by dividing plot into raised beds which I've added well rotted manure and compost to and been getting great crops.

[Two_Sheds]

digging in compost each year?

No, don't dig anything in. It's more beneficial (and easier) to leave organic matter on the soil as a mulch, letting the worms dig it for you

My own gardens are covered in a permanent layer of mulch (chopped up weeds & old plants)

[Kristen]

My new plot has heavy clay. How quickly can I amend it with digging in compost each year? How many years will it take?

I had mine ploughed and rotavated at the outset. I would definitely cultivate a brand new, heavy clay, plot at least once (at the outset) to improve drainage and incorporate as much manure / compost / organic matter as you can.

I then made "lazy raised beds" digging out the paths one spade's depth onto the beds (4' wide, max easily reachable from either side).

Crops in first year were fine, manure layer added on top each Autumn thereafter, soil in good / workable condition from about year 2 or 3, but I adopted No Dig after the initial Plough/Rotavate, so don't notice that the land is heavy. When I harvest a Parsnip in mid Winter the clay sticks to the root, but the soil is easily workable (not the same as sand, but certainly "good enough").

Carrots are still a challenge ... I incorporate Sand into the end-section or the Roots bed each year, so on my 4 year rotation the end-bit gets sand every 4th year, but still no perfect straight carrots. Having said that, a Carrot shaped like a glove is only a slight hassle in the preparation for cooking, it still tastes the same

So my advice would be:

Cultivate (preferably double-dig) initially
Create 4' wide raised beds (no need to boards at the outset, unless you want to, I added mine at about Yr4)
Never walk on the beds
Add a layer of manure / compost every year (I don't do that for the bed that will have Roots)

[KevinM67]

I got my plot at the end of Summer about 5 years ago - which was/is really heavy clay.

After clearing away the debris of old carpets, bricks, bottles, not to mention brambles, nettles, grasses and the various myriad of weeds - it was Winter time before I work on the soil.

I'm a "digger", I enjoy it and I'm not afraid to admit it.

For me, Winter time when it's frosty, is the best time to tackle clay soil. It breaks up really easy and real invasive roots and weeds (like couch grass) are a lot easier to remove.

I took my plot on, not only to grow my own food, but as a low spend, recycling project (or a mid-life crisis as my better half thinks). This meant no great expenditure on compost, manure, etc. at the start. Surprisingly, my first year of growing was probably my most successful in some ways - with very little added to the soil.

Over the years I've added my own compost, mulches and feeds, which have certainly helped.

BTW, I have worked on plot in stages (with the last little bit only being sorted last weekend) - due to life's commitments, it can be overwhelming trying to deal with a whole plot at once.

My advice would be to take it 'step by step' to keep yourself motivated, plant stuff, some work - some don't, and comfort yourself by remembering that Monty Don probably has a squad of labourers to look after his "perfect" soil - you/we may not.

[alldigging]

Organic matter. Whether that's muck, compost heap contents, or green manures.

I think it's buckwheat that's supposed to be very good for clay.