Planting seeds in heavy soil?

[Timmy T]

Sorry for starting yet another thread, but I've so many questions and very little knowledge at the moment!

As I eluded to in my first thread, we have some pretty heavy, clay based soil, that we've tried to improve with rotted horse manure (last year) and home grown garden compost (this year). Unfortunately, it's still pretty heavy and no matter how much I dig it over, it seems to break up to a certain extent, but never into fine soil, and most seed packets say to sow in fine soil.

So, I was trying to think of ways around this. One of them was to dig a furrow (3" deep), fill said furrow with general purpose compost from the garden centre, and then sow seeds into that. Is that a reasonable way forward, or are there pitfalls in doing so?

Thanks again everyone, Tim

[shepp726]

for me ''yes''

[WendyC]

That's exactly what I did when I first had my plot. Water the compost drill first, then plant the seeds, then cover over with compost. If you water afterwards, sometimes the soil caps over and the seedling can't break through.
With a clay soil it is all about timing, too wet and it won't break up, too dry and it's like concrete! Over time you will learn when is the time will be right to break it down. I tend to keep it covered till I'm nearly ready to plant, then about a week or so before I have a look at it. If it's too wet I uncover it and leave to dry a bit. I've never uncovered and found too dry. Having said that I sow as little as possible direct and prefer to raise plants at home to transplant.

[rustylady]

Good idea Tim. What seed do you want to sow?

As Wendy says lots of us raise plants at home in celltrays or pots but you can't do that with everything. Carrots, for example, don't transplant well.

[Timmy T]

Good idea Tim. What seed do you want to sow?

As Wendy says lots of us raise plants at home in celltrays or pots but you can't do that with everything. Carrots, for example, don't transplant well.

We were thinking about spinach for now and leeks for the winter, or is it too late for them?

[rustylady]

Bit late to sow leeks, but you should be able to buy some plants.

Spinach doesn't like hot weather - my pack of seeds (from Kings) says to sow from March to May to harvest May to June and sow July to October to harvest from August to December.

Have a look round the local markets and see what plants they have for sale.

[alldigging]

think about how big a seed is... that's the thing you need to have good soil around ...
concentrate on a little bit.

[Timmy T]

think about how big a seed is... that's the thing you need to have good soil around ...
concentrate on a little bit.

Now that sounds like a sage reply! Thank you, Sir

[Timmy T]

Bit late to sow leeks, but you should be able to buy some plants.

Spinach doesn't like hot weather - my pack of seeds (from Kings) says to sow from March to May to harvest May to June and sow July to October to harvest from August to December.

Have a look round the local markets and see what plants they have for sale.

Ah, OK. I bought the GYO mag today that had leek and Pak Choi(?) seeds on the cover, so I thought they'd be for planting now, silly me!!

[alldigging]

Ah, OK. I bought the GYO mag today that had leek and Pak Choi(?) seeds on the cover, so I thought they'd be for planting now, silly me!!

What's the packet say?

[Two_Sheds]

It says Pak Choi

[KevinM67]

Although most gardening manuals advise against it - I find digging my heavy clay soil during periods of frost / ice really breaks it down a lot and makes the job of removing some of the "tougher" weeds so much easier.

However, if I struggle to get the spade through the top of the soil in extremely cold conditions then I don't bother.

[darcyvuqua]

Although most gardening manuals advise against it - I find digging my heavy clay soil during periods of frost / ice really breaks it down a lot and makes the job of removing some of the "tougher" weeds so much easier.

However, if I struggle to get the spade through the top of the soil in extremely cold conditions then I don't bother.

Monty don encourages digging of clay soils he even says to dig in blocks and just let the frost get to it as it breaks it down nicely without all the hardwork

[KevinM67]

Monty don encourages digging of clay soils he even says to dig in blocks and just let the frost get to it as it breaks it down nicely without all the hardwork

My plot was full of couch grass when I got it - during the Winter/Icy months was the easiest way to get the majority of the roots out without snapping them and leaving some behind.

[Mikey]

Ah, OK. I bought the GYO mag today that had leek and Pak Choi(?) seeds on the cover, so I thought they'd be for planting now, silly me!!

Yes I thought it was a bit strange to give leeks seeds when you are unlikely to start them off from stratch now!!

I also have heavy clay soil, and have used a variety of ways to improve it, part of it I've dig repetitively over the years and have found that winter digging to break up the soil, not walking on it, and adding as much garden compost manure as you can get your hands on all helps.

The other part, I've build raised beds and turned the soil over covered with cardboard, and filled with about a foot of well rotted manure. This is my first year for these, and they seem great for root crops, the carrots love them. I struggled growing carrots before, they kept forking in the heavy soil which makes it really difficult to clean.

One option for you is to push your fork into the ground a spades depth and open up a good 5-6 inch wide v. Fill this with your compost and sow into this. The important thing is don't let this dry out, bagged compost dries out very quickly, and you could easily lose what you plant if they its really dry for a day or two.