Planting seeds in heavy soil?

[Madasafish]

I used to dig our clay soil. Learned it's a waste of time.

Spread a thin layer of compost on top, and plant in that. have not dug over garden for 25+years. Nice fertile easy to work topsoil. Clay stays where it should be - 0.5 meters down.

Digging stuff into clay is a lifetime's work with few rewards for the first 20 years.

Life is too short . My back would not stand it. I like to see results from planting.

[Dusty Rhodes]

One possible exception: If you get lots of rain, I would think twice. Due to the "bathtub effect" water will run to your furrow with the loose soil. This could lead to possible rot/disease if it's excessively raining where you garden. If you aren't in a heavy rain location, then your furrow should work out well.

[Compo72]

Hello everyone ,
I'm a complete newbie with little knowledge .
This is my first post .

We moved into our new house just before Xmas last year . The land is heavy clay .

The garden had a raised wooden bed with a greenhouse . Trouble was the drainage was awful around them both .
We Had to remove them , and get a land drain put in !

Since then I removed a lot of gravel around the borders . To be replaced with seed bed .

The land was very wet in earlier this year to work.
I put a lot of well rotted manure in , some compost and soil from previous raised bed .
I read somewhere that putting straw into clay soil . Helps break it down to seedbed .
I dug the borders about 3 times which produced good results .
You have to be careful how you work the soil as you do not want to create a soil pan . Where water will remain .

Last week the beechgrove garden rprogramme advised using not the standard Dutch hoe .


Then I planted up with some perennials with a dollop of muck in the hole . Then watered and plants added
Tbh I'm pleased with the results .

I have about 30 gallon of water in a butt . With nettles to make some home grown feed .
So far I have not used it much . Over the next few weeks it will get used.

I appreciate this forum is for veg. Well we had some big tubs left by the previous owners . That looked like mud . Rhubarb and Strawbs have grown surprisingly . Even a tomato plant hasvgrownnwe salvaged .

We have some planters with carrots and beetroot too .

I'm not organic . Though I I'm trying to use chemicals as a last resort .
Though wife was out spraying the apple tree for woolly aphid .

Regards

[rustylady]

Welcome Compo.

The grapevine isn't just about veg growing. Check out some of the categories at the very bottom of the page.

Feeling Fruity, Season to Taste, The Flower Mill, to name just a few.

Whereabouts are you? If you add your location (nearest town) to your profile it will show on your posts and help us understand more about your local conditions.