Claybreaker and other heavy soil issues

poorly_scammo

Hi,

My garden is going to be re landscaped next spring (I'm doing it) and many of the shrubs and plants are being dug up soon and most of them binned.

There are too many shrubs for the size of garden not to mention, the four apple trees so many of these are going to good homes or the tip. Therefore the soil isn't good - it is quite acidic and very heavy clay.

I intend to dig for all I'm worth soon and add manure later but was wondering if Claybreaker is any good or is it just another gimmick? http://www.vitax.co.uk/index.php/area/home-garden/compost-and-soil/vitax-clay-breaker/

I'd also like to hear from anyone else who has very heavy clay soil and how they've improved it.

Thanks

blossomhill_2

Very heavy clay here - grandparents systematically added ash from the fire each day and I add as much homemade compost and spent growbags as I can make - it is great soil for roses (any many other plants such as raspeberries, and as you've found, apples) and very fertile, so I just tend to improve the immediate planting area when I put in any new plants, and mulch the rest

Good luck with your project - photos of the progress would go down well here!

Archiebear

Same here, I've added loads of compost/ manure and finished with top soil but as per my other post the drainage is still poor - think it's going to take more time than I have so far spent;)

Talked to my sister today and she reckons planting spuds helps to break up clay so as well as adding grit, I may well be trying this!

poorly_scammo

Just had a look on the RHS website regarding adding grit.

"Adding grit, sand or gravel to clay soils:

Clay particles are amazingly dominant in a soil. This is explained by the relative size of the different particles (clay, sand and silt) that soil contains. Clay particles are very small but, because this allows more particles to fit in any given space (say 1cm cubed), they have huge surface area that dominates the physical properties of soil. In comparison, sand and silt particles are larger, so fewer particles are needed to fill a space (say 1cm cubed again). As a result, the overall surface area of sand and silt is smaller and so much less influential on determining the characteristics of a soil than the clay particles.
In practice what this means is: to dilute the proportion of clay in a heavy soil requires very large volumes of grit or other material. It is seldom feasible to do this on anything but a small scale and, for most gardeners, other options such as raised beds, adding organic matter and choosing plants that thrive in clays are more practical.
Even where a clay soil contains for example 40 percent clay particles (a relatively modest content compared to heavy clay soils), the proportion of clay in the top cultivated part of the soil would have to be reduced by half to make the soil easy to work. This would require 250kg per sq m (460lbs per sq yd) of grit or gravel. Adding materials to clay can also make the clay less stable, so the soil becomes harder to manage. Experimenting on a small scale at first is recommended to be sure that any additions are worthwhile and won't have damaging effects on workability of the soil."


I can't add that much! :rotfl: I'll stick with manure and mulches I think.

poorly_scammo

And I will post pics of the improvements as they occur.

lostinrates

I live in a very heavy clay area, but my house is old and though it was just grass when i arrived its easy to find where there were gardened bits before, the soil improvements over time presumably of manure (its a farm) make my heavy clay almost loamy. So, we continue with this, thick, thick mulches at about this time of year (or through winter often enough) of manure on top of improved soil, and digging in large amounts of rotted manure to areas that are less good or seem 'unimproved' as we find them.

I have always gardened opn clay, so know no different, but imo its not a curse. As has been ointed out, its nutrient rich, and productive. Its improvable for more benefit and no drawback.

poorly_scammo

Unfortunately, this soil has been sucked of much of its goodness due to too many trees and shrubs in a small area.

Looks like the local stables will be getting a call.

laurel7172

I've been dumping used playpit sand, spent growbags and home made compost on my clay soil for nearly fifteen years.

(Digging? Only when I'm planting something, thank you!)

It has definitely made a difference...up to about a spade's depth down.

blossomhill_2

You could also try planting a green manure and digging it in

mrbadexample

These threads on the Grapevine might help:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/vegging-out/improving-clay-soil-lost-garden-newbie_64297.html

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/new-shoots/clay-soil-help_844.html

Andy_Davies

blossomhill wrote: »

You could also try planting a green manure and digging it in

Something like lupins would be ideal - tap roots will break up the soil too