Fine grained mineral component of soil. Lots of clay can cause a soil to be heavy and sticky.
13
votes
2answers
2k views
How can we grow grass in our heavy clay yard?
My wife and I have been living in a new subdivision for the past two years and have been struggling with getting grass to fully take in our backyard. Our front yard is sod and has been doing fine, but ...
6
votes
3answers
363 views
How much compost should I add to a clay soil for roses?
A few months ago I removed a lot of over grown shrubs; the soil is clay based topsoil on top of solid clay. The top soil is about one spade deep. I don’t think the garden has had any compost for ...
6
votes
2answers
219 views
Is the “Paris Market” carrot a good variety for clay-rich soil?
I have tried growing carrots now and then, but they were always twisting around all of the rocks and squeezing through the clay, and I basically got a bad crop of strong flavored, tough carrots that ...
10
votes
3answers
489 views
Why is there concrete buried across my entire backyard?
As I was planting a few fruit trees last weekend, I discovered an odd and very annoying phenomenon. About 6" down from ground level, I ran across a 2" layer of really crumbly concrete/gravel mixture. ...
7
votes
4answers
4k views
How do I improve drainage vertically through clayey soil?
I live on a hill where the soil has lots of clay. My back garden has been terraced with small (1m) retaining walls. The net result is that we have several lawns / gardens with the following ...
8
votes
3answers
232 views
Improving extremely clayey soils
I live in North Carolina and the soil here has an extremely high clay content. I have used soil conditioner that consists of composted pine fines to amend the soil. It does an excellent job of ...
9
votes
2answers
167 views
What plants take easily to clay soils?
I live in central Scotland, which is a bit damp, and the soil in my garden, despite years of aerating, adding sand etc is still quite a thick clay soil.
When it is sunny I get sun all day long, so ...
13
votes
3answers
470 views
How should I till topsoil into thick clay in small garden beds?
My house is in an area where the native earth is basically solid clay. This means that wet or dry, you can't dig with a shovel and get crumbling dirt — it always clumps together, unless you ...
21
votes
4answers
726 views
How do I work with soil that has a high clay content?
The clay content in my garden soil is rather high. Tilling it is a royal pain,
especially if there is even the slightest hint of moisture in the soil. It just
turns into big sticky clumps instead of ...
