Clay soil:

 


My garden has seen a lot of trampling by tradesmen over the past few
years.
Retaining walls were destroyed, weeds, especially docks
flourished and, it
seems, all draining material was washed away.  The
garden is like a solid mass
of clay.

Those responsible have agreed to "sort" the problem.  They did dig it ov
er but
the first heavy rain flattened it leaving puddles which didn't
drain for ages
but did wash teh earth onto my paths: yewk: constant
cleaning and, as clay
sticky so perpetually dragged through house.

They said they'd sort the drainage problem by digging in course sand.
However,
I read somewhere that this would only serve to turn the clay to
a cement.  It
suggested that loam would also need to be incorporated
with the sand.

Can anyone advise on this?

The other matter is that they say they can't do that work just now as
it's a job
for the Spring.  Problem I see is that I will want it ready
for planting in
Spring and given the lack of speed with which they work,
they could well call
Summer, Spring.  How early, ground being
sufficiently soft for digging of
course, can I stipulate as a last date
for fixing.  

I would have thought we'd want the last frosts to help break up the
earth to
further help with drainage.

(Not really confident about using capitals at season names: dyslexia
rules KO!.)

All help on these matters gratefully received and much appreciated.




--
Me-G

 

em@googlemail.com.invalid says...

My only dealings with clay soil lead me to believe its best left alone
during winter. digging in grit and humus (compost or manure) will help
but just avoiding walking on it and sticking to the paths along with
annual heavy mulching is as good as anything allthough its not a quick
fix.


--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

 



As Charlie has said, it is best not to tread on heavy clay in winter. And
when it is time, it may be better to stand on old floorboards when digging
to help spread the load.

There are special products (based on gypsum) which break up clay, but these
are not cheap for a reasonably large area and after a while the clay gets
claggy again. They also make the soil alkaline. The best thing is
well-rotted compost, and lots of it, but unless added each year the clay
will steadily reappear.  You can also try land drains (basically drainpipes
with many holes in the sides and which are filled with gravel), but in my
experience these aren't of much use as the clay soon gets into them and
blocks them.

But there is a bright side. In times of drought, although the surface will
go almost as hard as concrete, it will retain moisture better than most
other soils, so watering is not needed so frequently (which is a good thing
as it just runs off anyway!).

There are many plants which are said to not like clay soil (particularly
ericaceous), but I'm not so sure.  I have even grown and fruited blueberries
in clay soil with a pH of around 6, and rhodos seem to do ok, too.  If you
can afford the time and cost, just put the plants in and let them decide if
they like your soil or not.

--

Jeff

 


The benefit of gypsum (as opposed to much cheaper lime) is that it does
not change the pH of the soil.
--
hugh
It may be more complicated but is it better?

 



Quite right. I wonder where I read that it did?