tina wrote:

Hi, I have an old un-used drive (covered in small pebbles). I have
cleared away the layer of pebbles (1 spade depth).

I am now left with solid & I do mean SOLID :-( CLAY.

It has probably been isolated from leaf litter and organic debris for
long enough with the pebbles on top to look pretty awful pure clay, but
it will still be very fertile if a bit anaerobic.

I have done a couple of test trenches 1 more spades depth & below its
still SOLID CLAY :-( (very hard work digging out slabs of solid clay)

The plan is to dig don 1 more spades debth & put in half a spades
depth of pebbles & then 1 1/2 spades depth of compost, mixed up clay ,
leaves & any other organic matter I can find.

Gravel might be better and some sharp sand and garden compost or
manure. Best to concentrate your firepower on a small patch for use as
a raised bed and grow spuds in the rest for the first year. Then bring
another chunk up to standard next year. It is more use to have a good
bit for growing produce.

BUT, now that I am 2 spades debth down, below that is still SOLID
clay. The last few days rain has turned it into a bit of a pond & its
very slow draining.

Should I use something like a couple of bags of FINNISH PLASTER, that
contains GYPSUM to try and break it up a bit ?

You could try this to flocculate the clay, but it isn't all that
effective. Hard frosts will do it for free if you are lucky. If you
have old plaster lying around and unfit for any other use then give it
a try, but I would not go out any buy it. Bulky sharp sand and general
organic matter will do a much better job of bringing the soil back to a
more healthy consistency.

The plan is its going to be a VEG PATCH.

We did watch the BBC prog about planning veg patches, but must admit
we had to laugh a bit when the lady said she had heavy clay soil,
which to us looked fantastic, think ours must be HEAVT HEAVY clay :-)

BUT we have 3 compost bins on the go so hopefully we are producing
some good stuff to min in with the clay & pebbles.

But if any of you experts has any advice for me of ways of helping
with the veg patch preperation I would be greatful.

Get a bit of it right this year, and plant things in the rest that will
tolerate abuse.

Spuds and beans will grow in surprisinly heavy clay without any
trouble. And digging out the spuds will help turn over the soil. Start
a compost heap and see if you can find cheap local compost (some
councils sell it cheaply from green recycling).

Regards,
Martin Brown