I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

thanks

Olushola

Manure (Esp. Rabbit) helps also.
Neil


"Olushola" wrote in message
...
I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

thanks

Olushola

tilling just moves seeds to the surface and you will have a patch of weeds. what my
mother did in her clay was dig a good hole, amend and plant.
since you are starting a "new" area, the best thing would be to plant your big and
permanent items like trees and bushes this spring. plant them "high" and mound good
dirt over the root ball and then mulch the whole area up to the level of the bushes.
I am talking 6-8 inches of mulch. I can hear a chipper running. throw on clothes
and run down the street to find em, then direct them to come dump their chips in our
yard. really water the mulched area well all summer long, this helps compost the
chips. in fall you are ready to plant bulbs. scrape the mulch aside, dig out the
area for doing bulb plantings ... amend the bottom of the area, plant, cover with
good soil, pull the mulch back on. by next year you can start putting the perennials
over the top of the bulbs.

"Olushola" wrote:

I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

thanks

Olushola




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On Tue, 29 Apr 2003 00:44:50 -0700, Olushola wrote:

I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?


The only real way of breaking up a clay base is by infusing organic matter
in to it. Have caution when tilling soil that is more than 50% clay. If the
clay is wet it turns to clumps and when it dries... it turns to something
like rock. The other issues with tilling clay is the tiller will create
something called hardpan underneath the tilled soil. Water cannot
penetrate hardpan and will puddle and sheet off. You'll find that roots
are unable to penetrate hardpan also.

Seeing that you only have 60 square feet to amend, I'd suggest that you do
it by hand. You could double ditch the beds and add some sort of organic
matter, be it compost or even shreaded bark. If this sounds like too much
work for you, then I'd suggest that you berm the beds. Berming is when you
bring in new soil and mound it, then plant into the mound. Do your best to
integrate this new soil in with the clay so the plants will be able to
root into the clay base as the grow.

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yes, and sharpen the tiller blades a bit

--

Barry


"Bob" wrote in message
news:CPxra.428075$Zo.97299@sccrnsc03...

"Olushola" wrote in message
...
I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

Watering the area before tilling can help a lot. Keep it wet, without
runoff
for a long time to soak it as deep as possible.

Bob

The addition of Gypsum makes the soil acidic. It is best
suited for azaleas and rhododendrons.

Actually, Gypsum dosent reaqlly have much affect on soil pH. Gypsum is calcium
sulfate, which means it contains calcium(alkaline) and sulfur(acidic). You are
adding both and it will not affect pH.

Toad

Get the Air Force to drop a bunker buster on it might help.


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"Bob" wrote in message
news:CPxra.428075$Zo.97299@sccrnsc03...

"Olushola" wrote in message
...
I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

Watering the area before tilling can help a lot. Keep it wet, without runoff
for a long time to soak it as deep as possible.

Bob





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How deep will the clay be softened? I need to go about 3 feet.

"Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D. P.A." wrote in message
...
Olushola wrote:

I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

Top dress with compost or leaves. Let the earthworms break up and enrich
the clay. Spare yourself a full planting until next year.

Thanks for the response. Since my property is on a corner, I want to make it
attractive attactive, good for the neighborhood. So I think I will build a
mound for my plants during the summer. Can I use a compost and the
earthworms as the bottom layer and use a mound of dirt on top of that? As
you probably surmised, I'm completely new at this.

Thanks for all the help.

Olushola

1. Top dress with compost or leaves. Let the earthworms break up and
enrich the clay. This will be the layer touching the clay.

Olushola wrote:

Thanks for the response. Since my property is on a corner, I want to make it
attractive attactive, good for the neighborhood. So I think I will build a
mound for my plants during the summer. Can I use a compost and the
earthworms as the bottom layer and use a mound of dirt on top of that? As
you probably surmised, I'm completely new at this.

Thanks for all the help.

Olushola

1. Top dress with compost or leaves. Let the earthworms break up and
enrich the clay. This will be the layer touching the clay.

Lay an inch or so of OM on top. This will lure the earthworms up through
the clay, tilling it in the process. Given a season, you'd notice an
improvement just from mulching, no other work.

Olushola wrote:

How deep will the clay be softened? I need to go about 3 feet.

At least. And at that depth, there's no way I'd do it.

Are you pressed for time? If not, then dig out 2 or 3 holes and get
the most crucial shrubs established.


"Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D. P.A." wrote in message
..
Olushola wrote:

I have two 3'x10' areas in which I want to plant bushes and flowers. The
ground is hard as nails. I rented a 5HP tiller, but that just scratched
the
surface. I was told to rent a jack hammer to break up the soil.

Does anyone have any solutions?

Top dress with compost or leaves. Let the earthworms break up and enrich
the clay. Spare yourself a full planting until next year.

A little chemistry is a dangerous thing.



On 29 Apr 2003 18:54:31 GMT, (Marley1372) wrote:

|The addition of Gypsum makes the soil acidic. It is best
|suited for azaleas and rhododendrons.
|
|Actually, Gypsum dosent reaqlly have much affect on soil pH. Gypsum is calcium
|sulfate, which means it contains calcium(alkaline) and sulfur(acidic). You are
|adding both and it will not affect pH.
|
|Toad