Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring 2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area with no plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so excited by the prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have much money to spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend rotavating the borders and throwing in as much organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca, forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible – all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig through it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I have no idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my garden when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly appreciated - Jo

In article ,
JoStar37 wrote:

Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to
offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The
first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring 2011
I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I am
lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by about
7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area with no
plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so excited by the
prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which was
absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the turf was
removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local farm who had
lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it was my only option
at the time as I just didn’t have much money to spend on compost. I then
spent a good weekend rotavating the borders and throwing in as much
organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying
many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be
able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have
survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca,
forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some
compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have just
dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible – all
claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a spades
depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems to be
solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig through
it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I have no
idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my garden
when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my ages
to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears in my
eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire another
rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and don’t have
much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always
optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look
forward to doing something better than they have ever done before." -
Vita Sackville-West

As with any good gardener, you're not satisfied, so I guess your on your
way.

--
You put Lloyd Blankfein in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for one six-month term, and all this bullshit would stop, all over Wall Street. That's all it would take. Just once.

Vote 3rd Party

JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to
offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The
first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring
2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I
am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by
about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area
with no plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so
excited by the prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which
was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the
turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local
farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it
was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have much money to
spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend rotavating the borders
and throwing in as much organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying
many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be
able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have
survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca,
forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some
compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have
just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible –
all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a
spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems
to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig
through it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I
have no idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my
garden when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears
in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire
another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and
don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can
do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are and what
your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell you anything that
they can not just those suitable for your climate and soil. So far we don't
know if you picked the right plants or not, so that may be part of the
problem. Find out from locals what actually does grow well in your area,
they have solved these problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the
wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even if not the
whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil to work with. As
you have discovered it is very hard to work but this is not the biggest
problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it effects
drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often imported) once you
get through that water doesn't drain but tends to run along the top of the
clay. If you dig a hole in it and plant a shrub there the shrub will be
effectively in a waterproof tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the
hole fills up and may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot
is level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies.

There are several ways around this and none of them are easy or cheap. One
of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in holes. That is you
build up the soil above the clay and plant them into a mound. It is
possible to install drainage. It is possible to slowly convert clay to soil
with much effort and soil amendments and time. It is possible to import
soil to go on top. Try getting a professional or the members of the local
garden club to give you an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a
world away is very chancy.

David

On 3/1/12 4:58 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to
offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The
first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring
2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I
am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by
about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area
with no plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so
excited by the prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which
was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the
turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local
farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it
was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have much money to
spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend rotavating the borders
and throwing in as much organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying
many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be
able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have
survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca,
forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some
compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have
just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible –
all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a
spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems
to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig
through it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I
have no idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my
garden when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears
in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire
another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and
don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can
do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are and what
your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell you anything that
they can not just those suitable for your climate and soil. So far we don't
know if you picked the right plants or not, so that may be part of the
problem. Find out from locals what actually does grow well in your area,
they have solved these problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the
wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even if not the
whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil to work with. As
you have discovered it is very hard to work but this is not the biggest
problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it effects
drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often imported) once you
get through that water doesn't drain but tends to run along the top of the
clay. If you dig a hole in it and plant a shrub there the shrub will be
effectively in a waterproof tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the
hole fills up and may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot
is level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies.

There are several ways around this and none of them are easy or cheap. One
of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in holes. That is you
build up the soil above the clay and plant them into a mound. It is
possible to install drainage. It is possible to slowly convert clay to soil
with much effort and soil amendments and time. It is possible to import
soil to go on top. Try getting a professional or the members of the local
garden club to give you an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a
world away is very chancy.

I have found that a generous amount of gypsum broadcast on top of the
soil and slowly rinsed into the soil will cause clay to be more
"friendly". Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which reacts chemically with
clay to make the clay porous and granular. The problem is that it
eventually leaches away and thus must be applied every year or two.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

JoStar37 writes:

the soil is horrible – all
claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a spades
depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems to be
solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig through
it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I have no
idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my garden
when testing areas with my spade.

For lots of plants, one spade is deep enough.

I can't figure out what you mean by "solid clay/sandy".

Clay is soil with fine particles.
Sand has much larger particles.
Gravel is even larger.
Solid is rocks.

claggy - I think you mean muddy?

How deep is the soil damp?


--
Dan Espen

On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:20:08 -0500, Dan Espen
wrote:
I can't figure out what you mean by "solid clay/sandy".

Clay is soil with fine particles.
Sand has much larger particles.
Gravel is even larger.
Solid is rocks.

Er:
"Coarse" is large rocks
"Solid" is a strata of solid stone.

Otherwise, yea, the "solid clay/sandy" is an odd description - the two
are very different.

I do love my sandy loam (with gobs of organic amendments).

On Fri, 2 Mar 2012 11:58:37 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:
You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are and what
your climate is like.

I took a peek through the intertubes at his place, and it seems he's
in the UK (as if "rotovator" wasn't clue enough), probably near
Oldham, but since everything is overcast and there's rain on the
porthole, I can't rightly tell.

"gardenbanter.co.uk" would appear to be a web-to-newsgroup interface
site (and the .uk in there has no bearing on my expectation the OP is
in the UK, and it has US-specific newsgroups listed as well).

On 02/03/2012 03:47, David E. Ross wrote:
On 3/1/12 4:58 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to
offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The
first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring
2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I
am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by
about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area
with no plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so
excited by the prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which
was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the
turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local
farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it
was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have much money to
spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend rotavating the borders
and throwing in as much organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying
many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be
able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have
survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca,
forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some
compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have
just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible –
all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a
spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems
to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig
through it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I
have no idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my
garden when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears
in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire
another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and
don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can
do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are and what
your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell you anything that
they can not just those suitable for your climate and soil. So far we don't
know if you picked the right plants or not, so that may be part of the
problem. Find out from locals what actually does grow well in your area,
they have solved these problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the
wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even if not the
whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil to work with. As
you have discovered it is very hard to work but this is not the biggest
problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it effects
drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often imported) once you
get through that water doesn't drain but tends to run along the top of the
clay. If you dig a hole in it and plant a shrub there the shrub will be
effectively in a waterproof tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the
hole fills up and may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot
is level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies.

There are several ways around this and none of them are easy or cheap. One
of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in holes. That is you
build up the soil above the clay and plant them into a mound. It is
possible to install drainage. It is possible to slowly convert clay to soil
with much effort and soil amendments and time. It is possible to import
soil to go on top. Try getting a professional or the members of the local
garden club to give you an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a
world away is very chancy.

I have found that a generous amount of gypsum broadcast on top of the
soil and slowly rinsed into the soil will cause clay to be more
"friendly". Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which reacts chemically with
clay to make the clay porous and granular. The problem is that it
eventually leaches away and thus must be applied every year or two.


The main problem with gypsum is not so much that it has to be regularly
replaced, but that it adds a lot of calcium to the soil. If you want to
grow plants which don't like calcium (i.e. alkaline conditions), then
gypsum should be avoided.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
On 02/03/2012 03:47, David E. Ross wrote:
On 3/1/12 4:58 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able
to offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago.
The first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in
spring 2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back
garden. I am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden,
15metres long by about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a
completely grassed area with no plants at all. I saw this as a
blank canvas and was so excited by the prospect of designing
something beautiful. The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to
make borders
which was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay.
Once the turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to
my local farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t
rotted but it was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have
much money to spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend
rotavating the borders and throwing in as much organic matter as I
could get my hands on. I also tried to note where the sun was rising
and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money
buying many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that
I would be able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants
have survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black
sambuca, forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of
roses. On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with
the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy
some compost each week and try to work my way around the borders.
I have just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is
horrible – all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is
that past a spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of
soil which seems to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best
to loosen it and dig through it with my garden fork but I just
don’t have the strength. I have no idea what to do now. It seems
to be present around half of my garden when testing areas with my
spade. I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took
my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with
tears in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should
I hire another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my
own and don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is
anything I can do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are
and what your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell
you anything that they can not just those suitable for your climate
and soil. So far we don't know if you picked the right plants or
not, so that may be part of the problem. Find out from locals what
actually does grow well in your area, they have solved these
problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even
if not the whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil
to work with. As you have discovered it is very hard to work but
this is not the biggest problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it
effects drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often
imported) once you get through that water doesn't drain but tends
to run along the top of the clay. If you dig a hole in it and
plant a shrub there the shrub will be effectively in a waterproof
tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the hole fills up and
may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot is
level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies. There are several ways around
this and none of them are easy or
cheap. One of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in
holes. That is you build up the soil above the clay and plant them
into a mound. It is possible to install drainage. It is possible
to slowly convert clay to soil with much effort and soil amendments
and time. It is possible to import soil to go on top. Try getting
a professional or the members of the local garden club to give you
an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a world away is very
chancy.

I have found that a generous amount of gypsum broadcast on top of the
soil and slowly rinsed into the soil will cause clay to be more
"friendly". Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which reacts chemically with
clay to make the clay porous and granular. The problem is that it
eventually leaches away and thus must be applied every year or two.


The main problem with gypsum is not so much that it has to be
regularly replaced, but that it adds a lot of calcium to the soil. If you
want to grow plants which don't like calcium (i.e. alkaline
conditions), then gypsum should be avoided.

This is rather confused. Gypsum does not materially alter the pH of soil.
In nature high pH (alkaline) soil often has much calcium but it is not
calcium in itself that affects pH. The anions in salts (eg, carbonate,
sulphate, chloride) are as important or more important than the cations (eg
calcium, sodium, magnesium) in determining pH. So calcium carbonate (garden
lime) does raise pH where calcium sulphate (gypsum) doesn't. It is the
carbonate that sops up the acid (hydrogen ions) so moving the balance in
favour of alkali.

Where gypsum may have an unwanted effect is in altering the
calcium-magnesium balance but this is another issue.

A further issue is that gypsum doesn't work on all types of clay.

There are liquid clay breaker chemicals aside from gypsum. But this is
getting far afield since we are not yet certain that the clay is the main or
only problem that the OP has.

David

On 02/03/2012 21:27, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 02/03/2012 03:47, David E. Ross wrote:
On 3/1/12 4:58 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able
to offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago.
The first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in
spring 2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back
garden. I am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden,
15metres long by about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a
completely grassed area with no plants at all. I saw this as a
blank canvas and was so excited by the prospect of designing
something beautiful. The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to
make borders
which was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay.
Once the turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to
my local farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t
rotted but it was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have
much money to spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend
rotavating the borders and throwing in as much organic matter as I
could get my hands on. I also tried to note where the sun was rising
and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money
buying many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that
I would be able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants
have survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black
sambuca, forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of
roses. On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with
the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy
some compost each week and try to work my way around the borders.
I have just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is
horrible – all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is
that past a spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of
soil which seems to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best
to loosen it and dig through it with my garden fork but I just
don’t have the strength. I have no idea what to do now. It seems
to be present around half of my garden when testing areas with my
spade. I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took
my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with
tears in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should
I hire another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my
own and don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is
anything I can do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are
and what your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell
you anything that they can not just those suitable for your climate
and soil. So far we don't know if you picked the right plants or
not, so that may be part of the problem. Find out from locals what
actually does grow well in your area, they have solved these
problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even
if not the whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil
to work with. As you have discovered it is very hard to work but
this is not the biggest problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it
effects drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often
imported) once you get through that water doesn't drain but tends
to run along the top of the clay. If you dig a hole in it and
plant a shrub there the shrub will be effectively in a waterproof
tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the hole fills up and
may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot is
level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies. There are several ways around
this and none of them are easy or
cheap. One of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in
holes. That is you build up the soil above the clay and plant them
into a mound. It is possible to install drainage. It is possible
to slowly convert clay to soil with much effort and soil amendments
and time. It is possible to import soil to go on top. Try getting
a professional or the members of the local garden club to give you
an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a world away is very
chancy.

I have found that a generous amount of gypsum broadcast on top of the
soil and slowly rinsed into the soil will cause clay to be more
"friendly". Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which reacts chemically with
clay to make the clay porous and granular. The problem is that it
eventually leaches away and thus must be applied every year or two.


The main problem with gypsum is not so much that it has to be
regularly replaced, but that it adds a lot of calcium to the soil. If you
want to grow plants which don't like calcium (i.e. alkaline
conditions), then gypsum should be avoided.

This is rather confused. Gypsum does not materially alter the pH of soil.
In nature high pH (alkaline) soil often has much calcium but it is not
calcium in itself that affects pH. The anions in salts (eg, carbonate,
sulphate, chloride) are as important or more important than the cations (eg
calcium, sodium, magnesium) in determining pH. So calcium carbonate (garden
lime) does raise pH where calcium sulphate (gypsum) doesn't. It is the
carbonate that sops up the acid (hydrogen ions) so moving the balance in
favour of alkali.

Yes - I was confusing two separate things. I had the term "calcifuge"
on my mind when I compiled the post. :-(

--

Jeff

Hello friends,

Thanks for sharing your advice garden information, Really I am highly appreciated.

Best regards
Dabney Walker