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hard packed soil (clay)
If you look at a venn diagramm of what makes up soil texture it
becomes obvious that adding sand to a clay soil is pointless, to truly effect the soil texture you would need to basically replace all the clay. (which brings me to a pet peave-- add what you want you will NOT improve the soil drainage that is a function of subsoil and slope).... but you have slope. TONS of organic matter and the proper amount of gypsum is the best bet. In the "old" days 100 tons of compost to the acre per year was not considered to much!!!!! And as was said earlier keep the sun off (with a nice thick mulch) this is especially important in the warmer areas of the world. And finally take heart in the fact that clay soil is "strong" soil, that is it has lots of minerals to make plants thrive, it is just a bit (LOT) fussy about how it gets treated! animaux wrote in message . .. Pelletized gypsum is an excellent product to add to the soil when it is hard clay. I would not suggest you use powdered gypsum. The addition of sand may work, but usually only if accompanied by a thick layer of mulch, otherwise the small particles of clay stick to the significantly larger sand particles and can cause some very hard soil, as you now can see. Mulch is really important in that it continues to nourish the soil with active organisms which help break down the mulch and shades the soil to keep it cooler, thus the earthworms come higher to the surface and drag down the organic matter to ingest and process, as well as aerating the soil. Worm castings will then be present in the soil, which will introduce other aerobic organisms, which further break the soil down into more friable particles. Leaving clay with added sand in hot open sun will give you something on the order of concrete. It will change the minute you mulch. On areas where aesthetic is not an issue, I will use alfalfa hay to suppress weeds and feed the soil organisms. It keeps the soil cool and moist, which is how clay(s) develop from hardpan into workable soil. It's a process which is well worth it. It can take about three years for soil to truly come alive and be self sufficient enough where you only need to add organic matter to maintain the levels of micro and macro organisms which in turn, do all the work. A soil should only need to be tilled mechanically once. Then it should be left alone to recover and develop a fungal mat where you will smell frankincense in the soil. It smells sweet and has great texture and structure. Clay is a lot easier to do this with than sand since the clay already has body, it just needs to be nurtured and given organic matter to develop. If you add anything, add finished compost, preferably with active actinomycetes, which is a fungus and will help develop active soils. For information about soil and how to get it alive, take a look at: http://www.soilfoodweb.com/phpweb/to...ex.php?tid=153 or start at their home page: www.soilfoodweb.com Victoria On Tue, 10 Jun 2003 07:44:54 -0500, Carl e Roberts wrote: 15 yrs ago I added 24 cu yds of white sand to my yard (here in Memphis). (The neighbors thot I was building a beach). We are on the downward side of a slight slope and this sand definitely has helped with drainage and has improved our soil overall. Recently this spring we tilled about 400sq. ft of new flowerbeds and I was amazed at the variety of soil types in various locations of the yard. Some in full sun, partial shade, the "upside" of our yard, and the "downside" all with different types of soil. (I am going to take a small break from this sand issue to say for the benefit of some-I have also added other "amendments" to the soil such as lime,compost,organic matter,etc. ). Here (finally) is the issue: The area where we have a small garden after tilling and planting this spring is showing signs of hard packed soil. The sand is still mixed with the clay but the clay still "hardpacks" after a good rain. I have two compost piles "working" and intend this fall to incorporate large quantities of organic matter (grassclippings/shredded newspaper) into this garden spot. My question is this: I am wondering whether to add more sand to help with the breakup of the clay or maybe gypsum is the answer here- I am not very familiar with this product what exactly is "gypsum" and how/when is this product added? where can gypsum be purchased? |
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