I am about to move to an area in the Dallas/Ft. Worth
metroplex where the soil is a hard black clay. I have a neighbor that
also recently moved out there and has a small tractor with a
tiller/front end loader. Earlier today we made a few trips and brought
in two trailer loads of top soil from a sand pit. We tilled it into
the clay soil and it seemed to loosen the soil and make it more
workable. They also have, "Padding" sand that is used by construction
workers before pouring concrete slabs... the guy at the sand pit
couldnt tell me which would make a better clay additive. He seemed to
think that the top soil had more plant nutrients, but would be less
likely to loosen the soil as well as the Padding Soil. We are both
pretty new to gardening and I was hoping someone could give us some
advice on making the clay soil more of a viable mix for growing a
vegetable garden. I really need something that when mixed with the
clay will prevent it from becoming so hard and compacted... I dont see
anything growing in that soil - without some sort of improvement.