I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to help
break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use builders
sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

In article ,
bruce writes:
|
| I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
| helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to help
| break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use builders
| sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
| vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren muttered:

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.

We were quite lucky with the tons of 'topsoil' we had delivered... as
topsoil it was rubbish, they'd mixed in 50:50 with a load of sand to bulk it
out. However it was ideal for the clay and builders' rubble we spread it on
for our lawn, which, 2 years later, looks great.

Do the standard thing-add calcium. Lime for vegetables, chalk if you've got
growing plants or fresh fertiliser in the ground or gypsum if you need to
maintain acidity.
2ozs/square yard of lime a little more chalk-I reckon about 4ozs for gypsum
although I've never used it.
Calcium ions cause edge to edge flocculation in the clay and make it form a
crumb rather than a slimy plastic structure.
David T

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
bruce writes:
|
| I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
| helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to
help
| break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use
builders
| sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
| vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

david taylor wrote:
Do the standard thing-add calcium. Lime for vegetables, chalk if you've got
growing plants or fresh fertiliser in the ground or gypsum if you need to
maintain acidity.
2ozs/square yard of lime a little more chalk-I reckon about 4ozs for gypsum
although I've never used it.
Calcium ions cause edge to edge flocculation in the clay and make it form a
crumb rather than a slimy plastic structure.
David T

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
bruce writes:
|
| I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
| helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to
help
| break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use
builders
| sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
| vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.



That was an excellently rapid response...
I do use lime - should have said. But I don't want to overdo it and make
my soil too alkaline, so I usually reserve it for when I'm planting
brassica. Where do I get gypsum from - I don't recall seeing it anywhere?
I didn't appreciate builders sand and sharp sand were different products
- will a builder's merchant know the difference?

I live next to an old abandoned football pitch which me and the neighbours have been sneakily turning into a wildflower meadow / birch grove over the last few years. Whenever I need grit, I just go out and dig up a bucket of 'blaze', but it occurred to me the other day that I have no idea what 'blaze' actually is! Does anyone know the origins of the scrapy red granular stuff? And why is it called blaze? Is it because when you fall over on it, it feels like someone has burned off your outer layers of skin??

Bob

"bruce" wrote in message
...
david taylor wrote:
Do the standard thing-add calcium. Lime for vegetables, chalk if you've
got
growing plants or fresh fertiliser in the ground or gypsum if you need
to
maintain acidity.
2ozs/square yard of lime a little more chalk-I reckon about 4ozs for
gypsum
although I've never used it.
Calcium ions cause edge to edge flocculation in the clay and make it
form a
crumb rather than a slimy plastic structure.
David T

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
bruce writes:
|
| I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
| helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to
help
| break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use
builders
| sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
| vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.



That was an excellently rapid response...
I do use lime - should have said. But I don't want to overdo it and make
my soil too alkaline, so I usually reserve it for when I'm planting
brassica. Where do I get gypsum from - I don't recall seeing it anywhere?
I didn't appreciate builders sand and sharp sand were different products
- will a builder's merchant know the difference?

Sharp sand is gritty to the touch, the grains are angular, in my neck of the
woods it is
a light grey colour. Builder's sand is also known as soft sand and is
usually a golden
colour, soft to the touch, staining your fingers yellow, and made up of many
different
sizes of rounded particle, down to clay size. It is good for bricklaying and
mortar.

Andy.

andrewpreece wrote:
Sharp sand is gritty to the touch, the grains are angular, in my neck of
the woods it is a light grey colour. Builder's sand is also known as soft
sand and is usually a golden colour, soft to the touch, staining your
fingers yellow, and made up of many different sizes of rounded particle,
down to clay size. It is good for bricklaying and mortar.

Am I right in thinking that sharp sand is mostly quartz with similar grain
size (from aeolian or water deposits - think sandy beach) whilst builder's
sand is mechanically ground up rock (of any provenance) with a large
proportion of feldspar minerals which will get hydrated to clays in short
order? So in other words you're just adding more clay?

Theo

And thanks Andy, I missed you off my last post.

david taylor wrote:
Do the standard thing-add calcium. Lime for vegetables, chalk if you've got
growing plants or fresh fertiliser in the ground or gypsum if you need to
maintain acidity.
2ozs/square yard of lime a little more chalk-I reckon about 4ozs for gypsum
although I've never used it.
Calcium ions cause edge to edge flocculation in the clay and make it form a
crumb rather than a slimy plastic structure.
David T

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
bruce writes:
|
| I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
| helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to
help
| break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use
builders
| sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
| vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?

Don't use builder's sand! But do use sharp sand from a builder's
merchant. No, it's not treated with chemicals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"bruce" wrote in message
...
I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost helps
but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to help break it
up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use builders sand or is
it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and vegetables? Or has
anyone got any other suggestions?



if u can get it gypsum is the best thing and its relatively cheap

Don't use sand it will mix with the fine clay and make cement and ruin
your good soil. Continue with organic matter.

Derryl


I have an allotment with a very clay soil. Plenty of muck and compost
helps but I believe that I need to add some coarse grit or sand to help
break it up. Horticultural sand is quite expensive so can I use builders
sand or is it treated with chemicals that would harm my soil and
vegetables? Or has anyone got any other suggestions?