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Clay Soil
Coping with a clay soil can be one of the most
challenging aspects of gardening, particularly for beginners. But don't
despair, I'd much rather have a clay soil than chalky or sandy, it's just a
question of learning how to make the most of what you have got.
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 | Characteristically slow to dry
out |
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| Able to "lift"
water from the water table by capillarity |
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| Established
plants frequently survive
drought periods well even if they are not watered through them |
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| Usually very
rich in nutrients |
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| Plants that survive the first couple of years
on clay tend to grow and
survive very well with little intervention. |
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| Always
heavy to work |
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| Slow to warm up in spring |
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| Can be waterlogged |
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| Plants planted
into clays generally take longer to establish than on other soils |
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| Growth can be fairly slow at first. |
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Having a clay soil can feel a bit like being at
school, - you're going to do something new and the teacher brings out the
equipment. But instead of paying attention, you were talking to your friend or
daydreaming or at the toilet. Then when there's the mad scramble for the stuff, you get left
with every body else's rejects. You know it's going to be difficult, but most of
all it just doesn't seem fair!
If you've got clay soil, then you're probably
acutely aware of the fact, but if you're not sure, then take a little moist or wet soil in
your fingers and rub it gently,
If it "polishes" i.e. makes a
shiny smooth coating on your fingers and is greyish brown in color it's
probably clay.
Dealing with clay
- There are three key elements to improving clay soil
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The weather helps to break the soil up
in the winter by a freeze / thaw effect on the clods that you dig up.
Digging the soil over in the autumn and then leaving it for the weather to
act upon is the most effective way of breaking it up. In the spring, the
soil can be broken down much more easily into a fine tilth by raking.
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Organic matter is the way that you can
improve the soil in the longer term. Garden compost, farmyard or stable
manure and in large quantities, the bulkier the better. Dig it in if you
can, but if there's just too much, then apply it as a thick layer of mulch
in the autumn and then leave it for the worms to take down into the soil for
you - slower, but effective.
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Time is the third key element. Really
it means repeating the above two, for several years. It will take a few
years, 3,4 or even up to 10 of digging and adding bulky organic matter to
really improve the soil for the long term. So keep on going!
| If you have clay soil, never walk on it
when it wet, you will compact it even more squashing out any pockets of
air that it may contain and leaving it to develop a hard and caked surface
when it dries out.
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| Knowing when to dig becomes a bit of a
fine art in fact. Too wet and it's horribly sticky, too dry and it's
horribly hard. I find a mattock (like a pick-axe, but with a large flat
horizontal blade on one end) very useful if I have to work on a hard dry
clay soil.
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| Use a fork rather than a spade to dig
the soil.
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| Take more smaller bites with the fork,
rather than trying to move too much soil in one go.
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Plants for
clay soil | Extreme clay soil
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