Clay soil help!

Hi, I have a question I have a huge vegie garden 24x25 and the the soil is very clay..like...yuck and its like a mud pit when it rains help!!!! what do i add to this soil????

Heavy clay soil requires organic amendment such as compost, brown grass clippings (green grass uses/robs nitrogen to break down), shredded leaves or products called "soil conditioners". You can even till in" fine" pine bark mulch.Here is some more info. I hope you find it of use to you.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/soil/a/improveclaysoil.htm

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07235.html

http://durham.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/32/UNH%203.PDF

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/499950/ (anecdotal info)

I also have extremely heavy clay soil in zone 4a. Some plants just don't mind. The clay is very high in nutrients but as you pointed out it is either very muddy or dried like a rock. However, without amending I've had no problem growing sugar snaps, zuchs, tomatoes, herbs, and much more. Experiment to see what works for you.

I have been having a fight with the clay for years. For landscaping plants I have had good success with adding a LOT of soil conditioner ( a brand called Nature's Helper- mix of pine bark fines and compost available at HD). I did add enough that I needed to get rid of clay soil to keep the grade the same. For vegetables, berries, etc., I decided the amending wasn't worth work and built raised beds.

This house was built up to keep it from flooding. They used white gummy clay It is very sticky and when dry, as hard as a rock. I have dug out wheelbarrows full of clay and replaced it with good topsoil, landscape mix, and compost, etc. I decided this year to buy trailer loads of soil, as the bags get very expensive. It's very hard work, but good exercise.

Thanks! Have any of you heard of Sweet Peat? I was told to add this to my garden I have no idea what it is other than a peat moss perhaps mixture! The other thing I have is last years leaves that I tossed into our wooded area. Should I spread those leaves around!?

Here is some info on Sweet Peet. http://sweetpeet.com/

If you use the leaves, run over them with the lawnmower first, then mix them into the soil. They will break down more quickly into the soil.

Angedawn- the red clay DOES help keep the house from flooding though. You don't want to dig it up within 3-4' of the foundation. I've been moving the red clay out of the areas to be flower beds and moving it to the base of the foundation where we need things to slope away from the house more and compacting it. I know how we all want to have pretty foundation plantings, but drainage away from the house is really necessary.

I agree, Monkapotamus. You can still have foundation planting beds, just not up against the foundation. We made a 3 foot wide "walkway" between the beds and the house using landscape fabric and gravel. Makes it very easy to see antbeds before they become massive....grin and gives a dry path around the house under the overhang.

Well, it's a little late to try and not plant against the foundation. It's alreay done. Drainage away from the house has not been a problem.
What I have is white, yucky clay. It's horrible and there's no telling where it came from.

I have worked in several bails of (8yard) peet ,Saw dust, and local horse manure into my garden . and tilled and turned until i was blue but it was worth every bit of it and added 2 ton of sand on top of that most of it was free except the peet and got that at lowes. my garden spot was new this year

You might want to have a soil test done on the "white, yucky clay". It could very well be that lime or something else was brought in and mixed with the soil to dry out the site. I've seen construction sites in rainy years that massive amounts of lime and betonite were brought in and tilled into the existing clay to force out the water. I've seen lime chunks as big as a 1970's VW Beetle's churned into the soil in a matter of seconds! It was cool to watch it done and I remember thinking to myself "Good thing this is gonna be covered in pavement 'cause nothing's gonna grow here for a looong time"

A good soil test - talk to you county extension agent, if they still exist, and get a real test done. It will point you in the correct direction for amendment. Then you can figure out which organics will be best suited to your particular situation.

Good Luck!

BTW - I have an old friend that hails from Lake Charles!

My husband tried to use a tractor to disc up an area that had the white clay in it. He was not able to disc it up. I don't think anything could survive in it either. I would rather have red clay any day.

Ours was so hard that we added lime to soften it before putting "sugar soil" to make the beds. As someone mentioned, we, too, have a gravel walkway around the foundation. It allows you to service your beds easily. I've heard it referred to as a "French drain." Chic, huh? LOL

I will definitely have raised beds now on. All I have done is wasted a lot of money and time on trying to amend something that can't be done.
And, after digging out 18 inches of the stuff and replacing with landscape mix, I found out my plants were suffering.
I then dug a 2 foot hole and water was standing in the bottom and within 5 minutes there was 4-6 inches of water in there.
Lesson learned.

I'm sorry you're having troubles.

I don't know why I didn't try raised beds to begin with.

That white clay is what we call crawfish dirt up here in north Louisiana. My yard falls off to it and that is why I started doing raised bed veggies. The rest of the yard is great.