soil amendments

Every type of soil has its good and bad characteristics, and like every woman knows, it is a matter of playing up the good features that creates the beauty of the whole. Clay soil has some features that given the right treatment repay you with a garden to be envied.

1. Treat it right. Try to preserve good tilth (crumbliness) by not compacting the soil with foot traffic. Use a board to distribute your weight if you have to walk into the cultivated space of your garden. Do not, repeat, do not work the soil when wet… it is very sulky and will create hard clods of impenetrable rocklike soil. Those reduce the success of your seeding and new plant rootlets taking hold. Do cultivate it when it feels crumbly and breaks apart easily in your hand.
2. Feed it organically. Clay soil loves added humus, that decaying plant and vegetable matter that good compost becomes. Although composting can be a high art form, if you simply add decomposing plant matter like leaf mold, coffee grounds or kitchen peelings you continually improve your clay soil and improve its fertility as well! Greensand, bone meal, blood meal, fish fertilizers,…they are all good. Clay soil repays you by retaining the nutrients well, and the humus makes it more available to the the plant roots.
3. Give it an additional boost. I had good results from adding gypsum periodically to the soil. It is readily available and it is recommended to add “20 to 30 pounds per 100 square feet to establish a new garden and a yearly topup thereafter of 50 pounds per 1000 square feet.” -clay soil gardening. I wasn’t so scientific, and just added it periodically into the soil ( and as they say: you need to dig it in). You may add builders sand and peat moss, but be sure not to overdo it and mix them in well. I like the addition of peat moss, and didn’t see much good from the sand, but that is me.`
4. Learn its seasons. Clay soil has something like PMS in the springtime. That is when the soil is most wet and cold and demands that you to be sensitive to its need of delicate treatment (see tip #1). If your area has a dry warm period in late winter, before the spring rains, that is a good time to turn the soil or till it and ready for the planting season, late summer for dividing and adding new plantings (before the autumn rains). The autumn is good for deep digging and adding half made compost.
5. Give it regular attention Nutrients leach away, rain and time compact the soil, a dry season can harden the ground, too… all reasons to seasonally pay attention to your clay soil. The more gently you treat it along with adding what it likes, the less attention to pay, but still, you need to cultivate and sometimes mulch, along with the other suggested tips. A light dust mulch in dry weather (where one works only the superficial surface of the soil to create a layer of dust) or the addition of mulches keeps everything moister. If too much moisture is a problem dispense with the mulch and simply give the feeding and cultivating necessary. If you follow these tips, you should have a happy garden and you may even consider clay soil one of your best assets.

crossposted from http://ilonagarden.blogspot.com

Most of the time we get the fundamental idea of whether our soil consists of clay, loam, or sand and sometimes we pay attention to the pH… but do we know the soil profile we are working with? Do we know its assets and drawbacks? Well, if you are interested I have a place for readers to start: The National Resources Conservation Service’ Soil Survey site. It has loads of information and is pretty easy to use. Being an ongoing project, they may not have your county online yet, but in that case you can contact your county extension agent to request a hard copy soil map. Here’s the Ohio counties info. And, by the way, did you know your state has a state soil, like a state bird or state flower? Yep, those politicos think of everything.

Years ago, when first moving to my rural home, the real estate agent thoughtfully provided the county extension offices soil map survey to me. It had aerial maps with soil types mapped onto them, and explanations of the soil profiles. There were also lists of trees, etc, and land use charts for the soil types. I have always appreciated this information, and it helps gardeners make long range soil amendment and planting plans. It doesn’t replace personal observation, but supplements it with expert evaluation.

Compost

It seems that you can’t discuss soil without the topic of compost coming up at some point. Compost is the way we improve the tilth* of the soil, add fertility, … it is the commerce of “organic matter” that is listed every time one is advised to improve their soils in a large number of circumstances. Heavy clay soil? add organic matter (humus). Sandy fast draining soil? add organic matter. Moisture retention? add organic matter.
Yes, we get it. So however we decide we want to attain it, it helps to set up our own compost manufacturing area. Which reminds me. There is something new on the horizon in composting: Bokashi composting.
I also came across this tidbit of info: “compost can suppress plant disease. Israeli researchers discovered that vegetable and herb seedlings raised in a mix of 40% vermiculite, 30% peat moss, and 30% composted cow manure grew faster, with less incidence of disease, than those raised in a 40% vermiculite/60% peat moss mix” – ATTRA. One key element in composting is the heat from the heap that destroys organisms. Composting can be a whole lot of science, but for most of us, we just muddle along with rotting things down.

A component of composting is earthworm activity. Lindis’ experience is ideal for discovering this underground world. Make the earthworms happy, I say. They do good things for your soil.

A worm blog, and DIY directions for making rain barrels, etc.

Potting Soil

Garden soil isn’t all there is to know. A whole world of soil attributes are contained in … potting soil. You can mix your own or buy soils designated for about any purpose under the sun. I always liked getting my soils for pots at WalMart or K-Mart, but in the early days I mixed my own. I just found that obtaining things like oak leaf mold was pretty pricey. Here are a few links to follow to know more about potting soils and how to make your own: National Organic Standard on the ATTRA site, HGTV,The Best Potting Soil, Potting Soil Recipes

So what do you want to know about your soil? The composition, proportions of clay, sand or loam. The pH, is it an acid, neutral, or alkaline soil? What are the known fertility problems, if any? Magnesium deficient? What can you do to increase the nitrogen? When do you want more potash? Or potassium? Take your time and familiarize yourself with your dirt, it can be fun and pays off in better blooms and produce. We all want that!

*tilth: “the physical condition of soil in relation to plant growth”