Dealing with clay.

I want to turn a part of my garden into a vegetable plot. It started with my wife suggesting that the rose garden was getting difficult to keep clear of weeds informing me that if I became unable to perform that task she did not want to inherit it. At the same time we had just enjoyed one row of potatoes and the crop from a dozen runner beans which I had planted on the edge of the rose garden for fun.
I dug the roses up and as Iâ??m to tight to pay the prices asked for turf I dug it up from the top of the garden and used that to cover the now naked rose garden. That left a potential vegetable which coupled with my wifeâ??s ambition to ensure that I took regular cardiovascular exercise I thought would not take long to dig over.
It was then that I found the ground composed of a top three inches of good soil and then solid grey clay so as a novice I immediately took to my books to seek advice only to come away from them confused. Half of my gardening books sugested I just scratch about the three inches of good soil and plant in that and the other half sugested double digging it so I started and its killing me. I donâ??t mind the clay but Iâ??m also blessed with loads of old roots.
I have unlimited access to well rotted manure and I have discovered that I can hire a tracked digger for a very reasonable sum. So far I have dug one trench about eighteen inches deep and moved the soil/clay to the end of the plot. I dumped about nine inches of manure into the trench and am in the process of digging the next trench dumping the soil/clay from it on top of the manure in the first trench. When I have finished the plot I intend dumping three inches or so of manure on top of it and forking it in.
Although my books inform me that clay is actually quite nutritious it doesnâ??t look that good to me so my questions are as follow:
Is what I have done so far acceptable and if not what should I have done?

 

All sounds good to me, clay can be improved with organic matter which is what you are doing. Dont rush the job, dig deep and put lots of organic matter in (a barrow full per square yard is agood giude.) Be aware that if your not digging and weeding between the trenches they will of course grow into your trenches but im sure youve though of that. Raised beds are good option on clay soils, but you did say you wre a bit tight and there is an expense. Not my site but another local site has fairly heavy clay, I know a few of the plot holders there and the do well (particularly in a dry summer) Keep up the weeding, digging and adding manure...you may even end up saving a few quid.

 

Hi BML. I am sure you are doing exactly the right thing. Clay holds both water (internally) and nutrients, and can be a good soil - but for the fact that the small particle size prevents the external water from draining easily. I had a similar problem and posted this thread a while ago. http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/improving-clay-t8892.html?t=8892&highlight=improving+clay

I would do exactly the same thing now except that I would use more sand, more grit and especially more manure. You don't have to mix it up that well - the worms will do that for you. I buried solid piles of newspaper in my garden, but there is no trace of them now - they are all well mixed in. Also I would bury anything else in that you can get your hands on - it doesn't really matter how well it is rotted. Once it is buried, it will rot in situ. - Though if you use huge amounts of fresh manure, you might have to wait for a bit to let it rot.

I am very pleased with the results of my efforts.

 

Intersting that Peter I agree about the rotted manure, I think way too much emphasis is given to WELL rotted manure, id prefer to say dont use very fresh manure.

 

Many thanks for that especially the advice on the grit.

 

There has been quite a craze on American forums for 'lasagna gardening', which came about as a result of a book by Patricia Lanza. http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/lasagnagarden.htm

The essence of this is that you lay down many layers, over the area in question, of cardboard, grass clippings, manure, etc, ie anything organic that you would add to a compost heap. There is no specific list of things and no particular order, other than the requirement to try and get a balance between green (ie nitrogen) and brown (ie carbon). You don't mix it or do anything else - just leave it. And it will rot down and mix itself up, by itself, and produce good quality soil. In essence, instead of a compost heap, you are making a flat compost sheet. The sheet will compost at nearly the same rate as a compost heap, as most compost heaps are usually cold anyway.

The message I take from this method, is that the material that you add can be anything you like, it doesn't have to be well, or even partly composted, and you don't have to mix it.

However in the case of clay, I would also add sharp sand and grit for the drainage. And grit may need of bit of mixing in as worms don't digest it.