Help with digging clay soil

I moved last year to a house with a garden and I'm determined to make a vegetable garden in it.
The problem I'm having is I have really heavy clay soil, I spent about 7 months last year digging it all and removing all the grass and weeds from where I wanted my vegetables. By November last year it actually resembled soil that you would plant in. Now is is back to hard packed soil that is very difficult to dig.
I've read a lot of stuff about adding compost into it so I've got a large pile of compost to dig into it but it's the actual digging that I'm struggling with.
When I'm digging it is coming up in huge chunks that I have to spend ages trying to break up, it took me about 2 hours to break up an area that was about 1 square foot and add in the compost. I don't mind the digging but I don't want it to end up like last year where it took so long to dig that by the time I was done it was too late to plant anything and have to start all over again next year.
I have no idea how to actually dig it and the best tools for the job, I've watched you tube video's on digging clay soil but the soil in those video's is always a lot softer and crumbly looking than mine.
Can someone explain how best to dig really heavy clay soil or link a good video if anyone knows of it.

Before anyone suggests it I know raised beds would be easier but I don't have the money for them. I am planning on one raised bed to grow my carrots and parsnips in but I cant afford enough top soil to raise the whole area I want. I'm also going to grow a lot of my smaller stuff like baby leaf lettuces and herbs in a vertical garden as well.

here is some pics of my soil to give you an idea of what it is like. Also does the soil in the last picture look in good enough condition to plant seedlings in?

Just started digging


After about an hour


After about 2 hours

 

Are you using that tiny fork? You'll be there forever. You need to start with a decent spade. Not a cheapo b&q own brand one, a decent one of a decent brand.

Don't worry too much about getting it crumbly at first, just dig it roughly once, pour compost over it, then dig it roughly again. Leave it for a few days, walk on it if you like but only when it's dry (this will help crush the big lumps), then, you can either dig it again properly, or just hoe and rake the surface.

Once there's plenty of compost in it, and you've loosened it roughly, the earthworm population will boom. Then the worms will mix it all up for you over time.

 

lol no the tiny fork was just to give a rough size of the clumps of soil. I couldn't get a spade into it at first so I have been using a fork to dig it first , then using the spade to break it up more, then using the little fork to finish it off.

I was thinking about just roughly digging it all first but was worried about squashing it all back down from standing on it to dig it a second time. I'll give that a try though

How long is "over time" I'm hoping to plant in it this year or is that unlikely?

 

There's loads of time to have it ready this year. Fill it with spuds, they do all the work for you.

 

Two other suggestions....if you can get hold of horticultural grit, that will help improve the texture permanently, and this autumn try to muster the strength to dig it over very roughly, then leave it for the frost to do the rest for you. Perhaps hire a rotavator this year? There are a couple of weeks in the year when clay is at just the right stage to cultivate..the rest of the time, it's a pig!

 

If it is weed free. Can you get hold of a rotavator? This will break it up and mix in the compost at the same time. As stated add grit or even sharp sand to make it easier to work with.

Only use a rotavator if it is weed free though as there is the potential to spread perennials with it.

Rusty

 

It is pretty much weed free, just a few little surface weeds that wouldn't take long to remove. Spent months last year digging out weeds and I think i got all the roots out. Some of the dock roots went down over 2 feet deep :(
I'm worried about hiring a rotavotor and breaking it. There was alot of rubble and gravel in the soil. I think i've got all the large bits out but worried i missed any pieces.

 

Lots of good advice above. I have gardened on clay for about 40 years. The best advise is keep adding more and more organic matter. Add manure as a top dressing and let the worms do the work. When I used to grow vegetables I would mulch with manure around and in between the plants. It keeps the weeds down and improves the soil for next year. Clay soil is actually quite fertile but it needs opening out to unlock the nutrients. It will gradually get better.

 

That's very deep. Most common weeds don't send roots that deep. Dandelions and dock, with their tap roots, go very deep. There is another common weed that roots even deeper than that. Do you know if you have bindweed ?

 

to GC @namaah

It will have compacted over the winter due to all the wet weather we've had.

Which seedlings you are considering?

You wouldn't necessarily have to buy top soil to fill them up with, you could sieve some of your clay soil into your raised bed (which is what I did). Sieving it will help you get straighter carrots and parsnips too

 

I'm not sure about putting the manure down, I have a very grumpy neighbour who I think would complain about the smell. She already complained about me building a compost bin and I haven't even built it, let alone made compost in it yet.

Yeah it was only the dock weeds that went that far although some of the dandelions went pretty deep too. There wasn't any bindweed in it, loads of docks, brambles, thistles and dandelions. And loads of couch grass which was a nightmare to get all the roots out, the roots seemed to go on forever across the soil.

Yeah it's been a very wet winter, my garden was like a swamp all winter.
I'm planning on growing cabbage, kale, beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, onions and leeks. I'm thinking about turnips as well but someone told me they don't grow well in clay soil so I'll need to look into that one. I'm also going to grow chard, spinach, komatsuna, lots of different lettuces and herbs but those are all going into a vertical garden I'm making as they are all going to be grown for baby leaves. Then my carrots and parsnips in my raised bed. I'm now also thinking about potatoes since someone further up said they will break up the soil. Do sweet potatoes just grow the same as normal potatoes? would be nice to have some of them too
That will help if I don't need to buy all the soil for my raised bed. The council are putting in all new fences in the front gardens around my area, I'll ask them if I can have the dirt left over from digging out the holes for the concrete. I also have a random mound of dirt at the back of my garden that needs to get levelled out to put my compost pile on so I can use that too.

Can I use left over grow bags from last year to add to my soil as well? A friend of mine grows lots of tomatoes in his greenhouse and has loads of grow bags from last year to get rid off, I was thinking about adding them into my soil but not sure if it will cause any harm

 

Manure doesn't smell of anything if it's had time to mellow.

Unlike the several sacks of fresh, still wet, stinking chicken poo I was once given, which I put on my front garden. I live next door to a community hall that sometimes gets booked for private parties, like wedding receptions for example. I didn't know, when I emptied the first stinking sack of chicken poo, that that afternoon was one such afternoon when some excited young lady would be arriving any minute, to celebrate her big day with all her extended family and friends. The timing was impeccable. The first carnation clad guests walked past my front garden just as I was stood there with an upended sack in my hands and a pile of steaming poo by my feet. Realising that a lot of people were going to be passing in their finest fineries, and the sacks were stinking anyway, I figured I'd best crack on, because the smell will soon pass once the air gets to it right? By the time the excited bride and groom went past, I was kicking poo around the garden, engulfed in a cloud of stink you could almost see and very definitely taste.

Nothing was said to me, but I did hear some grumbles from those that came out for a smoke.

 

Namaah, Old growbag compost is wonderful for improving clay soil....lucky you! A few years of adding that and you won't need raised beds for the carrots.

 

lol, that was pretty badly timed, makes a funny story though. I just always assumed manure would smell like the stuff farmers put on their fields.

That's great about the grow bags, there is about 5 wheelbarrows full of grow bag compost, will make a big addition to my pile. And he has already ordered his grow bags for this year so can get the same next year :D

I've been getting compost from my local dump but it is slow going as my husband needs a lot of convincing to take me to get more, I cant drive. I also need to sieve it all because there is loads of junk in it and big chunks of branches.

I'll have a look later for somewhere to get manure and horticultural grit from that's not too expensive (I'm on limited funds atm) Can you use sharp sand in the soil? I have a few small bags left over from when I layed slabs for my shed

 

Sharp sand is excellent for opening up clay.