A garden is only as good as the ground that it's planted in. Discussion forum for the many ways to improve the soil where we plant our gardens.
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
![]() |
#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Philly 7A
Posts: 739
|
![]() Time to ponder... Almost every one agrees that hard clay soil is not the preferred soil for gardens. So how much of this is just regurgitated information? I have been giving this a lot of thought lately and just so you know, I'm not one of those "Hop on the bandwagon" types. I like to do what works for me. I have been using my clay soil to my advantage and so far it seems to be working fine for me, although I dont have a "control" to compare it with. While clay soil, on its own, has a terrible tilth or texture, is almost impossible to work, especially when wet and can be compacted too easily, clay soil is loaded with minerals, can hold a lot of nutrients, and is more fertile than some other soil types. I didn't want to loose out on the benefits of using clay soil but at the same time, I didn't want to have the issues that come with using clay soil. What to do? When I built all of my "newer" beds I used clay soil as one of the layers in the beds, layering in with other Bio Mass. I'm guessing about 20-30 percent of my Hugelkultur beds have clay soil mixed in, my Raised beds on the hill have even more. So far this has worked well for me. Here are a few examples.
I just wanted to do a quick write up on clay soil because I think a lot of times it gets a bum wrap. The only thing I have done to one of my beds that I wish I wouldn't have, was to add top soil, not that top soil hurts but it was a waste! There is no need to add top soil, use your own soil, just amend it properly or layer it in the bed. I'm sure my clay soil was a better gardening choice than buying a few bags of top soil. Well that's 2 cents worth anyhow. |
![]() |
![]() |
|
|