I have interesting soil

Cliff_Johns · May 7, 2006

The attached picture says it all. Any time of year (except when it's covered with snow, of course), this is what the soil at my house looks like. Gee, you think it's got a high clay content?

What amazes me is that grass can grow in this stuff. It's hard as asphault in July and August.

So what do I do? I'm thinking of plowing it up (where I can) and spreading out sand and maybe some gypsum and a pile of some natural fertilizer,, then plowing it under. Perhaps a tiller to till in the additives? Or possibly growing some green manure -- what works well for that? -- then plowing that under with said additives.

Cliff

BlueRidge · May 7, 2006

( I'm thinking of plowing it up (where I can) and spreading out sand and maybe some gypsum )

Sand + clay = concrete.

While gypsum will help, what you really need is LOTS of organic matter - compost. Sawdust. Horse manure. ANYTHING but sand!

OR just pave it over! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Mosby · May 8, 2006

I had a friend that did his best to put a garden in a space that the previous owner had apparently had a clay tennis court. (confirmed by a neighbor that was somewhat amazed watching him trying to make it a garden)
The ground would get so hard, the stuff couldn't come up through it and when it did, it pushed up chunks. The ground looked very much like your picture when it was dry. I tried to convince him to put horse manure on it. The neighbor convinced him it would lead to weeds. I asked what did it matter since nothing would grow there anyway past mid June due to the hardness of the ground. He offered me half of the garden to plant. When I asked him about the horse manure he said he didn't care what I did on my half. I loaded it up that winter. I hauled from a farm that was glad to get rid of it. They used sawdust for bedding and there was a fair amount mixed in with the manure. I tilled that in to the former tennis court and it made a world of a difference. If I could find the pictures, I would try to load them. It looks like a commercial of some kind. We each planted the same basic things, mine just did so much better.
The following year, we hauled more manure. Most of which went on his side. As a footnote, the manure was aged somewhat and did not go straight from the stall to the garden. And lastly, my dad farmed most of his life and can grow anything. He told me what I needed to do, I merely listened.

Birdhunter1 · May 8, 2006

Ditto!
Add several tons of horse or cow manure and you'll be set.

The ground up in Northern Illinois is some good farm ground if worked properly but yes it can get hard.

I've seen gumbo down in the Mississippi River bottoms in Southern Ilinois (some of the most fertile dirt in the country) that looks just like that in mid June-July-August-September yes still produces some awesome results.

Cliff_Johns · May 8, 2006

( Add several tons of horse or cow manure and you'll be set.)

So this is the consensus? Seems to me I remember people saying sand and gysum plus manure would make the transformation complete, but I will bow to the collective wisdom.

Cliff

Garrabo · May 8, 2006

I noticed someone said throw gypsum at it. Do you have sodic soil? Sodic soil is low in soluble salt, PH is usually greater than 8.5
and they are high in sodium nitrates. The harmful effects of sodic soils are caused by their high sodium and high pH. high sodium causes soil agregates to break up and soil structure to decline. does the soil compace easily? Sodic soils are very difficult to reclaim. Gypsum or (calcium sulfate) or sulfur is used. Gypsum will provide the fastest response. Sounds like you need a good soil analysis. sand will only turn the soil to concrete if to little is applied. I would get a soil analysis. montmorillonite clays show considerable swelling and shrinking when wet and dried and have excellent nutrient retention propertys. kaolinite clays exhibit little swelling or shrinking and tend to have poor nutrient holding propertys.