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My allotment plot has quite a lot of clay in.
What's the best way of improving it?
What's the best way of improving it?
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You need to add body to aerate it, so try leaf mold and wood ash. You can buy an improver called clay breaker but the same can be done with any humus addition really. I have a heavy clay border at home and every year I leave the leaves to rot on top of it, then turn the soil over. My mother always used leaf mold and mushroom compost.Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better...Albert Einstein
Blog - @Twotheridge: For The Record - Sowing and Growing with a Virgin Veg Grower: Spring Has Now Sprung...Boing! http://vvgsowingandgrowing2012.blogs....html?spref=tw -
... 'Orse sh!t
Or chicken, cow, pig manure, grass clippings, leaves, compost, wood ash, all of it will help. We have mainly clay round here - it's full of nutrients, can't complain about it.
All the best - Glutton 4 Punishment
Freelance shrub butcher and weed removal operative.Comment
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Anything to add organic matter. And as much as you can afford.
My veg garden was pure clay when we started - there was no topsoil, just blue or yellow solid clay. With boulders. Three years and tons of barrows of muck later it looks a little like soil.Le Sarramea https://jgsgardening.blogspot.com/Comment
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Organic matter, as much of it as you can get or make. Homemade compost, leaf mould, etc.Comment
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Just don't dig it in : leave it on the surface.
Round here, the clay ended up as Spode or Wedgewood so there is lots of it....Comment
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Just mulch. With anything you can. Cardboard, coffee grounds, compost, shredded paper, sawdust, even sand.
And rejoice in the best soil there is for holding nutrients!
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yups, get as much humous in to the ground as possible but get it dug roughly as soon as you can and let the frost do the hard work of breaking the clods up for youOriginally posted by rustylady View PostComment
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Originally posted by Madasafish View PostAlso have clay soil and very interested in the OP. Just wondering do we dig or not, or of it matters as there is conflicting advice.Originally posted by Aberdeenplotter View Post
Secondly., wondering where is best/cheapest to buy suggested manure/leaf mold/compost etc as this year I have leaves but not leaf mold, incomplete compost etc...!Comment
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My little person advice would be...there's still leaves out there.;....get them quick and throw on the surface. Go have a morning cuppa somewhere and ask for the grounds. Find your closest business and ask what they do with their shredded paper....pop it all on the surface. Once conditions are beter, either dig in or plant through. Just don't go spending extra money on supplements you might not need.xxthe fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.
Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xxComment
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Regarding dig, or no dig, I think depends on what else is in the soil. I have to dig, because I still haven't managed to get rid of perennial weeds and couch grass from my plots, and smothering with mulch just doesn't seem to cut it with them
In the few beds that don't have those, I just mulch and don't dig. And even the ones that I have to dig, I try and mulch them again after digging to prevent annual weeds from popping up. Also, if you have soil that doesn't drain too well, then digging can help with that initially, then mulch afterwards.
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