Vegetable and flower gardens require hard work, soil amendment, tilling, weeding and maintenance for survival. This work becomes even harder for gardeners with thick, tight clay soil, which nourishes plants but also binds their roots to restrict growth. Clay forms a crust when wet and impedes seed growth. Use gypsum and organic compost to nourish and loosen garden soil before planting and maintain the schedule to break down the clay over time.
Instructions
1. Amend garden soil before any new planting. Dig into the top 10 inches of natural soil, using the spade or garden fork to loosen it for amending and growing. Turn under any crusting on the soil surface.
2. Lay 5 inches of organic compost over the site and turn it into the tilled soil to attain an equal mixture of compost and clay. This step not only loosens the clay for drainage and root growth, it adds more nutrition and moisture retention to the soil.
3. Lay gypsum over the amended soil at a rate of 20 lbs. per 100 square feet. Add 13-13-13 granular fertilizer at manufacturer-recommended rates. Turn the gypsum and fertilizer into tilled soil to give gypsum access to the clay. Over time, gypsum breaks down clay at the cellular level to loosen it. Gypsum also adds calcium to the soil for better root growth. Balanced fertilizer adds nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium for nutrition.
4. Lay a half inch of gypsum on top of the soil to prevent crusting. Plant as usual.
5. Lay 1 to 2 inches of pea gravel over the soil around your plantings. Pea gravel mulch keeps soil warm and moist, allowing the gypsum to break down the clay without interruption.
Related posts
Apples will grow in clay soil.Apples and crabapples, aspen and cottonwood, elms, silver maples, lindens and willows are just some of the trees that grow comfortably in clay soil. Nevertheless, cla...
Clay soil must be amended before it can be useful garden soil.Amending clay soil with gypsum and pea gravel adds essential properties otherwise absent in soil that is heavy in clay content. Gypsum...
Gypsum is a natural mineral found in sedimentary deposits on the earth's surface, a commonly-used type of sulfate. Well-known to professionals in the construction industry, gypsum is used in cemen...
In many parts of the world, arable topsoil runs only a few inches deep before giving way to a layer of hard, impermeable clay. In order to break up clay soil, gypsum may be used over a series of y...
Gysum is used as a clay soil conditioner.Growing plants or grass in clay soil is almost impossible because the clay does not retain the proper nutrients. In addition, the clay hardens as it dries...
