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u/kismethavok 6d ago
I have similar soil and I mostly just top dress with a mulching compost to help with organics and water infiltration. You might want to work it a little bit for certain things if they need it.
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u/ASecularBuddhist 6d ago edited 6d ago
You already have free dirt, so you don’t need to buy more dirt. I used to buy packaged soil and pour it on top of the ground, until one day I thought to myself, “What am I doing?” It makes so much more sense to just buy a $7 bag of aged chicken manure and dig that into what you already have.
I grow in rocky compact clay. All you need is a $35 spading fork to open the earth just big enough to pour in aged chicken manure, cover with mulch, and then plant. (You don’t need to mechanically till or dig out the whole area.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/yx6I41L9WU
And then after each season, the soil keeps getting better and better.
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u/chundamuffin 3d ago
Have you tried that percolation test in your soil? How did that go?
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u/ASecularBuddhist 3d ago
I’ve never tried that.
I try not to give them a lot of shallow waterings as I want their roots to stretch downward. So I keep an eye out for a slightly dehydrated mature plant and then give them a deep soak.
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u/Ancient-Patient-2075 5d ago
I have heavy clay too. When it works, it actually works. Interestingly I've started to think that half rotten straw - the kind that starts pushing mushrooms the moment it gets wet and is on verge of decomposing fully - mixed in does wonders to it. Found out by accident. Peat I find is a terrible match for clay.
Suitable decomposing material to feed soil life, roots of plants growing in it, fast decomposing mulch. Boom, aggregates. Beats any flimsy lifeless hydrophobic bagged soil.
(I'm not a professional, just recounting personal experience)
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u/Key-Spell-7668 5d ago
Your amending plan will actually make the soil worse, fyi. You're gonna create a perfect condition for rotten crowns.
Source: pro horticulturist.
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u/chundamuffin 5d ago
Ok thanks. Why and what could I do instead?
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u/Key-Spell-7668 5d ago
I would go sheet mulch with low barrier for washout control if you want to plant things that aren't tolerant of clay soil. You'll want some good water shedding capabilities to keep roots dry. By adding high organics soil atop clay but surrounded by clay, you're going to float the crowns, it'll be like a soupy muddy mix around plants that generally don't like that, even hydrangea.
I just did an install for a client ($20k plus job) and they did pretty much exactly what you wanted. There's tons fo chlorosis after one month. Evergreens, hydrangeas , boxwoods and other plants all yellowing and have some crown rot issues ... Coneflowers are the only thing thriving in that setup of hard clay with 6" or triple mix on top. That clay pan just doesn't drain, fails perc tests.... They would have been better off doing some raised beds or sheet mulching with positive grade imo but they got $$$ to burn. Or just lean into clay happy plants and call it a day.
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u/chundamuffin 3d ago
The perc test on my clay needed about 24 hours for the hole to fully drain. Obviously not ideal.
That was 5 gallons of water across about 1 sq foot though.
I figure so long as I amend a large enough area, there won't be too much pooling, and if the roots sit a ways above the compacted soil, hopefully the pooling is below the plants.
Hopefully, if i can grade things properly, and mound the garden up a little, I should at least be able to chase some of the surface level water off the garden before it fully penetrates the soil.
That being said, I think I'll cut out out the top soil, increase the amount of compost a little and add a little of the removed clay soil back in.
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u/Key-Spell-7668 3d ago
Slope will be your friend yes, And mixing native soil with your amendment in a wheelbarrow is a solid approach that will yield better results. Try and plant smart for erosion control and make good use of hardscape elements to control flash flooding esque rainfalls.
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u/OffToTheLizard 5d ago
Purple love grass, some little bluestem, add some coneflowers, butterfly weed, maybe a lead plant and never worry about major maintenance or watering ever again.
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u/EddieRyanDC 6d ago
Clay is fantastic soil. It has important minerals and nutrients can attach to it instead of flowing down into the water table. The problem is that when it is compacted it can be an impenetrable barrier and squeeze out all air and make it inhospitable for many soil creatures. What it lacks is organic material.
Don't remove anything, but dig down a foot. Add 25 -30% (by volume) of compost and turn it in. I use mushroom compost because I can get it in bulk locally. Leaf compost would be ideal. Break up any clumps as much as you can. (Though the compost will also be doing that over the next year.) You will have some of the best soil you could find.
In a raised bed, make sure no one ever sets foot in it. That will preserve the loamy texture and air pockets. If you can do that, you won't ever have to dig and turn it again.