Re: CULT: Amending Clay



dwiris@aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 1/3/01 1:12:39 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> jijones@ix.netcom.com writes:
> 
> << How long you'll have to wait after rain can range from several days to a
>  week or  more, depending on how much clay the soil has and how warm the
>  weather is. >>
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> What are you supposed to do when it rains nearly every day for a month or two?

Hi Dorothy

Start a fish farm? Grow rice? heheheh <just kidding> <grin>

I think you have to work within your environment and either get the beds
prepared ahead of time, or wait til the soil can be worked. Perhaps
another guideline would be: If you can plant in it you could probably
till it.

This all may not work well the first time you try to work the clay, but
if you get a lot of organic matter into the clay the first time, the
next year it will be a lot easier to work and add even more organic
matter. There is no quick fix for clay. 

I have a section of my garden about 40X40 on which I put 6 inches of
stable trailings every year or two. The section that I have been working
for about 8 years has developed a rich loam 10-12 inches deep. 

Years ago I read an article in Gardens For All (a now unfortunately
defunct publication from Vermont) about a person who annually spread 6-8
inches of straw on their garden. Each year the straw starts to break
down and fresh is put on top. They ended up with great soil about 12 in
deep. You would probably have to augment with a little nitrogen (as I do
with the stable trailings) replacing the N that is consumed by the
breakdown). Stable trailings are free and have the added benefit of a
little horse manure. I put them on in late fall or early winter so the
winter rains can wash out the horse urine and start the decomposition
process. My clay buffers the uric acid back to a PH of 6.8 without even
breathing hard. (That is a problem here in that I can't keep the ph much
out of that reading for very long no matter what I add to it - even if I
try to raise it to 7.2 for the TBs) I do not grow irises in this area,
but with a little care probably could.

Just this last October I visited a garden that just amazed me. I was on
a slight hillside grade and had a solid solid clay base. (Around here
that means in excess of 15 feet deep). The garden owner (a master
gardener) had covered the entire area with tree chips (obtained from
tree services that grind trees and branches as part of their trimming
service) to a depth of as much as 24 inches. Her irises were growing
like *CRAZY*. The drainage was excellent and the only problems she had
(rot) occurred when the chips accidently got piled up on a rhizome and
left there too long.

Say Hi to Tony for me

John                     | "There be dragons here"
                         |  Annotation used by ancient cartographers
                         |  to indicate the edge of the known world.
________________________________________________

USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay) 
Fremont, California, USA 
Visit my website at:
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President, Westbay Iris Society
Director, Region 14 of the AIS
Director, American Iris Society
Chairman, AIS Committee for Electronic Member Services

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