|
| So we have clay soil here. It can get as hard as a rock in places. When I decided to put in a garden bed by the street, getting the shrubs in was an enormous struggle. However, I sheet composted using newspapers to smother the grass and threw a bunch of untreated mulch onto the newspapers, and VOILA! A year later, the soil was so soft I could just about put my hand in up to the wrist. Now it's even better.
So my question is, for my veggie beds, do I really need to add sand, or will organic matter make it just as loverly while adding nutrients? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| No sand, unless 50% by volume. Add OM. |
|
| Organic matter, or as some sources will state organic matterial that will become organic matter. 5 to 8 percent organic matter in your clay will seperate the clay soil particles which will allow better water movement, nutrient availability, and plant root growth, as well as better soil workability, tilth,as you have seen. Sand, in large enough quantities, might do the same but the sand will not provide the nutrients plants growing in that soil need to survive. |
|
| What Kimm said. Just remember that it's not a "do it once and forget it" thing. You do have to continue to feed that soil for life to keep it nice. Karen |
|
- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Tue, May 17, 11 at 10:28
| Organic matter, organic matter, organic matter. Year after year. Unless your clay is different than ours somehow, please don't add sand. Sand plus our clay = concrete =:) |
|
| Thanks! I add more OM in the form of mulch to the flower beds, and I leave the leaves in place there. |
|
- Posted by mackel_in_dfw 8a (My Page) on Fri, May 20, 11 at 12:30
| Lava sand in any amount appears to work very well in our alkaline clay here in Dallas. Mixed in or as a top dressing. I have used it and unlike other sands, it has a lot of surface area and holds air and water unlike regular sand. I have pulled up plants and the roots that have lava sand in the soil seem to develop a much larger mass in a short period of time. I would not use any other sand in clay and even at 10 percent in some of my beds, it's a miracle amendment from my experience. Superior tilth. Greensand and dried molasses appear to work very well with the alkaline clay here,as well, in breaking up the clay at the micro level and fertilizes very well. Of course, I mulch very high anually but it's all free. This year the areas of the bed treated with greensand and molasses are growing faster than the beds that were mulched only. I've been totally organic for five years now, I use discarded leaf and grass matter from various neighbors who discard it to the curb in bags, and am a practioner of very low nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with high micronutrient fertilization practices. I also use a commercial soil innoculant product at least once a year. I have the best looking plants and grass in the neighborhood, and I know of nobody else who is strictly organic on our street. Nobody would believe me if I told them, you're doing it all wrong but I don't bother I'm quietly very satisfied with organic practices with supposedly terrible clay. Bottom line, lots of organic material and clay are a gardener's best friend, no sand necessary but lava sand is a different substance and it's awesome as an amendment or top dressing. You can water it very deeply and not water it again for awhile until visible signs of plant stress and this will encourage very deep roots. |
|
- Posted by Climberpilot none (My Page) on Mon, May 23, 11 at 21:44
| I generally use raised beds, but decided to try digging a few beds last year into some pretty hard, bindweed infested "lawn".Once I hoed everything and got my paths/permanent beds figured out, I dug about 12" under each bed and added a couple inches of kitchen scraps that I didnt want to add to my nearly complete compost pile, and backfilled. I didnt have a ton of luck in those beds last year, but more because of my work schedule than anything, I think.. Anyhow, A few weeks ago I decided to dig down and see what that layer looked like. After busting through the first couple inches of clay I was stoked to find a layer of soft, black, worm infested soil!! And the really cool thing is, since I mixed all the OM into the ground as I buried it, the layer of good soil was pretty thick. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.