How does adding compost improve the quality of clay soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n When you add compost to clayey soil, it breaks down into humus. This acts to coat and buffer particles of clay soil. This softens and restructures the soil and adds nutrients. The result is a lessening in cohesion. Looser soil does a better job of feeding beneficial microorganisms and bacteria. Looser, richer soil produces healthier, happier plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will adding compost always correct clayey soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, just adding compost isn t enough. If you have very heavy clay soil, you may need to add massive amounts of humus, along with liquid soil additives which help accelerate it s processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What makes clay soil different from other types of soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Differences in particle size account for differences in types of soil. The three main soil types are sand, silt and clay. Clay has the finest particles at less than 0.002mm. When soil is made up of more than half particles of this size, it is heavy clay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you know if you have heavy clay soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n If your soil is hard and solid when it is dry and cannot be easily crumbled, it probably has a fairly high clay content. If your soil is malleable and holds its shape like modeling dough when it is wet, it definitely has a high clay content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does high clay content negatively impact gardening?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Soil with high clay content becomes compacted very easily. This causes poor moisture absorption, as well as poor drainage. After a long dry spell, heavy clay soil will tend to repel rainfall. During very wet weather, it doesn t allow for good drainage. The compacted soil also prevents good air circulation, so plant roots and beneficial fauna are doomed to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is some clay content good for gardening?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n A good balance of clay content can be helpful in water and soil retention. The right amount of clay will provide support for plant roots. It can be challenging to arrive at just the right amount of clay in your soil to provide benefits. Strive to hit a balance of about 20% clay content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the best kind of soil for growing a healthy lawn or garden?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n The very best and most versatile soil content is about 50% air and water in equal amounts. The remaining 50% should be made up of a healthy mix of sand, silt and clay (approximately 45%) and a small amount of humus. This mixture will provide the right combination of drainage, water retention and nourishment for your grass and garden plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you arrive at a healthy soil mix if you have heavy clay soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n The key to improving clay soil consists of encouraging tiny clay particles to aggregate into larger, lighter, airier particles through a process called flocculation. This can be achieved by incorporating natural compost, sand and chemical amendments into the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does flocculation work, and how does compost help?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n This biological process works to group clay particles together. This creates space for air circulation, water drainage and healthy root growth. It also provides living space for beneficial soil-dwelling fauna, such as worms. When compost breaks down and become humus, it coats soil particles and prevents them from sticking together. This, in turn, promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria. This leads to soil restructuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can you get flocculation to work faster?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n You can nurture this process along by avoiding the use of harsh chemicals on your lawn or garden. Herbicides and excess salts (contained in commercial fertilizers) slow down the humus building process. Compost adds nutrients and encourages flocculation. In cases of very severe, heavy clay soil, you may wish to use a liquid soil amendment designed especially for stimulating this process. Talk with your local agricultural extension agent to find out what products are working well in your area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How long will it take to amend my heavy clay soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Improving clay soil is an ongoing process, sort of like maintaining a healthy lifestyle. While compost adds potential humus, microorganisms take time to convert it. Expect to apply a regular, ongoing program of soil building in order to see steady, lasting improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it better to work compost and amendments into the soil or just add them to the soil surface?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n It was once thought that working amendments into the soil was absolutely necessary, but now we understand that this process may actually add to erosion problems while disturbing the integrity of the soil. For this reason, a no-till trend has grown. With this method, you simply add amendments to the surface of the soil in the form of compost and mulch. You might also aerate the soil using a lawn auger or similar tool (or by mowing and gardening in golf shoes). This helps surface amendments make their way into the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you keep soil from becoming compacted?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n To keep compaction to a minimum, be sure to keep your soil covered with mulch and groundcover type plants. Avoid heavy foot traffic, and don t work on the soil when it is wet. Provide a steady supply of organic matter to the surface of the soil to nurture and encourage beneficial bacteria and soil dwelling fauna to help keep the humus building process active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does Gypsum help with clay soil?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Gypsum is a good soil amendment for compacted, clayey soil that also has a problem caused by residual salt from heavy fertilizer applications. Gypsum breaks up clay into smaller, crumbly particles. This makes it easier to work with the soil, and it improves soil drainage and air circulation. For very heavy clay, you may need to provide several gypsum treatments. Once you see a loosening of the soil, be sure to follow up with lots of organic matter to help improve soil quality and provide nutrients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’re wondering how to amend clay soil in farm ground, you aren’t alone. Clay soil offers a myriad of benefits to farmers but also poses some unique challenges. Here are some tips to help you deal with it. What Does Good Farm Soil Contain? Good farm soil contains a combination of great texture, adequate … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":12805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[43],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10395"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12806,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395\/revisions\/12806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farmandanimals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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