What To Add To Clay Soil For Drainage

Having worked with clay soils for years, I've learned a few unproblematic ways to improve the construction of the soil.

This article provides tips and tricks for how to improve clay soil structure and clay soil drainage.

CC By 2.0 (Soil Science via Flickr)

How to Improve the Structure of Dirt Soil

If you can whorl a scattering of your garden soil into a pasty ball, it is clay. Clay soils are viscid in winter and brick-difficult in summer. With the post-obit tips, you lot can better the soil chop-chop. However, it may accept several months to a few years to completely modify the structure of heavily impacted soil.

Add Organic Material

All clay soils become easier to piece of work with if you add organic material. I've establish that garden compost is best, only conditioners such every bit seaweed, farmyard manure, or bagged manure products like Scott's Organic Dehydrated Manure tin too better the soil quality.

This process is easiest to do later the rains during spring and autumn, when clay soil is easier to work with.

Spread the soil conditioner across the surface and use a garden fork to mix it in.
If using manure, spread to an 8 cm (3") thickness.
If using dried seaweed repast, apply 100–200 grams per square meter. (three–half dozen oz per square yard).
If using proprietary compost mixtures, follow the instructions on the package carefully. Improper apply can do more than harm than good.

After a year or ii of repeated applications, the soil will become more friable and easier to piece of work with.

Forking organic material into clay soil to improve it. — Forking organic cloth into clay soil to improve it.

What Is the pH of Clay Soils?

Clay soils tend to exist acidic, merely non ever. Although my current garden soil is clay, information technology is alkaline. A simple style to find the pH of your soil is with a pH kit. They are very easy to employ, and yous tin can observe out whether your garden soil is acid or alkaline in but a couple of minutes.

Can I Change My Soil pH?

While information technology is possible to accommodate the pH of your soil to grow certain plants, the process can be time-consuming and very expensive. Adding compost and other organic materials tends to neutralize the soil, and then you'll have problem growing plants that dear either acidic soil or alkaline soil. This is where raised bed gardens are useful.

While adding in compost and organic material is always benign and does tend to assistance neutralize the soil, you are however going to have trouble growing acid-loving plants in alkali metal soil, or alkaline-loving plants in acid soil, and this is where raised bed gardens come up in handy.

Whether y'all choose to buy a ready-built raised bed garden or have i constructed from wood or brick, you can choose to fill it with a compost of your choice, and grow your plants of pick.

Improve the texture of your heavy dirt garden soil, only brand a signal of growing flowers and vegetables all-time suited to the natural pH of your soil.

Raised bed gardens allow you isolate your plants from the ground soil. — Raised bed gardens let yous isolate your plants from the ground soil.

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Are There Plants That Can Abound in Dirt?

There are certain plants that can grow in clay soils. The ones listed below bloom at different times of the year, so you volition have a splash of colour in your garden yr circular!

Flowering garden built on clay soil. — Flowering garden congenital on clay soil.

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How to Drain Dirt Soils

Clay soils tend to become waterlogged in wet weather; the grains tend to stick together, preventing water from escaping. Virtually plants, except bog plants, exercise non similar having their feet moisture because they can quickly rot. Yous may besides find that it's hard to walk on the waterlogged soil.

A quick fix is to make drainage holes with a garden fork or similar tool. Notwithstanding, if the trouble persists, consider installing land drainage pipes to remove excess water permanently.

Herringbone drainage system. The main drainage pipe (middle) drains downward, away from the house, toward the soakaway (SA). — Herringbone drainage organization. The chief drainage pipe (heart) drains downwards, away from the business firm, toward the soakaway (SA).

DIY Doctor

Creating a Herringbone Drainage System

This involves digging series of deep trenches across your garden, in areas where you might walk.

Start by digging the master drainage trench—two to three anxiety deep in a directly line beyond your garden. Exist mindful of the slopes of your garden when positioning the trench. You want to take the trench at a down slope.
Dig trenches that volition feed into the chief trench in a herringbone style.
Cover the surface of the trenches with gravel or pocket-sized stones.
Lay piping in each trench and interconnect them. Employ special drainage piping with drainage holes across the top to collect the water.
Angle the pipes and so that h2o will flow into the master piping.
Build a soakaway—a deep circular hole with sloping sides—at the end of the main pipe. The soakaway should be at least half-dozen feet deep and filled with rubble to collect the water.
Position it well away from the business firm.
Cover your soakaway with thick plastic sheeting.
In areas of poor rainfall, you may want to build a physical soakaway to store water for gardening during drier times.

Alternative: French Drainage System

An alternative method is to create french drains. French drains are like herringbone drains without the pipes. Instead, the trenches are filled with rubble and gravel and supervene upon the topsoil.

With French drains, yous accept to accurately measure the slope of the land to 1:100 because that is the correct level to allow water to drain abroad.

Clay soil tin exist a nuisance, just the addition of organic matter, and where flooding is a serious problem, the improver of state drainage tin can brand your clay soil garden easy to maintain and enjoyable to use.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the writer's knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

IzzyM (author) from Britain on December x, 2011:

It's horrible stuff to work with, isn't it? And like you say, your garden is either brick hard so you tin't work with it, or it's swimming in water and mud that clings to your shoes or boots when you walk on it.

Peg Cole from North Dallas, Texas on December ten, 2011:

That picture show of the garden looks only like mine did. We have clay soil here in Texas and with the severe drought we're under, the chiliad has turned into behemothic bricks. When we were having the 100 year floods a few years dorsum information technology was but a dirt soup farm.

IzzyM (author) from UK on December 09, 2011:

I installed my own country drainage system years ago when I was immature and fit, and that included digging out the trenches. It was a LOT of piece of work, but it worked. If you employ a visitor to do it for, beware of workmen trying to charge a fortune - they'll bring in a auto and accept it dug out in half a twenty-four hour period or something and desire to charge you big bucks. Information technology's many improve for you to rent the machinery and employ someone with a chip of muscle to help you. Really that is the work of it, getting the trenches dug - pipes, gravel etc are inexpensive and like shooting fish in a barrel to install, and then you but replace the superlative soil and/or turf and you are finished.

Dolores Monet from East Coast, Usa on December 09, 2011:

When I dig around in my garden, sometimes I forget how awful it was when we moved in. Then, if I get-go a new garden, or go to plant something in unimproved soil, I get the surprise of feeling similar I am trying to dig in cement. Plus, we take the drainage problem in the grassy office of the 1000. I want to effort the French drain system you suggested as I am sick of our Jump swamp.

IzzyM (author) from UK on December 08, 2011:

Earthworms can't live in heavy clay soil that is more often than not dry out like here. However, with the improver of more organic material (and I imported earthworms for the compost heap) they will one twenty-four hours thrive. I hope. @kris, well done I am glad to hear your soil is improving!

Author Fox from the wadi near the little river on December 08, 2011:

This is an excellent article! I think it should be Hub of the Day!

PS: earthworms and kitchen scraps can help dirt soil, also.

Kris Heeter from Indiana on December 08, 2011:

Nosotros take lots of dirt hither in Indiana as well. These are very useful tips - I really could have used these tips fifteen years ago when I started planting gardens and had no inkling what was doing :) Over time, I've worked more than organic matter in so it's not every bit bad anymore - information technology definitely takes fourth dimension and difficult work!

IzzyM (author) from UK on December 07, 2011:

Apart from the whole clay soil attribute, I like the idea of isolating and growing plants that would normally struggle in this climate, like potatoes. I have had no success with them hither, and the shop-bought ones are horrible. I'grand hoping to raise some Ayrshires, in the wintertime, in a raised bed garden.

Juliette Kando FI Chor from Andalusia on December 07, 2011:

Thanks Lizzy, you are motivating me.

Joyce Haragsim from Southern Nevada on December 07, 2011:

Cheers, maybe I will go outside and do what you've suggested.

IzzyM (author) from U.k. on December 07, 2011:

If your plants look the same size as when you lot planted them 4 years ago, then information technology might well be worth working some organic affair around their roots. Digging deep and adding compost or whatever needs to be done often, as the soil and conditions takes leaches the goodness you added. It's a continuous process, there is no end, but all the time the soil will improve and more than plants will flourish.

Joyce Haragsim from Southern Nevada on December 07, 2011:

We accept clay soil here in Nevada. When we moved in I had dig deep and then put some nature soil in the lesser and around the plants before closing them up. I got lucky, merely two stay looking health but the look same size equally I planted them and that was four years ago.

Great hub to help us, thank you.

IzzyM (author) from Uk on Dec 07, 2011:

It'll exist fine in a raised bed garden even if there are eucalyptus nearby because they won't share the same soil. I have non actually heard of a connection between eucalyptus trees and veggies? Make sure you lot don't put ordinary garden soil in your raised bed, else you're simply raising the level of your garden. If yous can beget to buy either topsoil or the cheap compost your local garden centre sells, make full information technology with that instead. Else do like I am doing, and make your ain. I am slowly filling the new raised beds with grass cuttings and kitchen waste material, just am thinking of asking the neighbours for their left-overs too considering it will take forever. When information technology is finally fix, it should more or less pH neutral which will be dandy for growing just virtually anything. I tin can always mix some of the clay soil in to move things along as no-ane will ever walk on the raised beds and and so in that location will no problems with soil compaction.

Juliette Kando FI Chor from Andalusia on December 07, 2011:

Correct, I planted lots of oleander and fruit trees. The 5 yr old eucalyptus trees are now 20 meters high. Of course they say don't abound veg near eucalyptus but if they are in a separate raised bed it might work. What do yous remember?

IzzyM (writer) from UK on December 07, 2011:

Well Sue you lot are just downwards the route from me, and I built raised beds this summer - it finally got to me!! Likewise with raised beds you can water what needs watering and know information technology is not going to waste. Then just establish the usual Spanish desert plants in the garden similar oleander, and palm trees and stuff. Those plants but don't seem to care about clay soils.

Juliette Kando FI Chor from Andalusia on December 07, 2011:

Cheers for these useful tips Lizzy. My clay soil in southern Espana has been driving me barmy. I retrieve I am going to go for raised beds gardening to grow my vegetables now that the trees I planted for increased shade accept begun to mature.