How to improve soil?

[SomeChickinTN]

I'm not sure how active this section is but hopefully someone can help.

This is my first year gardening, ever. My special talent is killing houseplants that are marketed as hard to kill. My house is brand new on land that is clay, with a little bit of topsoil here and there. Basically starting from scratch....

I decided the first year would be designated as practice, so last fall I planted apple trees, and this month I transplanted a cabbage my daughter brought home, some green beans which are just starting to come up, potatoes in straw, and flowers...

The cabbage leaves are turning yellow, and my apple trees were doing great but now have yellow leaves too. My father in law said they weren't getting enough nutrients and that I should get some fertilizer, but would it help if I put potting soil around the stems/trees too? I have no idea what I am doing.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

May I ask how much you water the trees, and what the drainage on the soil is like? And when you planted the trees, how big of a hole compared to the rootball did you dig? Was the tree barefoot (no soil) when you planted it? How deep is the top of the rootball in the ground? *Where* do you water the tree? And have you gotten lots of rain recently?

More questions: How are the leaves turning yellow? Are the edges drying, the leaves yellowing, and then turning brown? Or do they stay small, turn yellow on the inside of the crown on the lower parts of the tree and move outward?

Answer these questions, cause I have a suspicion that a tree that young either went into shock or is having water issues (that lead to nutrient issues.) It's the clay soil that raised a red flag, and the fact your cabbage is also a red flag. It likes moist, well drained soil. You can also call your county extension office and have a master gardener (they're non-professional gardeners who have been trained in best mainstream gardening practices to help the public) help you out.

 

[SomeChickinTN]

May I ask how much you water the trees, and what the drainage on the soil is like? And when you planted the trees, how big of a hole compared to the rootball did you dig? Was the tree barefoot (no soil) when you planted it? How deep is the top of the rootball in the ground? *Where* do you water the tree? And have you gotten lots of rain recently?

More questions: How are the leaves turning yellow? Are the edges drying, the leaves yellowing, and then turning brown? Or do they stay small, turn yellow on the inside of the crown on the lower parts of the tree and move outward?

Answer these questions, cause I have a suspicion that a tree that young either went into shock or is having water issues (that lead to nutrient issues.) It's the clay soil that raised a red flag, and the fact your cabbage is also a red flag. It likes moist, well drained soil. You can also call your county extension office and have a master gardener (they're non-professional gardeners who have been trained in best mainstream gardening practices to help the public) help you out.

For the trees, I don't think they are draining well. They were planted in a clay section. The water sits on top for a few seconds before being absorbed. They look dry, and then yellow and brown like you said. I water them every few days.

The cabbage is planted in top soil, so it should have better drainage. The leaves seem to be yellowing from the inside out, but I suspect it is shock. I had also planted blueberry transplants. The leaves died back, but I see green returning.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

For the trees, I don't think they are draining well. They were planted in a clay section. The water sits on top for a few seconds before being absorbed. They look dry, and then yellow and brown like you said. I water them every few days.

The cabbage is planted in top soil, so it should have better drainage. The leaves seem to be yellowing from the inside out, but I suspect it is shock. I had also planted blueberry transplants. The leaves died back, but I see green returning.

Even if you planted it in the topsoil, if you have clay under it, it can cup the water and not absorb. The quickest solution for your yearly garden would be deep raised beds. It's expensive, but it's quick. Lasagna method gardening also works. Next is to till in organic matter into the clay. Back breaking, fairly quick, fairly cheap process. You should be obsessing over compost. Call your local phone company and ask for their tree chippings to be delivered to your area, it's a free source of organics. David the good's book "compost anything." Is a cheap and short guide to doing just that. The easiest, slowest and cheapest option is to let plants do the work for you. Plant alfalfa or fava beans, the deep taproot will break up the soil over time.

As far as The trees go, Clay is wonderful for trees, but you need organic matter on the surface of the soil or it'll bake into a brick-hard impermeable parking lot.

*Dig your hole 3 times the size of your pot. Don't dig too deep, as it will cause your tree to settle and sit too low if you do. You want the sides of your hole to be irregular and not perfectly round and smooth, or the roots will hit that smooth wall and just circle around in a loop. Don't amend your soil with anything but crumble it up loosely so that the roots can easily move through it once you back fill.

When you pull your trees from the pot, gently dig down along the trunk until you find the first lateral root. Often, nursery staff will plant the left-over bare-root stock that they get in the spring. They'll bury the trees too deeply, and so part of the trunk is actually below the soil line. You want to plant your trees so that the trunk is above ground and the roots are below. As you sit your tree in the hole, the first root should be an inch or two above the level of the soil outside the hole. That way, your tree is planted slightly higher than the surrounding soil. People think, "I'll plant it a bit low, and then all the water will seep into the hole and it will keep it well hydrated." Wrong -- trees that sit in low wet spots tend to rot or suffer from fungal diseases. Plant it right at soil level or slightly higher.

If there are roots that have run around the outside of the pot, gently untangle them. You don't want them to slowly strangle your tree. If you are unable to untangle them and pull them outward, then snip them off with a sharp set of shears. As you place the tree in the hole, take a few minutes to gently direct these roots outward.

Slowly backfill the soil, again, using the soil you removed from the hole. If you were to add a bit of WELL AGED compost at this time, it wouldn't be terrible, but it's not necessary. Do not add anything that will burn the sensitive roots -- this means no manure or fertilizer. The ground should gently slope away from the trunk (a drop of an inch or two) until it reaches the outside of your moat -- a 4 inch circle of soil that will hold the water in when you give your tree a drink. Usually, you will need to find some additional soil, as there is never enough from the hole and the pot to sufficiently build a little round berm around your hole.

Ultimately, you'll want fungal dominated soil to form a symbiotic relationship with your tree roots. If you have a mature fruit tree in the area where mushrooms pop up out of the ground after a hard rain, go get a couple of scoops of that soil and put it next to the root ball of your tree. Fungi are fun guys. Your tree will be happy to bond with the fungal network.

Gently pack the soil around the tree. Don't stomp around heavily on the soil you've just backfilled. You'll be crushing those little roots and will be needlessly pushing all the air from your soil. As you water the tree, you'll see it compress a bit. You may need to add another shovel-full of soil here and there to get it back to level. Again, you don't want a low spot or depression where water will sit over the root ball.

THEN -- the key for clay soil, mulch mulch mulch mulch mulch. Wood chips. Coffee grounds. More wood chips. Compost -- so that you get a couple of zillion bacteria and other microorganisms into that freshly loosened soil. Aged wood chips -- so that you get a nice fungal community going around the tree. And if you have some on hand, more wood chips. 4 to 6 inches of wood chips. Pull them out away from the trunk of the tree, but starting a few inches from the trunk, lay down a thick layer of biomass (chips, leaves, old sticks, compost). The biomass will keep the soil cool and moist, will encourage fungal growth, will be a haven for worms, and will keep that clay from compacting. The worms will move the organic matter down into the soil profile in the years to come. With clay, you really can't have too much mulch.

Stake your tree as needed.

Water deeply and as your tree gets stronger, less frequently. Thus, you'll train the roots to go deeper in search of moisture.

If you had to trim the roots, you'll need to trim a corresponding amount of branches above ground.

*I copy/pasted this part from another forum because it was easier than explaining this repeatedly to different people.

 

[theautumnalfox]

I have a similar issue with clay heavy soil. I'm still learning myself at the moment, so I recommend watching youtube videos on composting. Good luck!

 

[SomeChickinTN]

Even if you planted it in the topsoil, if you have clay under it, it can cup the water and not absorb. The quickest solution for your yearly garden would be deep raised beds. It's expensive, but it's quick. Lasagna method gardening also works. Next is to till in organic matter into the clay. Back breaking, fairly quick, fairly cheap process. You should be obsessing over compost. Call your local phone company and ask for their tree chippings to be delivered to your area, it's a free source of organics. David the good's book "compost anything." Is a cheap and short guide to doing just that. The easiest, slowest and cheapest option is to let plants do the work for you. Plant alfalfa or fava beans, the deep taproot will break up the soil over time.

As far as The trees go, Clay is wonderful for trees, but you need organic matter on the surface of the soil or it'll bake into a brick-hard impermeable parking lot.

*Dig your hole 3 times the size of your pot. Don't dig too deep, as it will cause your tree to settle and sit too low if you do. You want the sides of your hole to be irregular and not perfectly round and smooth, or the roots will hit that smooth wall and just circle around in a loop. Don't amend your soil with anything but crumble it up loosely so that the roots can easily move through it once you back fill.

When you pull your trees from the pot, gently dig down along the trunk until you find the first lateral root. Often, nursery staff will plant the left-over bare-root stock that they get in the spring. They'll bury the trees too deeply, and so part of the trunk is actually below the soil line. You want to plant your trees so that the trunk is above ground and the roots are below. As you sit your tree in the hole, the first root should be an inch or two above the level of the soil outside the hole. That way, your tree is planted slightly higher than the surrounding soil. People think, "I'll plant it a bit low, and then all the water will seep into the hole and it will keep it well hydrated." Wrong -- trees that sit in low wet spots tend to rot or suffer from fungal diseases. Plant it right at soil level or slightly higher.

If there are roots that have run around the outside of the pot, gently untangle them. You don't want them to slowly strangle your tree. If you are unable to untangle them and pull them outward, then snip them off with a sharp set of shears. As you place the tree in the hole, take a few minutes to gently direct these roots outward.

Slowly backfill the soil, again, using the soil you removed from the hole. If you were to add a bit of WELL AGED compost at this time, it wouldn't be terrible, but it's not necessary. Do not add anything that will burn the sensitive roots -- this means no manure or fertilizer. The ground should gently slope away from the trunk (a drop of an inch or two) until it reaches the outside of your moat -- a 4 inch circle of soil that will hold the water in when you give your tree a drink. Usually, you will need to find some additional soil, as there is never enough from the hole and the pot to sufficiently build a little round berm around your hole.

Ultimately, you'll want fungal dominated soil to form a symbiotic relationship with your tree roots. If you have a mature fruit tree in the area where mushrooms pop up out of the ground after a hard rain, go get a couple of scoops of that soil and put it next to the root ball of your tree. Fungi are fun guys. Your tree will be happy to bond with the fungal network.

Gently pack the soil around the tree. Don't stomp around heavily on the soil you've just backfilled. You'll be crushing those little roots and will be needlessly pushing all the air from your soil. As you water the tree, you'll see it compress a bit. You may need to add another shovel-full of soil here and there to get it back to level. Again, you don't want a low spot or depression where water will sit over the root ball.

THEN -- the key for clay soil, mulch mulch mulch mulch mulch. Wood chips. Coffee grounds. More wood chips. Compost -- so that you get a couple of zillion bacteria and other microorganisms into that freshly loosened soil. Aged wood chips -- so that you get a nice fungal community going around the tree. And if you have some on hand, more wood chips. 4 to 6 inches of wood chips. Pull them out away from the trunk of the tree, but starting a few inches from the trunk, lay down a thick layer of biomass (chips, leaves, old sticks, compost). The biomass will keep the soil cool and moist, will encourage fungal growth, will be a haven for worms, and will keep that clay from compacting. The worms will move the organic matter down into the soil profile in the years to come. With clay, you really can't have too much mulch.

Stake your tree as needed.

Water deeply and as your tree gets stronger, less frequently. Thus, you'll train the roots to go deeper in search of moisture.

If you had to trim the roots, you'll need to trim a corresponding amount of branches above ground.

*I copy/pasted this part from another forum because it was easier than explaining this repeatedly to different people.

Thank you. Yeah, I planted the trees based on the instructions they came with, so the top of the rootball was roughly ground level and I covered it just enough so the roots were not exposed. I started a compost pile but it probably won't be ready until next year, so I'm going to try to find somewhere to buy some today.

My entire yard is a continuous slope, with the trees at the top, so I'm going to put a ring of rocks around them to hold in the compost and mulch.

I'm still working on building garden boxes, so I will make sure to add compost and stuff to them before I start planting in them.

 

[danceswithronin]

I have an issue with heavy clay soil too, I live in Alabama and the soil is mostly red clay. I've been amending ours with compost and bagged top soil for years and it has given us a somewhat friable plot of land to work with now. I have also added sand and mulch to the soil in several areas and rototilled the surface to help break it up. Potting soil with perlite also helps.

What I would suggest is to get a sample of your dirt and take it to your nearest farming co-op extension. They should offer soil tests either free or for a very small fee, and you can find out exactly what your soil is like and they can give you suggestions for how to improve it too. A lot of times growing issues come down to pH, so you can find out whether you need to amend to make your soil more acidic or more alkaline too.

Another thing that helps is to raise earthworms and integrate more worms into the soil to help break it up and also add nutrients via their castings, so you might want to look into vermiculture. Growing earthworms and mealworms also helps cut down on feed costs if you supplement your chickens' food with them.

 

[Percheron chick]

I will just add to not get discouraged. It will take years to get the soil up to snuff.
A few truck loads of manure, wood chips, spent grains(brew pub) lawn clippings... is all good. Contact a landscaping company and allow them to dump their waste, Brew pubs often have waste bins out back that are dedicated just for spent grains. I've cruised the subdivision in front of me on Sunday evening grabbing bags of grass clippings to help speed things up,. Add of course any chicken coop cleanings.
I would pass on a garden for 2019. Work towards next year's garden. If you confine your chickens to the garden area, they will reduce weeds, bugs, larvae and reduce your workload prepping the soil.

 

[TXchickmum]

We have red clay soil. I have used raised beds with rich aged compost and potting soil mixtures for vegetable gardens and hydrangeas, amended the native clay soil with really good aged compost for the perennial beds, and planted the blueberries in whiskey barrels full of peat moss. Everything thrives. It does take time to get the soil just right for each type of planting. Other posters have given excellent advice! -best of luck to you!

 

[Acre4Me]

Good Luck! Great advice above.

I've got clay soil here - moldable stuff any potter would envy. For some reason, a past owner put in raised beds and must have requested the extra-clay special soil to use in the raised beds....So, I've been amending the raised beds. Last years garden was ok - a few things did ok, but most only produced minimally (or terribly). Now, the beds have been turned over 3x (last spring, last fall, this spring) with the goals being: 1. break up the soil and any large clods of clay 2. Amend the soil: I've been using vermiculite, perlite, gypsum, and peat moss. The beds are large, so, my amendments do not make up a large percentage of the bed composition, but serve more to add in organic matter (peat moss) and water retaining elements (vermiculite and perlite) and aeration (perlite), and nutrient accessibility (gypsum). Compost is needed, but does take some time to make.

Compost: easy but sounds complex. watch some videos, read some compost stuff, and you'll get the hang of it. It needs volume to adequately produce heat (so make a pile approx 3'x3' at least) and it needs to be kept moist (not wet). We have been adding eggs shells, tea bags, and coffee grounds throughout the year. Also add in any veggie/fruit scraps. We toss in used straw and cut (untreated) grass clippings. Never proteins (No meat, no fish, no raw or rotting things that would attract carnivorous scavengers). We recently had a partial bag of chicken feed that needed to be tossed...but it was tossed in the trash - too much yummy nutritious food for vermin and we did not think feeding the vermin in the compost pile was good for us. We have not yet really built a compost bin yet, and are just using some small (4x4) raised beds for it. The compost isn't ready this spring, but is partially broken down so I'll be doing an experiment with planting tomatoes in the partially composted pile (has dirt from underneath mixed in), as I have some extra veg starts and am interested in seeing if they go gangbusters on me or not. We have chickens and toss the bedding (poop laden wood shavings) into the run. This is also getting broken down, so will add to our compost pile and it will eventually turn into nice compost.

As @Percheron chick noted, you might want to pass on a full garden this year and work on making raised beds, getting soil, amending it, etc. And you can get some composting going right in your beds: buy pea and bean seeds or any cover crop (go cheap, buy lots) and sow all over your planting area/raised beds. Let grow, but don't let them go to seed or produce pods. Once there, then till these plants under, and do it again. They will rot in the ground, break up the soil, add nutrients and will not hinder any plants planted next season. Easy and gives you a sense of accomplishment and the sight of growing plants that is very pleasing, along with providing what is called "green manure".

Maybe plant a few things in a decent area that you already have or in pots on patio or deck this year to tide you over. Last year we got a decent crop of green beans from our containers on our deck!

It is true - it does take years to really get your planting area nice and fertile! Think to yourself that by 2022, you will likely have enviable soil and by 2025 you'll have AMAZING soil, if not sooner!