How to Plant in Clay Soil
How to Plant in Clay Soil
When you hear the word clay soil, you might wonder what is it and why it is so important for a plant? Heavy clay soil is problematic soil for most farmers. If handle correctly, it has more benefits than issues. For better plant growth, you should have an awareness of the characteristics of the soil. I will guide you on how to handle clay soil and how to plant your garden in clay soil.
What is Clay Soil?
Clay soil is rich in nutrients and maintains a good amount of moisture, which plants need to grow well. Clay is a type of soil that contains a good percentage of very fine particles packed very close to each other and colloidal substances which become sticky when wet.
The main problem with clay soil is waterlogging. Waterlogging is a stage where the plant gets flooded with water, and roots cannot get oxygen. This results in the slow growth of a plant and causes the roots to decay.
We use clay soil despite its issues because it provides a good foundation for a variety of plants.
How do you know if the soil is clay
?
If your soil dries like a brick with breaks when it’s dry or in lumps, and is like putty when wet adhering to shoes and tools, you have clay soil.
How to improve your clay soil?
Over time we can improve almost all clay soils; some methods can help you to improve your clay soil to grow the plant.
Lime for Clay Soils :
Some clay soils react well to the expansion of liming agents like calcium. This can make the soil particles structure clusters, improving the construction and seepage. This will, in general, work best on acidic soils. If you don’t have the foggiest idea about your soil pH, test with a modest unit from a nursery community.
Add lime to acidic soils according to the packet directions. For different soils, you can likewise take a stab at adding gypsum. This may help the soil structure without influencing the acidity. Test both of these strategies on a small region first to ensure it deals with your sort of clay soil in any case; this may build calcium and pH levels excessively high (clay soils tend to be alkaline).
Improving Established bed :
If your nursery is now settled and you can’t burrow is over, you can find ways to improve clay soil. Add thick layers of mulch like compost and leaf mold over the soil surface during summer. This will help hold dampness and forestall drying and breaking, just as adding more supplements and improving the soil construction.
You don’t have to delve mulch in – the insects, worms, and microorganisms will bring this material down into the soil for you. It may take a couple of seasons, yet be predictable with it for the best outcomes. Try to keep mulch clear of plant stems from abstaining from spoiling.
In addition, you ought to consider a no-burrow system whenever you have attempted to improve the soil. Turning it over profoundly consistently may upset the hard work of insects and microorganisms.
Adding Organic matter to improve clay soil :
The best method to improve your soil is to add organic matter, especially the compost, into clay soil. When adding the organic matter, make sure the soil is dry; otherwise, it will make it more compact in the wet soil. Compost is excellent as it assists with the soil construction. Yet, a compound (glomalin) the microorganisms (mycorrhizal organisms) compost make predicaments the tiny clay particles together into aggregates with a waxy covering, consequently making more space between them for air and water flow. By the way, glomalin additionally benefits the soil and earth by storing carbon.
Another strategy to increase organic matter in clay soils is with cover crops. These are crops planted as you get ready beds, for a season or year earlier, or in neglected periods between yearly harvests like flowers and vegetables. They comprise tiny grains and grasses like buckwheat, ryegrass, and oats. Vegetables, like clover, additionally advantage by “fixing” nitrogen from the air for use in the soil. Cover crops have extra advantages like the concealment of numerous weeds.
How to plant in clay soil
?
If you’re planting an individual tree or shrub, it is particularly essential to pick ones that will endure clay soils. Their root frameworks are so large to the point that you can’t change the soil all around over an enormous enough region, particularly for trees. Burrow the opening just as profound as the pot or rootball. Else it will sink after some time, making the plants end up excessively low. This is a significant reason for woody plant destruction following a couple of years.
Try not to make level sides to the planting hole that will not allow water to drain. You’ll just be making a bathtub for the roots without a drain.
In planting large plants, separate a region around where you’ll plant (out to as comprehensive as the plants will at last develop) with a long spade or fork. Add organic matter on top of this space, which will work into these cracks you made after some time.
Trees to plant in clay soil :
The trees which are suitable to grow in clay soils are :
- Oak tree
- Ash tree
- Apple tree
- Pear tree
- Birch
- Eucalyptus
- Sorbus
- Hawthorn
- Magnolia
- Pine
- Thuja
- Juniper
- Amelanchier
- Cornus
- Vibernum
- Mahonia
- Berberis
- Cotoneaster
- Weigela
- Buddleja
- Forsythia
- Hydrangea
- Asters
- Rudbeckia
- Coreopsis