Clay

[Homesteadwi5]

Our soil here is heavy clay we recently got over 7 inches of rain with low ,temps and overcast skies for the next week and a half or so.Long story short the water stood in the gardens and the seed rotted in the ground.Any tips on how to help?

[Danaus29]

The only thing that will help is making raised beds. When the beds are higher than the surrounding ground the water runs out of the beds, into the paths, and out of the gardens.

[poppysfarm]

We have the same problem and find the best solution is hilling/raising all plantings so they can drain in this unusually wet spring.

[culpeper]

Compost, compost, compost. Dug in. It will help amend the soil so that it drains better. And of course adding more stuff to the garden will help to raise the level as well!

[mammabooh]

I vote for compost AND raised beds.

[Drew Cutter]

You have two choices raise bed or double dig . Double Dig - Dig a 1 foot pit (the area you are planting) . Fill the hole with compost / manure , then fill the top layer with the old dirt.

[frankva]

And a drainage "ditch" along a side.(s)

[Marcia in MT]

Gypsum will help loosen clay soils. It changes the particle structure of the soil, enabling it to drain better. Raised beds and LOTS of organic matter added to the soil will also help, as others have said.

[Homesteadwi5]

We added compost this spring and will continue to do so.I have been thinking about the raised beds,but our garden is around 3,600sq ft. that would be a lot of soil to haul in.

[Drew Cutter]

Sounds like you need to deep till the land (with a tractor) . Add (grow cover crop) green manure . Finally plant a garden next year.

[Callieslamb]

the most important thing you can do this year is keep the soil from drying out. Pile on mulch ( grass clippings, straw, pine needles, wood chips) whatever you have available. Next year, you can till all of that in and that will help the soil greatly. Clay soil and sandy soil need the same fix - more organic matter. Sand, so it will be able to hold more moisture and clay, to help hold the soil particles apart.

One trick for this year dig a trench and fill it with potting soil. Plant your seeds in the potting soil. The potting soil won't crust over like clay soil will and the seeds will be able to get started more easily. Once they are up - mulch, mulch, mulch.

If you have any bare spots in the garden this summer - plant buckwheat. It grows fast, shades out weeds and adds a ton of organic matter to the soil. It is very easy to till in - If you don't have a tiller, cut it down with a weed eater first. Later in the fall when the garden is pretty much finished - plant annual rye grass or other fast growing crop. Let it grow until your winter kills it. Next spring, either till it under or just plant through it. do this each and every year - even when your soil seems perfect.

Adding green crops like the ones above (or others that you choose) will be the best thing you can do to improve your soil. It won't happen in 1 year - it took mine 2 to get soft enough to pull weeds out easily and 2 until I was satisfied - but it will happen. Clay soil holds its nurtrients and moisture better than any other soil.

[Ernie]

I build up rows by hand and that lets the water flow off the top and down into the low spots between them. Seems to help but I have an unamended clay in about a half acre of land that just never really seems to thrive in that heavy of rain.

My tomatoes and peppers haven't really popped yet either due to the chill. At night it's still down in the low 60's. C'mon, summer!

[mooman]

We added compost this spring and will continue to do so.I have been thinking about the raised beds,but our garden is around 3,600sq ft. that would be a lot of soil to haul in.

I think this is where there is some vocabulary related confusion. Many people hear "Raised Beds" and think wooden boxes filled with trucked in soil. What I think is being suggested is what it sounds like Ernie and I do. Hoe/shovel the soil from the pathways up onto beds. No need to box the bed in, just hoe it up occasionally. This practice was the only thing that saved my taters this year.

[brody]

I do the same thing - my rows are raised and then some things get hilled from there too ...

I am putting in two raised beds at the back of the garden though - the garden was very wild when we arrived and I just can't rehab it all from scratch ... I'm going to put the frames in this summer and compost directly in them .. then hopefully won't have too much soil to add in the fall /spring

[Callieslamb]

I did the same things with my garden this year - dug the soil out to 'raise' the beds. Some of the beds I edged with wood, the rest are just temporarily raised.