There are a lot of things to love about North Carolina: The mountains, the beaches, the panthers, college ball games..but one thing that doesn’t make that list is clay soil. North Carolina is notorious for its back breaking clay soil. In my experience, very few plants thrive in thick clay soil. So, if you want that beautiful lush garden but have clay soil, you will want to start amending your soil. I have been amending our soil very diligently over the last two years and have had a lot of success using natural organic products. It does take a while, but it is SO worth it in the end.
So lets talk about clay soil. Heavy clay soil has many drawbacks; It is VERY slow draining. Plants that do not like wet feet will die every time because it drains so slowly. I learned this the hard way with my rose garden. In my experience it is very acidic. Now, I tend to keep my soil on the acidic side because I use a lot of organic matter, and I have found that slightly acidic gives me more blooms, but our natural soil was way too acidic to develop productivity for our plants and I have found that it affects root growth to support the plant. Clay soil is also VERY compacted and difficult to dig through. This also is why it has poor drainage and is well known for being back breaking. It is also very low in organic matter, which is why I am diligent about supplementing organic matter.
Now I will say that while the cons exceed the pros, clay soil does have one benefit: It holds onto nutrients and fertility is easier to maintain, but for me that’s where the beneficial list ends.
First, I recommend everyone get their soil tested and save yourself a huge headache of playing the guessing game like I did when I first started. I was just winging it with what I thought it needed, and wasted so much time. Once I tested our soil and found it was very acidic, I started liming the soil. I have since stopped, and only use it very sparingly because it can have some detrimental effects on your plants if you use a lot of it, so I have since preferred organic materials, and have had really good outcomes.
The next thing I do is define the area and till it until you can’t till no more in order to break up that clay. From there, I add peat moss to improve the texture, aeration, and drainage of the area. I also add year aged cow manure and mix that in for primary nutrients and micronutrients. Once all of that has been added to the area, I mix just a little of the original tilled soil to help plants better adjust. From there I usually add my compost and gypsum for nutrients, but mostly because it attracts worms. Worms are great for aeration and their casings add great nutrients to the area. Another benefit of attracting worms with gypsum and compost is that the worms will burrow and break up the clay so your soil is more aerated and has better drainage.
Once I have done all of this, I will let it sit a season, then add more manure and compost to the top and let it sit for another season. Once planting time rolls around after the second time I have composted and manured the area, I have found that the soil is so much easier to work with and the plants thrive. The only thing I do after that is add compost and manure once a season to maintain.
This is the process I have figured out, and have had great success with, but I have difficult soil. I highly recommend getting your soil tested so you know what you should be adding to save yourself the headache and to get your garden up and running. In the end, two years of amending soil was well worth it for the many years I will enjoy the plants I have been able to place there. My lower back is also very thankful.
