How to plant in clay, poorly draining, and compact soils. Proper tools, amendments, and techniques.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2016
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This video is a detailed description of planting in clay or poorly draining soils. This video shows the gardening tools, soil amendments, and techniques for managing difficult soil situations. Learn how to dig easier in compact soils and the amendments that can improve them in the future.
Jim has over 30 years experience in the green industry and is the current owner of Earthworks Nursery.
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www.wholesaleplants.biz
30 Allen Rd. Clayton, NC 27520 - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I am 77 and am past digging with a pick axe. I use a tulip auger on my drill. Works great!
As always, if you ask 12 gardeners, you will get at least 20 different opinions.
RE: tools
I generally feel the old traditional tools have passed the test of time HOWEVER, a while ago I purchased a tool called, THE CLAW. It looks like a long handled digging fork with the tines bent into a corkscrew pattern and with a handle placed cross wise at the top.
What it does is to stur the soil without your needing to lift it. It works great and is far easier on my aching back.
Also-
RE: Organic matter
I suggest using whatever you can get cheaply. In the past, when I had my boat, I would save the seaweed that everyone else swore at. It was full of micro neutriants, it was free
and saltwater weeds will not grow in your garden. Results are amazing. I also use coffee grinds, mixed into the soil-again they are free. Not sure why but they attract earthworms.
The worms work your soil-again for free. At 3:00 the worms stop working. They stop for a coffee break. HAD TO SEE IF ANYONE WAS STILL READING MY LONG COMMENT
Susan Siegel Really 3:00 p.m. or a.m. EarthWorms Stop for Coffee Grinds Break or Something Else like VermiPooping!
Susan Siegel So.... will the worms work any faster if my grounds are from espresso?
Susan Siegel lol I read it and I also use coffee grinds in my soil. My banana plants love them!
ladies and gentlemen the claw is not for CLAY SOIL , this hort guy does have dense compact ground , and I have the densest fine clay that CATS DO NO GO NEAR
Lol...
Finally a channel from the south. Most channels that I have found are from the north. Nobody knows clay like a southerner. Great information, I subscribed.
+Cathy Brown Thanks for watching and subscribing
I live in SW Indiana. Although our soil isn’t the red color like that which is found in some southern states...believe me, it is hard, heavy clay.
We have horrible clay soil here in western Oregon. Sticky when it's wet, and during the summer shrinks into a rockhard mass that won't let water permeate. Of course weeds have no trouble growing in it.
Ruth stout method covered with back to eden method and make the land vigorous again. It really is that easy.
@@THEREALInfamousP Unless you are in the a wet and damp area and then you are just creating a slug nursery on that wet clay.
Was he choking up talking about his rake? My type of outdoorsman!
I think he was, very sweet. And his pic ax. Awe. Ilove this man
I was more choked up than him. That's the most beautiful yellow rake handle I've ever seen!
lol awesome question/comment.
Lol! I noticed that too!
I think he needs to get his heart checked, he seems out of breath too much.
Thanks to you, I bought a trenching shovel. (Our soil is almost all clay.). My gardening life is much better now.
I searched 'plant in clay soil' and found this, now I'm hooked on your channel. My broken rake and 3 useless shovels are getting tossed aside as I get me a trenching shovel and fiberglass rake. 😢😁🙏
I miss these old videos. Jim knows his stuff. He was all business back then .
Easily the best video for planting shrubs in this soil setting!! I love how humble you are as well. Explaining the different bags of material was extremely beneficial! Thank you sooo much 🙏
He reminded me of how much my late Dad loved his rake. He had it for years and years, and as he said "it's had about four new handles and three new heads but it's the best rake ever" :)
I am a new home owner and planned out a garden but was totally overwhelmed, as this is my first time gardening and we have heavy clay as well. No other videos were able to tell me *exactly* what I need to do, start to finish. Your simple but detailed instructions have made me feel confident and excited to start! Thank you so much for this video!
Erin M Us too with the soil. Raised beds for food, and amending ALOT for in ground 😝
Same here in Western CO. I needed to do something fast that wouldn't take years of soil amendments and TIME. We decided to start with small flowerbeds around the front of the house and we ended up shoveling a lot of clay soil out (for the trash), then we bought a variety of soil amendments (miracle grow in ground use, compost, mulch, worm castings) and added as we planted. We mostly eyeballed ratio. I'm not saying this is ideal or right way but our flowers are doing well so far.
Oh dear, I've been doing this all wrong. I have been using good soil conditioner that I get at my nursery, but I've been adding cow manure as well and a lot of it with the soil conditioner. I'll mix it really good with the red clay until it looks and feels like cake mix. My new landscape seems to be doing fine, but I want to do it correctly moving forward. So glad I came across this video.
Wish I had seen this before I planted my hedge in clay soil! Such good info.
This video saved me from making a few costly mistakes. Thank you!
I know this video is 4 years old but this is exactly what I was looking for tonight!! I almost cried today realizing how much clay is in our front porch to be landscaped. Thank you!! May call you for a consultation!
Ella, you have my deepest sympathy. We have 100 acres of environmental zoned land in the Hunter Valley in Australia. Highly reactive permean (hence the zoning - the are has permean fossils) clay. I warn our visitors - do not stand or drive on anything brown if it's wet! The block is sploped. The house is a suspended cantilevered concrete floor and the shed 2000sqft and is on fill. The earthworks and shed slab were frightening.
I have had my right foot amputated and have had four back ops, so I'll go the tiniest shovel!
I'm learning as a newbie how to deal with it from the gardening perspective.
Good luck in your endeavours. :)
So hard to find such clear and useful information. He's great!
Wow! I just came across this. I live in Central California. So not south at all. But i just bought a 107 year old home. And the soil is very compacted. And sandy too. Its weird. I have been composting so im making some beautiful soil. But the part where he talks about making a "clay pot" really hit me. I did break up soil a bit under my veggie garden. But i cannot even remember the bag of stuff i added??? One bag was mostly woodchips so i put that on top. Now i need to take some notes to really help my plant babies. Thank you all for the help.
Meet too!
I love the mans passion for his rake.
Obviously lives his tools☺💚
This is the most comprehensive guide I've ever come across for planting in compacted/clay soils. I love how you talk through all of the options a person may see at a garden center or even be suggested to purchase by an experienced gardener who forgot to ask enough questions about the planting site. I saved this video so I have something to recommend to friends and family new to planting and especially with new construction homes.
❤
This is SO helpful. I moved into a new construction home. Pros: no tree roots to deal with. Cons: red construction filler clay for many inches, so many rocks I don't even know what to do with, sod that doesn't want to grow into a massive slate of rock it was laid on top of, etc. No worms!!! Haven't found a single one. It's so heavy packed and dense, I'm not surprised.
Obviously, I’m late to the party having only discovered your channel within the past year but have to comment that your instructional style is so thorough and you also share an absolute wealth of information, I feel like I’m attending a Master Class. Bravo, Jim! Thank you so much for all that you do.
This type of "Pickax" is actually called a "Pulasky" after one of the founders of the US forest service, started under Teddy Roosevelt. The sharp end is the "pickax" and the other wide spade-like end also needs sharpening and is for chopping and pulling roots and trail maintenance, also for quickly digging holes when planting a swath of reseeding seedlings and for digging out buried fires under trees during forest fires. (A forester in the field got to carry one tool - if they were lucky). Forest rangers are really badass. I met some in Big SUR during Sobraines Fire. btw great videos, this and others very well done !! THANKS !!
Clay and rock 😔 they don't call it Rock City here for nothing. I've lived here 30 years and over the years I had my sons dig holes in this "dirt" and they said if they had to plant one more tree they were not going to mow the yard anymore 😁 😉 I've been retired for a year and I'm going to make my ugly old small backyard into a beautiful garden and I've learned a lot from you.. thank you
My husband and I dug a hole for a small tree in our clay soil this weekend ... and we about keeled over! Lol 😂 I purchased many other plants too, but we actually stood there and discussed returning it all back to the store! I kid you not - getting through that wet clay soil (Dallas, TX) made us feel like we were hit by an 18 wheeler! Still working on getting them into the ground bit by bit ... but a pick axe?? GENIUS!!!
I’m fighting clay soil in Dallas too. Ugh! Hope y’all powered through yours and got the plants in!
Very helpful! the small details you pointed out are exactly what I needed. Thanks for sticking to pertinent info and not talking about unrelated things like your pets or your vacations like some will do, allowing us all to learn from you quickly and then get out to the garden to do the work we intended.
👍🏼
I thought you were going to cry and hug your tools! ❤
I have heavy clay soil and come back to this video year after year for a refresher whenever I'm planting new shrubs. Thanks for the info!
From a former Raleigh landscaper....well done Jim!
So grateful to see a knowledgeable person presenting these correct steps to plant installation and gardening! Thanks!
A pick ax! Duh! Im so thankful for this. Im turning up way too much compacted clay and rocky earth to amend it for a raised garden bed and between a spade shovel and pitch fork I was going to lose my mind. Back to work tomorrow
So glad to find a southern gardener. I'm in North Georgia...at the base of Stone Mountain. Red clay soil with rocks, rocks and more rocks. Your instructions very helpful. Thanks
This video was super helpful. I bought all the tools and came home and hit my hard flower bed with the pick axe. It worked like a charm. Thanks, Jim!
Amazing show and tell. Love the fact that you actually demonstrated everything .
Outstanding instructional video at a basic level that is easily understandable. Your efforts, skills and shared knowledge are sincerely appreciated. THANKS
+john kulcsar Thank you for watching and commenting
Thank you. Very helpful!
agree
!
I’m glad you are showing us
Revisiting this video three years later bc ice recently moved and the soil is much more clay based. Ughhh. Thankfully your channel is helping me deal with it.
This video has helped me so much! Clay conditioning soil has really made the biggest difference with my gardening.
I'm back! This video is such an informative one that I wanted to come back for a refresher view. Videos like this, I like to put in my arsenal of HOW TO videos on how to do things the right way! To bad I can't give it a thumbs up each time I watch it!.👍
Your videos are for dummies and I like that. You make your video so simple anyone can understand. Some speak to us novices like we are Martha Stewarts. LOL. THANKS for making your videos Super Simple.
EXCELLENT illustration for planting.
I've been using the wrong soil mix to plant in clay all these years! Local Garden centers don't know what to do either! I knew about digging the clay pot. But I've been working too hard! No more! My parents always won Yard of The Month wherever we lived. Charleston or Columbia, SC. Dad knew everything! Miss him so much! Enjoying your videos! Tam from Columbia, SC.
You shouldn't have to amend even clay soil. It's the earth. Plants know how to grow in it and clay soil is chock full of nutrients. But you do need to choose the right plants.
I just moved to an area with clay soil for the first time and failed miserably at planting my first shrub. Couldn’t even dig the hole and really made me question my self worth 🤣 Thank you for this video, it was exactly what I needed!
your worth it. go for a swim and learn yoga.
I live in San Antonio, Texas the soil is very horrible here. The video was very straight forward easy to follow instructions for planting in clay soil. I liked that he tells you what tools to use and why. I was using a regular shovel to dig my was I struggling. So I came here for information. To the store I go to buy a trench shovel.
Thank you for this detailed and easy to follow planting guide. I live in nevada and have very hard I assume clay like soil I will definitely be adding soil amendments thanks to you. My nursery will be able to tell me what we need for our soil here in Nevada. Great video 👍🏾 I learned a lot. 😊
I have to say your video is the most informative I’ve seen ,thank you!
Very nice demonstration of planting in clay soil. This is a very common problem in many areas of the country.
SO grateful for our fellow Americans that help us learn the ropes on this kind of stuff....THANK YOU!!
Thanks so much for uploading this very educational video!! One never stops learning no matter how many years a person has been gardening.
I'm excited I found this video and your channel. I'm a new homeowner in the Clayton/Wendell area and your videos are almost tailor-made for every yard project I've been taking on this spring. I wish I'd seen it before I planted all my blueberries and hydrangeas in 50/50 peat moss and mulch!
Thank you for explaining how to use the “tools” and your soil mixing technique.
I am so grateful for this video! Where would my plants be without this?? 😵💫 Thank you!!
May I just say, I love it that you’re a landscaper and still have such an amazing garden. My step dad is a landscaper and he rarely has time to garden. He says he’s lucky if he gets to mow the lawn lol
As we embark on landscaping our front yard ourselves, this is truly helpful, and I so appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with the world! Thank you!
Great advice on the shovels, thanks so much! ♥ For years, I used to dig clay soil with my large 12" shovel, every time getting angry about how "weak" I was :)))) until I finally learned that you are not supposed to do that :) By that time, most of my clay yard was done :))))
Great information! Thanks from a clay yard in Michigan 🙂
Jim,you are so correct on a trenching shovel in clay. It made planting several trees in clay much easier. Thanks for teaching an old man (me)new tricks.
I am so glad I found your channel - all of these are incredibly helpful. And you helped me realize how many things I’ve already done wrong in my clay soil... thank you!!
Thank you for sharing this guidance about planting in clay. We're in Northern VA with all clay soil which is a bit of a shock when gardeners first move here (myself included) This is truly helpful so I'll share it with others.
So helpful! You don't see many videos about planting in clay soil.
Mattock. Excellent video, probably the best on youtube. Clay soil is a terrible problem in southern Australia as well.
You Sir, are a master of the clay! I have struggled many years with the southern clay soil. After watching your video, I think that my planting will greatly improve! Thank you!
This video was AMAZING! You helped me out tremendously! Thank you!
I saw the title of your video & just had to watch. I'm in Colorado so a totally different environment. However, I found so much great info in your video (you're a great teacher) that I had to subscribe!
Thank you. One of my favorite videos. I always learn a lot. I’m right down the road in Franklinton, NC.
So happy that I found your videos! Moved to Raleigh little under a year ago and did not realize how much clay based soil is here. Fantastic video and very informative!
I have just recently cleared out an 80 square foot flower bed at the front of the house, and have dreaded the task of dealing with that clay soil. Thanks SO MUCH for posting such informative and helpful videoes. I'm learning a lot, trying to get inspired to put a few things in the ground come fall. Thank you!
Hi kohomada
What Hardworking man!
Every question answered as you went along. An excellent how to vid for my clay soil. Much appreciated. Glen Iris, Victoria Australia.
I love your program. I live in Oklahoma where we have clay soil also. We do not get the abundance of rain you do so the gardening is a bit different even though the zone is the same. Your common sense style of teaching, along with your important details such as proper tools to use, are very helpful. Thank you for your hard work. Peggy B
Thank you from southeast TN finally someone addressing issues with our soil. Great video keep it up.
Thank you. Glad to help.
Im glad i saw this video because everyone kept saying peat moss and we have clay soil in parts of our yard and regular soil in other parts. The sunniest section of course is on the clay side
Im in NC too and just beginning the journey of try to fix the planting areas of the house I've lived in for 20 years. I had no idea how challenging it would be!
Just moved here from Oregon and I’m thrilled to have found your channel, Jim. A virtual wealth of great information. After spending my first
year thru the seasons I’m ready to make a few changes in the yard and your channel will help me avoid a bunch of uninformed mistakes. Thank you.
Welcome. Thanks for watching
Really good info, I had been doing much of the same for my clay soil but learned a lot from you. Thanks
Jason with Fraser Nursery Channel recommended your channel. Looking forward to your videos. Love the first one I watched. How to plant in Clay soil. Great!
Thank you sincerely!! I have a very heavy clay area in my garden and these were awesome tips!!!!
Hey thanks for posting this. I ve been having a hard time finding videos on this. They all say different things but not very specific.
I just want to say, I really love your channel! So helpful! I’m in South Africa and I’m about to plant a 3m London plane tree in clay soil :) THANK YOU!
FINALLY AN ANSWER! Zone9b clay soil here in So Cal. Thank you! I have a 20ft H x 80ft W slope that has pre existing fruit and hedge planted up high on the ridge. I have only tackled small shrubs down close to the retaining wall base, so far - for fear of failure. Thank YOU, I have been searching for this SPECIFIC advice!
Thank you Mr! The tool information alone is priceless.💚
Thank you! Finally i understand! Great explaining. Excellent teacher. 😊
Thank you for the advice. I'm new to working with rocky clay soil and find that digging a single hole was difficult and time consuming. I believe your tips will help me a lot!
Great informative videos on your station. I've recently started landscaping our property your station is extremely helpful. Thanks.
Thank you Jim for sharing your knowledge about planting.
Awesome video - very helpful to me in Southwest GA with the rich red/orange clay soil.
Jim (and others reading), you may be interested in what I did today with some of our clay soil in the backyard. I dug a hole to plant an apple tree (it is spring here in Australia) and removed quite a lot of clay and planted the tree into a combination of compost mixed with quality garden soil. The clay was dug out in chunks, each roughly 4 inches in diameter. I've placed them out of the way behind some shrubs for now. I put a few chunks of clay in a bucket and filled the bucket with water, The water went brown immediately and believing clay to be full of good minerals, I tipped the brown water into a watering can and watered the vegetable garden and the newly planted apple tree. Hopefully this will give the vegetables and apple tree a boost. I mulched the apple tree after planting it, with wood chips.
excellent video. Instructions were very thorough and complete and professionally presented. Thank you.
Super helpful! Thanks for showing the process from beginning to end - makes a huge difference to see every steps and details. Very informative and helpful!
Nice to hear someone talk abt the area. I'm in Kdale and digging in this clay is terrible! But I planted those trees! Good vid!
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful as I live in Virginia. I need to say you are always out of breath so I hope your health is okay. We need you man!
Jean Fagan
Might be nerves. I get out of breath when I have to speak because I'm terrified!
Thank you I am always learning new things about gardening!
Just moved to East TN and so glad I’ve found this channel! So different from what I needed to know in the SW.
Amazing ,very professional thank you
Thanks so much for the video. I live in southern maryland, and the soil is pretty loose, but this video was definitely helpful.
What a great video! Out of all the ones I’ve seen on planting in clay soil, this is definitely one of the best. Thank you for showing what type of soil to use for clay. VERY informative and very educational on what to do. 2 thumbs up
Omg thank you so much. I am all about that trenching shovel now and thank you for suggesting fiber glass. The digging and amending process looked so organized. After watching i think maybe i can do it! Now I’m going to search your channel for tips on digging for a hedge!
Peat Moss is an amazing amendment as long as its not just clay you're mixing in with it. Grab that compost (home made or store bought), I use a little sand, peat moss, and pine bark fines mixed together to boost the acidity a bit. The soil always ends up very well draining and holds a lot of moisture.
What a great video. So much extremely valuable information in 25 minutes. Thanks!
+Ashish Borkar Thank you very much.
Hi
Great video. Straight forward advice. Especially like the introduction on correct tool selection.
Thanks for all the information you share. My husband and I love to see your videos.
Excellent video.....I have clay soil in my yard so I appreciated your time, skills and effort to make this video. I subscribed
+Sonia Trott Great, glad to help. Thanks for watching
We have moved to the land of clay soil and have a lot to learn. Thanks for all the good information
Thank you so much for producing this very informative video. It was EXACTLY what I needed to know to get my plants into the ground where they will actually survive!
Thank you, very informative. I’ll buy a trenching shovel for sure! I’ve recently found your Chanel and find all your videos helpful. Also nice to hear from an experienced gardener in my same zone.