How Do I Improve Heavy Clay Soil in the Garden?

Dream of growing a garden, but have heavy clay soil? Wondering "How on earth do I improve this heavy clay soil?". No worries! I share multiple methods of improving heavy clay soil in this video, which in turn will improve the overall health and productivity of your garden! You CAN improve heavy clay soil AND have a happy, healthy productive garden!

I asked myself this same question when I moved to a home with particularly heavy clay about 10 years ago. By focusing on the methods in this video, my garden soil has transformed beyond recognition, and gardening is so much more rewarding and enjoyable!

Some of the links included here are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. I will only recommend items I love and should you choose to make a purchase, it helps support the channel! Thank you!



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[TheTramm]

FINALLY the video I've been looking for, much appreciative. My entire property is black gumbo clay and when it get's wet it becomes a huge mess. So it seems raised beds for the short term gardening while I use all the tools you talked about on the area's I want to grow in ground. Thank You

[benrasp]

Super late comment, but as an ecologist and botanist, you have hit every major point in doing soil restoration. One of the best videos connecting science to the common man ive seen in a hot minute. Major respect!

[genevievegrondin]

The land I'm farming on was used for making bricks until early 1900. I can't go trough even when i jump on the shovel. To create soil, I use pigs. I feed them with sunflowers and all the veggies I can find. Always putting the food around the same spot so they dig and mix all. At the end of the season, I mix the clay with 1.5 feet of leaves using a rototiller. Next year, planting feld bean than buck wheat. An other 1.5 feet of leaves. Then you have a foot of new garden earth by the third year.

[wingrider]

You know you have clay soil when you dig a trench and leave it while it rains and you realize you are now the proud owner of a swimming pool <G>

[honshex]

Finally a video that actually explains how to fix clay soil. Thanks

[Horse]

Bill Mollison said, "You do not have a slug problem. You suffer a duck deficiency."

[LittleRedLemon]

I added organic matter for years to my clay soil with very limited effect. Added course sand last spring and it instantly improved. Carrots, parsnips, and potatoes actually grew instead of just creating a leafy top with nothing going on below ground. The adding sand will only make things worse if no organic matter is in the soil, so never only add sand, but my garden drastically improved after I incorporated sand and my mother in law 500km away from me also added sand and has wonderful results that were way quicker than all the chicken manure she’s added in the last ten years. We’re in different soil and growing zones and by adding course sand to the garden, both of us can work the soil when it’s damp and have much better tilth so plants thrive instead of struggle to survive. Sand shouldn’t be the first thing added, but to improve clay soil, it may be needed.
ETA: talking with coworkers last week and two of them ended up adding coarse sand to their farm gardens too with great results between 20-40 years ago. They had the same problem of adding manure from their beef cattle and dairy operations for years, and both got frustrated and brought in sand. Their gardens were so much better after that and are still thriving decades later.

[Shazer]

Wheni harvest my veggies and fruit, I try to leave the roots in the ground. This has helped my clay soil massively.

[anthonyl.]

You explained everything perfectly.
Straight to the point, no unnecessary chats.
Good job! 😁

[chadbarrett]

I'm on my third year working with poor clay soil and it's just getting better every year. I live in southern Arizona, this season I've been amazed at how improved my soil is... Keep turning that dirt. Even if it takes a few years.

[chadwickpainter]

My mom used the flower pinwheels in the garden to get rid of underground pests. She stuck them in all around the garden and never had trouble. The vibrations from the pinwheels drive the pests out.

[hollydingman]

I’m really glad you mentioned the negative effect of sand! I was wondering if I should include that as part of my treatment, but now I’ll steer clear.

[sbarr]

When my husband and I bought our home in northern Utah in 2013, I was clueless about soil. I started lettuce indoors and foolishly thought I could just put the starts in the ground. Our heavy clay soil was in such poor condition that water literally ran off when we attempted to wet it down. The clay was hydrophobic. My lettuce starts lasted about 5 minutes.

We were literally taking pickaxes to the soil to break it up so we could start amending it and getting water down there. Eventually we got a broadfork and we love it.

We have worked compost, mineral amendments especially those sulfur based, and lots of other organic matter into the soil since. We trawl through the neighborhood looking for leaves and pine needles and we use wood chips when they're available. Sulfur based amendments help improve the bioavailability of nutrients in the soil and lower the alkalinity. With regular amendment we have gotten good performance from our soil. Now we get more vegetables than we know what to do with.

We don't use sand in the clay soil but we do use utelite, a gravelly amendment available here in Utah that helps with aeration.

[joanmayfield]

My husband plants a winter rye cover. The roots penetrate deep and help break up clay soil.

[jameschatepa]

awesome video, thanks!
have you tried planting sunflowers? i was surprised at how they transformed my soil from dense and sticky to light and crumbly in just one season. they're really beautiful too

[rganicallProduced]

An 8 year old who visited my farm told me to use the vole and groundhog dug soil as a topsoil instead of tilling. I have utilized it and it’s working.

[bte_permaculture]

Namaste from India! You have been making a lot of lives easier❤️ Keep doing what you do, the world needs more people like you. We will make sure that your name is heard 💞🌱 Love and peace to you ma'am 💮🌻😊

[allenu]

Living in Ohio, I'm told this was under water at one time, Clay is really bad here, I've been working on the dirt for about 7 years. Last year I couldn't get anything to grow. The raised bed, I should have known better. This year will be different . Thank you for this channel. You're awesome!

[stevetendrich]

We tilled in yards upon yards of compost for the first two years. Then we dug in a lighter layer the third year. No dig this year. Ultimately it raised our whole soil level about 6-8"

[wiserock]

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge!