Do THIS if You Have Compacted Soil For a Great Garden!
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
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I live in a city and recently received a plot in my community garden. After clearing the plot of the mess of a jungle that the previous gardener left, I found a garden bed so neglected, people thought I had paved over the soil! 😂 Through a lot of sweat and mumbled curses, I tilled and amended the topsoil with compost and coco coir. Now I have a beautiful nascent garden with rich soft soil that actually retains moisture and nutrients. Love this video and hope it helps others understand the importance of proper gardening soil.
I used the Charles Dowding no-dig method on clay soil that was under decorative rocks for 20+ years, and it worked great. It was so compacted, jumping on a shovel did nothing, and water just pooled on top. Just added a 3 inch layer of compost and planted tomatoes. A couple years later, the soil is so soft, black and fertile. The tomatoes even grew perfectly fine the first year.
Thanks, good to know. I could not use a rake as Luke did to break up anything. I was wondering if the Charles Dowding method would work. I think I need to use more water as we are so dry here in So Cal.
@@Edgeofthecontinent No dig is so much easier. It's the only way I garden now. You do want to keep the soil moist, the microorganisms need moisture. I can't believe people still dig and till their soil anymore. Very rarely in life is the easiest way the best, but not here.
This no dig method also helps keep weeds from growing also.
I killed bermuda Grass in SoCal usinging heavy black weed blocker. It took about 3 months over the summer to kill it all. I then removed any traces of debris or roots and put wood mulch over all of it. Because we have hard clay soil and I didn't know about
No till method, we just built raised beds to garden. But lately, i've decided i'm going to add compost, chicken manure and gypsum to my clay soil to try and improve it.@samanthawhang7498
I also use the no dig. I'm in year 3 and my soil is looking and feeling better every year.
I was shocked how well gypsum worked. So happy I found that information, we had 4 days of heavy rain followed by a few days of heat and STRONG winds. My previously lovely soil was rock hard and looked like cracked concrete. Added gypsum, watered it in and almost immediately my soil was workable again. Amazing stuff, but boy did it stink. That's organic gardening for you. 😂
Plant okra in that bed. It has very strong big roots that can break up tough soil. The roots are like a fast growing tree that can grow even in tough hard Alabama clay. You can pull them at the end of the season and it help break up the ground or cut off the tops and leaves the roots to breakdown.
Good idea
Comfrey works the same. At the end of the season, chop and drop. It will really enrich the soil.
@@miggy7165except wherever you plant comfrey, you will have it forever lol
A garden weasel makes quick work of compacted soil in my experience!!! I have one and it works great with not as much effort and it goes pretty deep too. Loved the video
My backyard is a zero-scape from the builder; no grass, no tilling, no prep… literally weeds, wildflowers, and 5 inches of limestone and clay. Any recommendations on how to prep for raised beds? Leave it be and add topsoil? Till and plant?
Hydroponics and containers
Oh my goodness Luke. You always hit the nail on the head of what I need to do. I have a raised bed with compacted soil, even though I added compost recently. It rained a lot and I was wondering why it is so compacted already after adding compost. I am just going to dig it up with my rake a little like you just did. Thank you for always giving us great tips! I've been gardening all my life and you are my adult children's age, but there is always more to learn about gardening.
P.S. I learned something new today about adding 'Gypsum' to help aid in breaking up compacted soil, as always thank you!
Great points Luke! I have been converting my clay soil over the last years. I am always so shocked to see the number of worms working thru the hard clay. Its full of minerals. I dig a hole put clumps in a bucket of water and make a slurry, fill hole with compost/potting mix then pour the slurry over. Helps with water retention too.
I used to have compacted clay soil until I started making compost and amending the top of the beds every year. That helped keep the soil moist and the worms and life moved in. Now the moles have tunneled EVERYWHERE eating the worms and I actually have to walk on the beds a bit to compress the tunnels or water just runs down the tunnels and goes sideways. Too much aeration! 😏💚
I've read moles like to eat grubs as well. I know later year I had grubs. I decided to make a mole a garden friend.
I instinctively had done nearly the same to my six 4'x12'x12" beds about two weeks before seeing this video. I'm relieved hear you say I didn't harm my soil by doing this. I had noticed my beds were not as fluffy, and a bit compacted and had to do something about it. I took a shovel and dug out about 8" deep across the entire bed, broke it up, mixed in peat moss, manure, azomite, bone meal, & fertilizer. Then worked it in with my hands as if I was making a food recipe {wearing a mask, dusty} it was a workout. I smoothed the soil then planted, adding a tiny bit more fertilizer to each planting hole.
I wonder if you can plant sunflowers? The mammoth sunflowers have roots that go down more than five feet. I bet that would aerate the soil.
Clay binds iron in the soil. Sulphur breaks that bond& releases the iron for your plants
Thanks! We have clay and ROCKS. We use a pick ax to plant our bushes and baby trees.
Have you ever tried a broad fork? I love mine!
Where is a good place to order one from? I can't find any in the local farm stores.
I ordered off Amazon. They are a lot of work but helps to loosen the soil !
Love mine too... it has really helped my soil!
@@gwenwright1979Johnny's Selected Seeds has high quality broad forks of various sizes.
I got mine from Johnny’s. It wasn’t cheap but I like it.
I love your videos but this one had sooo many editing pauses/jumps, I'm thinking there is some goooood blooper material there 😂😂
Thank you Luke many Australian viewers will find this useful, especially here in coastal South Australia where there is a lot of silty clay soils 🤩
PS personally I find leaf mould helps a lot in breaking down the clay.
Some areas of our garden are so fluffy the water just drains away.. No retention at all. I've started adding clay to mix and see if that helps😊
We live in Clay county Minnesota. Guess why it is called Clay county. We purchased a new build home so our soil was top soil and clay but we attempted a 6x21 foot in-ground garden that first year and had success. We reasoned the garden would grow or not, be just had to try. Now three years later, that bed has beautiful soil and we added two more in-ground beds this year for our squashes.
Don't worry works fine sound is great even less wind today!
I needed this video. Every year, the Chip Drop runs over the bed next to the driveway because the truck can't fit otherwise. Then a lot of the woodchips get dumped on top of the bed as well, so the soil gets very compacted as a result. I have plenty of leaf compost nearby, so it looks like I have some tilling to do.
This is so useful, thank you! I have this issue and I thought I couldn't have a good garden.
Well, this explains a whole lot about the issues that I’m having. my soil has a lot of clay and it gets as hard as concrete. We have tilled and it looks nice and fluffy and it’s seven or 8 inches deep of this beautiful dark soil and so I think I’m good to plant in it and I do. only to have, nearly all of my plants no matter what they are from cabbage to watermelons to tomatoes to squash to beans they are all toppling over very very easily. I can pull a weed and uproot an entire tomato plant or watermelon plant..I’m taking about big plants (half grown) and they come up so easily.
Very helpful. I have clay and it can get so hard it's difficult to dig a hole. In rainy season a muddy mess.
LUKE-Do you have trouble with voles?
I’m having a vole/mole issue this year! I’ve got the spike traps set but it always just tunnels below it and never goes off. 😂
I just moved to a property that backs up to a trail and have found we have voles and they have gone up through the drainage holes in the side of my pots and burrowed through a whole bunch of pots. Now that I'm in the process of building my raised beds which should be done in the next week I'm having to line the bottom with 19 gage 1/2 inch mesh hardware cloth to at least keep them from burrowing under. When I go to replant my pots I'll have to put a small square of that hardware cloth on the bottom of the pots as well.
ua-cam.com/video/WEl41J4W-pU/v-deo.htmlsi=_uyqxR3U3XLIj530
Planted a bunch of the migardener seed this last weekend. I'm excited!
A crazy thing happened this year to my in ground garden. I tilled in mulch and added in some gypsum like I do yearly, planted and the ground was soft as a pillow. Last week we got pounded in Omaha by 8 + inches of rain in less than 6 hours. It beat the dirt down so hard it's like I've never touched the dirt ever. I know the amendments work because the last several years we've been drought strken and ground stayed soft. Can't till again with the plants in the way. Hopefully it bounces back but spot digging shows that it's really compact deep. How do I fix that? Lol
Sound is good on my end now
Sound works now!
Thank you for your help
Thank you. 😊
Thank you for taking the time to get rid of that old soil for new soil. Alot of pain, sweat, toiling and swearing, but you got the job done. Good luck with your beautiful peaceful garden.
Thx
U never told us what kind of compost in the stores to buy for newly dug out ground - there’s so many companies that sell compost .
Dude, I’m in the Texas Panhandle. It’s nothing but clay and caliche.
Terrific that u did this video - I redid my sons yard from weeds to flowers - I needed to no what to do from scratch from clay to flower soil ..we took away all weeds ..thanks
@migardner - you're so very encouraging - thank you! And thanks for sharing your knowledge and research. All of these and more are reasons why I switched all of seed buying to your store
I have had a Sandler soil and heavy clay. I would take the sandier soil any day.
Loop, I have been having a major problem with a few of my beds. I do no dig gardening and have been doing it for 4 to 5 years so at this point any of my compacted beds should be well filled with nice loose soil. However, every year I have a few bedsthat are part shade and never seem to stay loose even though I keep adding more and more compost on top. Any idea why that might be. I usually add at least 3 to 4 inches of compost or manure. Last fall l added manure with wood chips. Also I live in Maine
How much gypsum to use? I'm starting to prep a bed for blueberry planting in the fall
My cucumbers and tomatoes are coming on strong
Hi there. I bought some melon seeds from you and seed them a month ago and not a single one has come up. What do you think I could be doing wrong? Have you had any feedback about your melon seeds?
ould you proide a link to where I an buy gypsum? I don't see it in your Amazon store.
Is it wrong to till your garden every year. I've been doing that for 40 years.
They say it disturbs the microbes and bacteria when you till. 🤷🏼♂️
@sociopathmercenary to each their own, I guess.
Gypsum should be used only if your clay is SODIC. Otherwise it won't help and may even harm.
Need gypsum?! I own a drywall company and will gladly sell you all my scrap board! 😂
If you can find a cheap hammer mill that can powderize scrap wallboard, you might have yourself another income stream.
@@teebob21 I actually have two farmers that will take a cpl big loads a year to spread
On their fields. I need to research what all is in wallboard. Is it just gypsum or natural ingredients or they add some cray stuff to it asswell?
@@jimmylarge1148 Generally speaking, wallboard is just compressed gypsum, glued paper and additives such as mica, clay, and resin. "bathroom drywall" (the green stuff) probably has additives that growers won't want to add to their soil.
@@jimmylarge1148make sure it doesn't come from China!
@@sueweathers3978unless you were growing rice 😂