ph5172 Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 (edited) I have a small vegetable plot that has heavy clay soil. I have tried to remedy it with limited success. the only crops that end up half decent are spinach and the odd lettuce, tomatoes seem to be trying after seeds were deposited. strawberry's on the other hand are doing really well. I was debating if to lift them and make them a bit more uniform later on in the year and turn the plot into a fruit garden. any ideas on fruit plants / bushes to try could I put a thin layer of bark as a top covering between fruit plants to make it a bit more aesthetically pleasing and to save my strawberries from the mud? Edited August 7, 2020 by ph5172 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 Certainly gooseberries would do well on heavy soil. Put a slight raised bed in for your strawberries. Try Swiss chard instead of spinach it is far better , does not run to seed so readily and you can keep pulling it for a long time. Cook the same as spinach. DON'T cut the leaves, tear off what you need as low as you can and it will keep making new growth. Leeks also like heavy soil but you need to dig in some farmyard manure as well. I don't blanch mine because we like the green as much as the white and we pull them earlier when tender and delicious. Rasberries are a good garden fruit but do need a lot of managing/tying up. There are now small patio fruit trees available, apples, pears, plums and as long as you prune them properly they will produce enough to be worthwhile and easy to keep weed free underneath. You cannot beat good old famryard muck both for mixing and layering on top between the plants. I can get as many loads as I wish but I still buy mine from the garden centre because it has been steralised and therefore no weeds. A load from the farm will be a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 If you have good results from Strawberries stick with them. family and friends love em, fresh or in jam, you also have the plus of growing on new plants from runners, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Walker570 said: ........Rasberries are a good garden fruit but do need a lot of managing/tying up...... Initially, yes. 20 years ago I built a wooden framework along the 3'x10' bed with horizontal wires supporting the canes, about a foot apart. The canes (summer fruiting and autumn fruiting) have produced pounds and pounds of fruit every year over the years. My wife savagely prunes them annually (and swears that she has killed them), but they keep coming back. I think that she puts some manure on as well. I prefer cream on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 What remedies have you tried? Half of one of my allotment beds was very heavy clay at first, and I mean grey streaks running through it. I put a good covering of manure on it and let it sit over winter and then dug it and rotavated sharp sand and a lot of compost into it and now it's nice friable free draining soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 We use raised beds for delicates. Trees, rasps, straight in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 Just now, cookoff013 said: We use raised beds for delicates. Trees, rasps, straight in. Yes raised beds or containers are a good call. 30 litre tree buckets are great for potatoes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 25 minutes ago, Zapp said: What remedies have you tried? Half of one of my allotment beds was very heavy clay at first, and I mean grey streaks running through it. I put a good covering of manure on it and let it sit over winter and then dug it and rotavated sharp sand and a lot of compost into it and now it's nice friable free draining soil. Your reference to sand had me thinking about the many tons of sand that dairy farmers now use as bedding for their cows. This sand gets washed out into the slurry pits and eventually thencarted out on the fields. I know of a field on one of my areas that had a serious load of this sand spread on it and the maize has leapt away and is one of the best crops I have seen. I will be bagging some up for my small veg plot and also to top dress round my dahlias. Worth sorting some for heavy ground, sure to make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted August 7, 2020 Report Share Posted August 7, 2020 9 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Your reference to sand had me thinking about the many tons of sand that dairy farmers now use as bedding for their cows. This sand gets washed out into the slurry pits and eventually thencarted out on the fields. I know of a field on one of my areas that had a serious load of this sand spread on it and the maize has leapt away and is one of the best crops I have seen. I will be bagging some up for my small veg plot and also to top dress round my dahlias. Worth sorting some for heavy ground, sure to make a difference. Yes it has undoubtedly improved the structure of the soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MirokuMK70 Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 Organic material dug in to improve the soil structure is the way. Almost anything will help - you can even dig your lawn clippings in... straw, manure, spent mushroom compost, shredded newspaper and as others have said, sharp sand. My new house has soil you can make pots with and a year of digging in organic material has now started to reap rewards. The one advantage of clay is that it is rich in minerals and nutrients so you are looking to improve the structure, not necessarily the fertility.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph5172 Posted August 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 Thanks for the tips. I have dug in clay breaker 2 seasons running with little effect. to be honest it’s in theory a raised bed in the dead space between 2 walls so I could dig it all out and get a couple of tons of decent soil dropped in. - I fear that is a bit drastic for a small hobby type affair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 (edited) Don't waste your money on that clay breaker rubbis...ouch...you already have. Just keep adding lots of organic material and farm yard manure is by far the best. It is not an instant result and takes a couple of years or four or more but you will get there and the plot will steadily improve so will produce crops during that time. I put a layer about 2 inches deep around all my beds and on the veg garden during the winter, the dahlias get three inches for frost protection and my August / September the following year iit just vanishes but you can see the result. All those beds had the the treatment last December. Just a quickie photo from our upstairs window. Edited August 8, 2020 by Walker570 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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