Clay soil and Lime

[slasherscot]

this may help dean.......Agricultural Lime Association - Soil Structure

[Dean Lofthouse]

this may help dean.......Agricultural Lime Association - Soil Structure

 

Cheers Slasher

[Shansen]

Clay soil can sometimes be alkaline also. In that case you need to put gypsum on.

[alpamayo]

wrote this up in a different forum, but it is loosely related to the original question. I think soils are the next frontier for arborists

 

"Soils with high sand content are generally less susceptible to compaction because of the abundance of macropores. However, you find greater soil fertility (or the ability of the soil to hold nutrients available for plant uptake) in soils with at least some clay percentage and organic matter content (in this case you have 1 to 2 percent OM which is actually pretty good). Good soil aggregation (often a result of undisturbed, non-compacted, non-tilled etc.) is important because these micropores are intact and the increased surface area provides greater surface for the process of cation exchange (nutrient uptake) and hold water in the soil better than the larger macropore spaces between sands and silts where it is more easily leached out. When you crush the soil you effectively reduce the amount of micropore space which translates to destroying soil aggregation. Soil aggregates can be thought of as large ‘clumps’ of clay and silt and sand that hold thousands of small macro and micropores in these ‘clumps’.

 

Although this soil type at Fiddler’s place is high in sand content, and less prone to compaction as a result, the percentage of clay still merits using a soil amendment to help form and maintain soil aggregation. Gypsum or calcium sulfate, is a great amendment as it helps flocculate the soil. Cations and anions (positive and negatively charged ions) are added to the soil and the charged surfaces of the clay are held together like a bridge by these ions in the soil. These bridges are typically weak van der waal forces but still hold the particles together to form micropores to increase nutrient availability, water retention, and general soil health.

Mulching is also a good ideas as it adds to soil organic matter and helps create a suitable environment for soil biota that help breakup and ‘till’ the soil without crushing or destroying aggregation.

 

Hope that helps!

 

In response to the topsoil comment, I would add mulch to increase the organic matter content and hence decrease bulk density and increase pore space, etc etc etc. Add gypsum to the picture and you've just saved a lot of wasted effort by trying to put holes in the soil yourself and probably destroying aggregation (this has to do with why scientists are suggesting farmers till less to improve soil quality) in the process."

 

jp

[bareroots]

i love this site, knowledge, in every corner.

[Lee Winger]

You need a few bags of pelleted lime and it should be added in the Autumn or Winter,it will probably need adding every couple of years. If its really wet I can't see lime solving the wet problem, you'll need land drains for that ...

Edited April 15, 2010 by Lee Winger

[Dean Lofthouse]

Problem with drain lee is :

 

I can dig a trench then dig a hole one foot away from the trench, I can then fill the hole with water and it will stay there and not migrate through the soil to the trench because the clay is that heavy

[Lee Winger]

Problem with drain lee is :

 

I can dig a trench then dig a hole one foot away from the trench, I can then fill the hole with water and it will stay there and not migrate through the soil to the trench because the clay is that heavy

 

I reckon your going to need lots of lime then mate as well as drains in the future,what's the grassed area used for Dean, lawn/green?

[Dean Lofthouse]

I reckon your going to need lots of lime then mate as well as drains in the future,what's the grassed area used for Dean, lawn/green?

 

I'm just going to keep mowing the brassed area to a lawn type standard, then maybe let it out for camping and such.

 

I'm going to dig a test hole but I recon the soils only about a foot thick, I dug a couple of telegraph poles in for fence strainers and under the soil was like shaley rock, dry as a bone and soft enough to dig through

[Cracker]

I'm just going to keep mowing the brassed area to a lawn type standard, then maybe let it out for camping and such.

 

I'm going to dig a test hole but I recon the soils only about a foot thick, I dug a couple of telegraph poles in for fence strainers and under the soil was like shaley rock, dry as a bone and soft enough to dig through

Sound like you're in one of my fields. Mole plough it into something that will take the water away, like to a ditch or river bank. If you're not gonna drive a tractor over it or keep cattle on it the mole drains will last much longer.