I rototilled all 3 of our gardens today and my 16 by 24 garden seemed rather hard I already planned on adding/did 1/2 cubic yards of well composted horse manure ( pretty much black dirt at this point), last year we had to move this garden and everything seemed to do fine but I can't help but wonder if things would go better this year if I added 2 bales of peat moss or something similar. Any suggestions?
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soil Loosening hard soil
- Thread starter halo_players_junkyard
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+1 on Gypsum or you can use regular old sand to change your soil texture a bit.
+1
We put this in our garden and it does a great job at loosening up the soil. A bit of sand also helps
Ya, most articles will tell you not to use peat moss to loosen clay soil.
Another trick that works, but takes time, is pine bark, fir bark, or licorice root mulch. You can strain the smaller bits and work it into the soil, whereas you leave the larger stuff on top as an actual mulch. Mulch supposedly breaks down faster on top of the soil than it does when worked into the dirt, so those large bits will break down into small bits faster. By 2012 you can plow most or all of it under. Look for mulch that has been visibly composted. Stay far away from cedar and "mystery" mulch bags.
I just learned about licorice root this year. It supposedly has "12 out of 13 essential plant nutrients" so i'm going to use it on a fresh sub-plot i just started. Going to use some as a blend in containers as well. Hit or miss if you local Home Depot carries it.
Another trick that works, but takes time, is pine bark, fir bark, or licorice root mulch. You can strain the smaller bits and work it into the soil, whereas you leave the larger stuff on top as an actual mulch. Mulch supposedly breaks down faster on top of the soil than it does when worked into the dirt, so those large bits will break down into small bits faster. By 2012 you can plow most or all of it under. Look for mulch that has been visibly composted. Stay far away from cedar and "mystery" mulch bags.
I just learned about licorice root this year. It supposedly has "12 out of 13 essential plant nutrients" so i'm going to use it on a fresh sub-plot i just started. Going to use some as a blend in containers as well. Hit or miss if you local Home Depot carries it.
+2 and or using sand as well.
The plant roots needs oxygen which they obtain from the air spaces in the soil.
So ya, it's very important to keep the soil loose.
WHere do you get your gypsum from?