Pardon the expression, but I've f***ed up my soil badly! I'm trying to reclaim about 1/2 an acre from the wilderness that is my yard. We had a pretty severe infestation of benghal dayflower. It's like a giant net just under the surface of the soil. Utilizing more brashness than brains, I rented a bobcat with a front end loader and ripped that stuff out of the ground whilst doing a bit of grading. It would've worked fine, but for the moisture in the soil. Like much of Georgia, we have rocky, clay soil. It's not totally devoid of organic matter and was mostly friable. Before I drove all over it with a heavy machine. Now it's completely dry and packed, really packed! I can't get a tiller (honda fc600) to touch it. I can just get a shovel into it, but I don't have the fortitude or time to hand cultivate 1/2 an acre. Any advice? Bigger tiller? Mule and plow? Tac nuke?
HELP HELP HELP
- Thread starter kinnip
- Start date
jmk3482
Chillin' In The Garden
Throw a tilling party!!!
Ask all your friends and neighbors over for a BBQ and ask them to bring a shovel or other tilling hand tool.
Feed them free BBQ for the price of them helping you till and turn over your garden. If you get 30 people out there, the tilling will be done in no time.
Or else, maybe worm farming?
Edited to add...
When I was putting in paver stones for a walkway a couple years ago during a dry summer spell, I poured buckets of water on the ground the day before I was going to dig and it made the soil softer to work with.
Try adding water?
Ask all your friends and neighbors over for a BBQ and ask them to bring a shovel or other tilling hand tool.
Feed them free BBQ for the price of them helping you till and turn over your garden. If you get 30 people out there, the tilling will be done in no time.
Or else, maybe worm farming?
Edited to add...
When I was putting in paver stones for a walkway a couple years ago during a dry summer spell, I poured buckets of water on the ground the day before I was going to dig and it made the soil softer to work with.
Try adding water?
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks. Your friends don't come around much anymore, do they? 
I tried a little water earlier and it seemed to help, but all the soil management books say not to work clay soil when it's wet. Since I've already blown that, I think I might try alternating wet and dry tilling. It's supposed to rain Sat., so I'll give it a go on Sun. I'm pretty sure I can't make it worse. :/
I tried a little water earlier and it seemed to help, but all the soil management books say not to work clay soil when it's wet. Since I've already blown that, I think I might try alternating wet and dry tilling. It's supposed to rain Sat., so I'll give it a go on Sun. I'm pretty sure I can't make it worse. :/whatnow?
Chillin' In The Garden
A half acre is a lot to do by hand. But, I heard the JMK3482 is really good at that! Moisture is going to be your friend. Once it dries out... you're screwed. I might try a sprinkler in a corner, then till. It should get more workable with moisture... if it turns to baby poo, you're way too wet, but it will heal.
Mine was the same until I loaded it up with organic material. Another option may be to get some compost and spread a thin layer over the ground to create a seed bed, unless it is just too uneven.
I've heard that benghel dayflower is good for that kind of soil. Just kidding.
Good Luck
Mine was the same until I loaded it up with organic material. Another option may be to get some compost and spread a thin layer over the ground to create a seed bed, unless it is just too uneven.
I've heard that benghel dayflower is good for that kind of soil. Just kidding.
Good Luckpatandchickens
Deeply Rooted
Well, the main two reasons not to work clay soil when its wet are a) you will get stuck in it <g> and more seriously b) you will destroy the soil structure. I think you have already accomplished (b) and at this point what you need is not to just till it per se (which will be relatively pointless, I think, if it has to be done damp/wet) but to till IN a buncha organic matter. I wouldn't even worry about whether it's composted or not, youjust need organics, badly.kinnip said:
So I think if it were me, I would get the soil rather damp (or wait til after a rain), let it sit a while so the moisture can distribute down thru the soil as best it can, then spread a good thick layer of whatever organic matter I could get my hands on and till it in. (Or it might be better to spread the organic matter *then* wet the soil, depends on the logistics of how you would do it). Compost, manure (fresh would be fine), wood shavings, straw, moldy old hay, bark chips, anything but bengal dayflower <vbg>
And I wouldn't till it many times, either. I think your best bet is to just go over the patch a pass or two til the organics are *coarsely* mixed in, and then park the tiller for the rest of the year and leave it strictly alone (though spreading more organic matter on top of it would be a good idea, if material becomes available).
You won't want to plant in it this year. I would just stay totally hands-off except for hand-weeding anything that pops up that you don't want.
By next year, it may have returned to something more closely resembling soil
In the meantime, you could bite the bullet and buy some topsoil or triple-mix, and make raised beds for a small garden this year.
Good luck,
Pat
aquarose
Garden Ornament
I read somewhere, that for really compacted soil, plant daikon radishes. They apparently will penetrate the soil, then you let them rot in the ground over the winter. Loosens the soil and adds organic matter. For really bad soil, repeat the process. I think I read this in the Lasagne Gardening book.
- Thread starter
- #7
Must get that book! I've actually been going at it with a pick axe and a shovel. It's slow going, but I was pleased to find that once I got past the upper four or five inches, the soil isn't so badly compacted and there are actually earthworms. Essentially what I've got now is three big planters carved out of the earth. They're about 4'x 16', so they'll hold a decent number of plants. I have some pretty good topsoil with which to fill them and, of course, a poopload of compost, so to speak. I have three goats arriving this weekend and fourteen chickens arriving at the end of May, so there'll be no shortage of organic matter composting this summer. I plan to slowly work my way around the garden area making beds the old fashioned way. I figure by Sept. I'll have plenty of room to plant winter squashes. By next year, things should be moving along smoothly. One nice thing about the South is that it doesn't take too long for nature to remedy my mistakes. Ironic isn't it?
I brought in a machine to make the work easier and instead made it a lot harder.
I brought in a machine to make the work easier and instead made it a lot harder.
pjkobulnicky
Chillin' In The Garden
I'd have to agree with the folks who say, wait until it gets a bit damp, or water it a bit bed by bed , and then put topsoil/compost thickly over it.
There is a lot of literature now that discusses soil structure and everything says not to worry about turning soil over, just put the top layer down and then work from the top only. The bottom will take care of itself eventually. The tool of choice for preparing the soil is the long handled, pointy hoe. Just loosen it about 4-6" down and incorporate any additives like manure or compost.
Look for some cover crops that put down good roots ... I like broad beans (fava). You can save money by buying them dried at ethnic groceries. Get the ones that are about the size between a nickel and a quarter. If they come from developing countries they probably are not treated to retard sprouting and are cheaper than from a seed store. I use them. You don't want a crop from them because they are not the best favas for eating as fresh favas, you just want them to winter over and then chop them into the top layer of the soil in the spring as green manure. The plants are brittle so they chop up nicely.
Paul
There is a lot of literature now that discusses soil structure and everything says not to worry about turning soil over, just put the top layer down and then work from the top only. The bottom will take care of itself eventually. The tool of choice for preparing the soil is the long handled, pointy hoe. Just loosen it about 4-6" down and incorporate any additives like manure or compost.
Look for some cover crops that put down good roots ... I like broad beans (fava). You can save money by buying them dried at ethnic groceries. Get the ones that are about the size between a nickel and a quarter. If they come from developing countries they probably are not treated to retard sprouting and are cheaper than from a seed store. I use them. You don't want a crop from them because they are not the best favas for eating as fresh favas, you just want them to winter over and then chop them into the top layer of the soil in the spring as green manure. The plants are brittle so they chop up nicely.
Paul
