Bark or Manure?

My soil is still poor and has a lot of chunks of clay everywhere once I start to dig or try to plant something. At the end of the season when my perennials are over and I'm cutting everything back I want to apply a cover of medium over all my soil. Last year I put a 2-3" layer of the manure you buy from the garden centre in bags over it all but I'm not entirely sure its done that much. My plants haven't been in that great condition this year with many of them having lots of brown leaves and not as much flowering as Id hoped for. Should I do the same again or try something different like bark? Or mix the 2 together maybe? I guess my objective is fourfold. Feed the soil. Keep the moisture in. Suppress weeds. break up the clay. All thoughts, ideas and advice gratefully received. Thank you.

 

I have clay soil here and over the years I have added farmyard manure, home made compost and a little fertiliser. I grows well but can be a bit lumpy. In a ideal world you could add topsoil to improve things. There will be others on GC who may well have helpful suggestions.
Bottom line for me is clay soil will grow well with a little encouragement.

 

@ARMANDII and @hans
That is great advice and very helpful thank you. I'll swerve the bark and stick with manure. On a budget so replacing with top soil not really an option unfortunately and also the level of the soil is already too high. The manure from last year seems to have broken down and disappeared so not affected the height too much so will do the same again. Thank you.

 

you could try gypsum @ 8oz./sq yd. about £20 delivered for 25kg bag here as an example:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/25kg-Agric...child=1&keywords=gypsum&qid=1595867310&sr=8-1

An old book (Lawrence D. Hills) suggests adding gypsum for 3 years. Can be added in autumn before the manure as does not react with it like lime.

Also, if you can get you hands on a lot of tree leaves for leaf mould - should be free.

 

Doesn't gypsum react with biodegradable materials to produce hydrogen sulphide, a toxic gas? (Which might be why our local tip charges more for disposing of it, than it costs to buy it).

 

You are quite right. The book I was quoting from, 'down to Earth Fruit & Veg. growing', dates from 1960 L D Hills founded the HDRA, the national charity for organic gardening but a lot has changed since then. After reading your comment, I did a search and found this:
https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/op...ng_documents/170529 Waste Gypsum Guidance.pdf
'The use of gypsum to improve soils' which ends by suggesting that it doesn't except if damaged by seawater.
Gypsum does produce H2S in anaerobic conditions which shouldn't apply in garden soil but I would withdraw my comment and be more careful when quoting from old books.
I looked in the book for insecticides and he recommends cigarette butts with soap so again not a good idea now.

 

I think that can spread tobacco mosaic virus. I've visited a seed producers/nursery where smoking was banned and smokers were required to wear gloves.

 

You have to be careful with recommendations in old books, one of mine advocates treating pea and bean seed with arsenic to "discourage" mice, also strychnine for moles and probably a bit safer a couple of ounces of shag tobacco on an old plate for fumigating greenhouses; you light the tobacco place a plant pot over the top so it smoulders nicely, close the door and come back the next day.
I did read that at the RHS's restoration of their new garden at Bridgewater they had had to strip the topsoil out of the walled garden, dispose of as hazardous waste and replace. This was due to heavy metals in the soil mainly copper.

 

If you use manure make sure it doesn't contain weedkiller.
I think anything organic works, or for breaking up clay sharp sand if you can get it.

On veg I find green manure works well over a few years, I use grazing rye over winter.

 

Probably some time in the future, similar comments may be given.