Clay soil and general advice

Welcome Dannii.

There's a possibility that the previous owner dug the pebbles in to help break up the clay and ease drainage. The other side of the garden being full of moss suggests the same hasn't been done there. If you intend to replace that as well then I would spread the sand over both areas and dig it in to help both parts drain before laying new lawns.

You can't really mess up something that's already in a poor state. Give it a go and see how you get on.

 

Perhaps my friend Sheal has something there. Quite often, when advice is sought regarding working clay soils. The use,application of gypsome and other stoney stuff is advised. In all honesty I find this of little value.

My reason is. Adding any kind of aggregate will of course provide a kind of drainage. The idea is to somehow break down the clay. Unseen by us. Clay when it becomes wet, will expand and crush all that is within it. Change of season and we are back again to the start.

Simple as it may appear. Plant some potatos. These as we all know, grow and produce expanding tubers. At the same time aoranic matter is produced and released into the soil. As the tubers grow the is a pushing and shoving down there. Soil/clay particles etc are naturaal moved around. It may take a while but, you can eat the spuds and at leat some molecular changes have been added.

 

I didn't think of that ! That's a really good idea . I was definally gonna try and get up that side of the brake myself I got a grass edger the other day so I can do it little piece by piece . And I have 4 days off so I should be able to get a fair bit done ! Let's just hope the sun shines

 

Let us know how you get on. Oh, and the weather's supposed to be good this weekend.

 

Regarding the digging...

Using a spade is prone to just slicing out chunks of clay and not really breaking it up. If you're working the soil over, I thoroughly recommend using a fork instead. You'll still need a spade for moving soil around but not for turning the soil over. Don't get a stainless fork, because the metal is weaker and the tines bend too easily. You'll also need a rake (solid tine not spring-tine) to prepare the surface when you've dug it over. And leather-palmed gloves will mostly stop you getting blisters while you're digging.

Pick out the weeds as you go through. Anything alive, it goes in the bin. That especially includes random little pale roots where you don't know what they came from. Chances are they're weeds, so get rid of them now. Dandelions especially are much easier to nab when the soil has just been turned.

Re the sand, don't try mixing it into the clay. You won't change the clay, and you'll lose the benefit of the sand which is helping the new grass get roots down quickly and helping rain get down to those roots instead of just running straight off. If you can put it to one side while you dig the clay over, that's the best plan.

And in spite of you being in good physical shape, I do need to warn you that digging is very hard on the back. When you lift anything heavy, use your knees instead of straightening from the waist. Even with good technique though you'll know about it the next day! Don't forget to stretch after.

 

Thanks you for the advice. I've just started my days oof and I'm still getting rid of the surface pebbles at the moment. When you said put the sand to one side while I turn over the clay, what would you say do with the sand after, because you said not to mix it into the clay, so would you just say lay it on top after?

Yeah I have a fork, so I will use the fork instead of the spade. I also have this sort of metal pole that has 5 metal prongs on the end that you put into the ground and then turn it in a clockwise motion and it turns the soil. When I have tested turning the soil that has been the easiest tool to do it with but I'm not sure of the name of this tool.
When I have got a bit of progression on the garden I will post more photos and maybe your guys can tell me if I'm heading in the right direction.

Thanks you for your help so far. Everything is really appreciated cos I really got no guidance apart from videos and you guys.
Thank you

 

On heavy soil, if you were digging in Autumn you could rough dig (possibly with spade rather than fork ... provided you weren't also needing to break-up-and-remove-weed-root :( ) and then the frost would break down the clods over the winter, doing the work for you ... climate change permitting ...

 

I tend to find picking up and dropping clods works, because the fork has already broken it up a bit. If not, I'll use hands. If you like your hand rotavator thing, that works too. Main thing is just breaking it up a bit. Clay is prone to forming hard pan, and that's really unhealthy for your garden. As Kristen says, frost breaks down clods if you dig it in autumn, but we're past frosts now.

If you're turning it into beds, then mixing some compost and/or peat in at this point is good. That encourages worms, which will break things up more. You don't want this in a lawn though, because organic matter decomposes and creates holes which make the surface of the lawn sink, plus worms are a vector for lawn diseases.

Yes, for the sand you can literally just rake it over the top and then put your seed or turf on that.

 

"never cast a clout until May is out" and all that

 

Hawthorn is on its way already...

 

The May is officially out. Tops off, everyone!