Not every summer resident can boast of rich harvests. After all, in addition to regular care, it is important to plant plants in fertile and breathable soil. And to achieve such a condition of the soil, you need to make a lot of effort. You will learn from this material how to make the soil at your dacha fertile and loose.
Checking the composition
Before choosing a way to make the soil loose and fertile, it is important to know the initial state of the soil. Of course, it is better to examine the soil in an agricultural laboratory, where they will conduct a full analysis. But, alas, such testing is not available to most summer residents.
Do not be upset, because the mechanical composition of the soil, which is responsible for the amount of moisture and air in the soil, can be found out independently. To do this, moisten the soil with water and try to roll it into a “sausage”. Decoding the results:
- If the “dough” does not knead and falls apart, then your soil is sandy loam, that is, too light.
- If you managed to make a “sausage”, but it breaks, it means you have light loam - best type soil.
- If you rolled the “sausage” into a ring, then you have heavy clay soil.
Owners of light loams only need to fertilize the plot to get good harvest. Owners of plots with heavy clay soil will have to correct its composition, because in such soil plants take root poorly and it is difficult for their roots to develop. But too light soil - sandy loam - has a bad effect on the harvest. In such soil, moisture and minerals are quickly washed out, so crops require more care.
Changing the mechanical composition of the soil
First, let's figure out how to make the soil loose if it is too clayey. In this case, river sand in the amount of 21 kg per square meter will help you. This is approximately 1.5 buckets with a volume of 10 liters. Distribute the sand evenly over the surface of the soil, then dig the area to a depth of 20–25 cm, or to the full length of a shovel. If you want to correct sandy loam, add clay to it. In addition, use black soil or humus for these purposes.
Even if you corrected the mechanical composition of the soil, it did not become more fertile, because the soil still needs to be fertilized. You will learn how to do this further.
Fertilize with manure
Introduction of animal waste into the soil – effective method how to make the soil on the site fertile and loose. After all, such “products” contain a full range of vitamins and nutrients necessary for plant growth. Moreover, pig, horse or cow manure can be used as fertilizer.
Remember that fresh manure is quite aggressive and dangerous for plants. Therefore, apply this product at least 6 months before planting. For example, in the fall after digging, but only on an empty plot. During this time, the aggressiveness of the manure will decrease, while all nutrients will dissolve in the soil. In addition, the product will serve as an excellent leavening agent.
If the manure is rotted, then it can be applied during spring planting. Fertilizer rate:
- Fresh horse - 5-6 kg, rotted - 2.5-3 kg per 1 sq. m landing.
- Fresh cow - 4-5 kg, rotted - 2-2.5 kg per 1 sq. m landing.
Do not apply fresh pig manure under any circumstances, even when planting in the fall. This product contains a large amount of nitrogen in ammonia form. Therefore, keep it for at least a year until it completely rots. In addition, try to mix such fertilizer with cow or horse manure.
Humus
Applying fertilizer prepared from rotted manure and peat is the best method for making the soil fertile and loose. Moreover, such a composition is suitable for continuous application and spot application. And if you add nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers to it, you will significantly increase its efficiency.
The main thing is to prepare the humus correctly. To do this, place fresh manure and peat in layers in a compost bin in a ratio of 1 to 1. The thickness of each layer should reach 25–30 cm. To reduce the acidity of fertilizers, add phosphate rock or lime flour to them. Moisten the pile as needed without letting it dry out. Maintain humus for 6 months to 1 year.
How to fertilize the soil with the composition? Add 20 kg of humus per 10 square meters. m plot. Incorporate the fertilizer into clay soil to a depth of 15–20 cm. If you have sandy soil, then dig in the mixture to a depth of 30 cm.
Mulch with grass clippings
This method of making the soil fertile and soft is quite effective. Plus it's safe. True, the effect of mulching the soil with grass occurs a little later than that of fertilizing with manure. But at the same time, the layer perfectly retains moisture in the soil, also makes the soil loose and soft and protects plants from pests and diseases.
How to mulch a surface? Place the cut grass on the area in a layer of 7–8 cm. At 20 square meters planting will require 1 standard bale of straw.
Owners of light loams and sandy loams can resort to such fertilizers at any time of the year. If you have heavy clay soil, then mulch the surface from the beginning of June. Otherwise, the soil will not warm up and dry out in early spring. Leave the grass clippings until next season, and after a few years the clay will gradually turn into loose, light loam.
Green manure - gardener's assistants
If you are looking for a way to make the land fertile without manure, then pay attention to useful plants, such as:
- lupine;
- peas;
- alfalfa;
- legumes;
- oats
The roots of these plants contain nodule bacteria that can draw and fix nitrogen from the air. Therefore, by sowing green manure, the soil is naturally filled with nutrients and beneficial substances. In addition, crops have a powerful root system, which loosens the soil, making it more breathable. And this is very useful for peaty or clayey soil.
Green manure
It is not necessary to buy expensive fertilizers to make the soil fertile and light. After all, cook effective fertilizer you can do it yourself. Moreover, any plant material that you find on the site is suitable for its creation. And this is mown grass, withered leaves and flowers, shoots left after pruning trees and even weeded weeds. The main thing is that the plant residues are not diseased, pest-damaged, or treated with herbicides.
How to prepare fertilizer:
- Fill the barrel 2/3 full with chopped plant parts.
- Fill the mixture with water to the top and cover with film. At the same time, make 2-3 holes in it for gas exchange.
- Infuse the fertilizer for 7–10 days, remembering to stir daily.
Strain the resulting solution and dilute it with water in a ratio of 1 to 10. After this, water the beds. This fertilizer is good because it is instantly absorbed by plants; moreover, it reduces soil acidity and protects crop roots from pests and diseases.
Influencing soil acidity
According to the reaction, the soil can be alkaline, acidic and neutral. Moreover, the latter option is most preferable for plants. And worst of all, cultures take root on acidic soil. How to fix this situation? Add substances containing calcium to the soil:
- dolomite flour;
- slaked lime.
The amount of such fertilizers depends on the level of acidity. To find out, buy a special device that shows the pH level. For strong acidity (less than 3.5), add 300 g of the substance per 1 square meter. m, medium (3.6-4.3) - 200 g, weak (4.4-4.9) - 100 g.
Now you know how to make land on personal plot soft, loose and fertile. Apply these simple rules, and a good harvest is guaranteed.
Happy owners of dacha acres know well that it is impossible to obtain rich land on a plot without effort. This requires a lot of work. But before you begin the transformation, it is important to determine its initial state. This determines which additives to use and in what quantities. How to make the soil loose and fertile will be discussed in our article.
How to make the soil loose and fertile
Ideally, the natural soil from the site can be taken to an agricultural laboratory, where a full analysis will be done. Its results will show exactly how to optimize the soil in your garden. Unfortunately, such testing is not available to most owners. No problem! Some characteristics can be determined independently, for example, mechanical composition. It is responsible for air and moisture content. You can recognize it yourself if you moisten a small amount of earth with water and form a ball out of it. As a result:
- the figurine crumbles, which means the soil is sandy;
- the ball can be rolled into a cord and formed into a ring - the soil is considered clayey.
In the first case, additives are needed to retain moisture. You can loosen heavy soil using coarse sand or bottom peat. Any type of soil will need nutritional supplements; the best ones are organic fertilizers.
Fertilization with manure
Animal waste products contain a full range of substances necessary for plants. That's why making organic fertilizers makes the soil fertile. Any type of manure – cow, pig or horse – is applied to garden and garden crops. Attention! It is important to follow these rules:
- Fresh fertilizers can only be applied in the fall to empty areas, where there are no plantings, for example, in a vegetable garden. Manure in this form is an aggressive substance that is dangerous to plants. Therefore, it must be added to the soil in advance, 5–6 months before planting. During this time, it will be converted to a safe state, and nutrients will become available to plants. The additive not only serves as a top dressing, but also acts as a leavening agent for the garden soil.
- Rotted fertilizers can be used in the spring, during planting.
- horse – 5–6 kg;
- cow - 4–5 kg.
The amount of rotted manure is reduced by half. Pig manure is not recommended to be applied fresh, even in the fall, due to the high content of aggressive nitrogen in ammonia form. The fertilizer must be kept for at least a year until it completely rots. It is better to mix it with horse or cow milk or put it in compost.
Mulching with grass clippings
Can be used with early spring until late autumn. This type of soil fertilization is classified as MDU - slow-acting fertilizers. The use of mulch allows you to:
- Make the soil loose and soft in the garden and garden.
- Retain moisture by reducing evaporation.
- Provide constant feeding thanks to the gradual decomposition of the mulch.
Grass clippings are an effective loosening agent for heavy clay soils.
Planting plants with long roots
Proponents of organic farming recommend improving soil quality with the help of green manure. Plants are sown whose roots contain nodule bacteria that capture and fix nitrogen from the air. Thus, a natural, environmentally friendly fertilizer is obtained. Thanks to the powerful root system, green manure makes the soil crumbly and aerates it. This is especially important for heavy or peaty soils. To improve the structure and fertility of the soil, leguminous plants are most often used, for example, lupine, peas, alfalfa, vetch or beans. Even if your site has fertile soil, it needs to be improved periodically. To make the chernozem loose, it is also sown with green manure. This is more environmentally friendly than adding bulk additives and digging.
Green manure
Improving the soil is not a one-time event. You need to maintain optimal condition regularly. To do this, it is not necessary to purchase expensive fertilizers. You can use plant material that is available at each site:
- mowed lawn grass;
- weeded weeds;
- clipped shoots;
- wilted flowers, etc.
It's essentially garden waste, but can be turned into an effective fertilizer. Experienced gardeners offer useful tips for the preparation of green fertilizers. Here is one of them:
- capacity large volume, for example, a barrel is filled two-thirds with crushed plant residues;
- fill with water to the top;
- leave for a week and a half, stirring daily.
Before feeding, the resulting concentrated solution is filtered and diluted in a ratio of 1:10.
other methods
To improve the structure of heavy soil, the easiest way is to use coarse-grained washed river sand. To make light soil from medium loam, you will need 21 kg/m2. This is about one and a half buckets with a volume of 10 liters. The sand is evenly distributed over the surface and dug to a depth of 20–25 cm, to the full bayonet of a shovel. When preparing a plant mixture for seedlings, sand is almost always used. It is mixed with peat and compost to obtain a light nutrient substrate. Fertilizers that contain calcium are good leavening agents:
- slaked lime;
- dolomite flour;
- ash.
They are added to acidic soils to neutralize the pH level. Sometimes soil optimization on a site is a lengthy and costly process. It’s easier to take fertile soil from manufacturers who mix all the necessary components in advance.
Improve the soil on the site yourself or add ready mixture, everyone decides for themselves. It depends on your financial capabilities and the amount of work.
From the condition of the soil and its physical properties The harvest of vegetables largely depends.
The soil on our site is heavy loam. In spring it seems loose and porous, there are earthworms there. But in the summer, after rains or watering, it cakes heavily, becomes like a stone and cannot be corrected by any loosening. How to make such soil airy, loose and fertile?
Beneficial microflora develops in loose soil, and more powerful plant roots grow. At the same time, in compacted, oxygen-deprived soil, beneficial microorganisms die, acidification occurs, and favorable conditions for the development of pathogenic fungi, which can lead to various diseases plants.
Also, in soil with high density, roots have difficulty penetrating deep; they suffocate from lack of oxygen. With frequent digging of the soil, porosity is disrupted, compaction occurs, and the humus content decreases.
Frequent and deep loosening of the soil will not make it loose and airy. You should try to preserve humus and improve soil fertility by replenishing the soil with organic matter every year in the fall. To do this, add compost, humus, manure or organo-mineral fertilizers.
The minimum norm to maintain fertility is 1 kg per 1 sq. m, and to restore fertility you will need 3–5 times more organic fertilizers.
Distribute all fertilizers evenly over the loosened soil, then mix with a cultivator.
Good helpers in increasing soil fertility are green manure crops. The roots of green manure are able to penetrate to great depths; as a result of their decomposition, deep layers of soil are loosened and their structure is improved.
They can be sown both in early spring before planting the main crops, and in the fall, after harvesting. When covering the green mass of green manure, add microbiological preparations to the soil that accelerate the decomposition process and suppress pathogens.
Green manure crops include white mustard, lupine, oilseed radish, broad beans, peas, clover, winter rye, oats, and phacelia. Recently, special green manure mixtures have appeared and are available in gardening stores.
Mulching the surface after sowing or planting vegetable crops helps maintain the looseness and structure of the soil. You can mulch with humus, hay, straw, compost, sawdust, shavings, and also non-woven material or plastic film.
This measure saves the soil surface from compaction, overheating, weathering and leaching of nutrients. Loosening the soil without turning over the soil using a cultivator or flat cutter also, to some extent, preserves humus and soil structure.
A useful measure is to cover the soil on the paths between the beds with any available opaque material (roofing felt, etc.). This prevents weeds from germinating, retains moisture, and an additional volume of soil becomes available for the roots. It is also convenient to use plastic, wood or metal fencing for raised beds. In addition to the neat appearance of the garden, this has considerable benefits - soil compaction is prevented, the cultivated area is reduced, which makes it easier to care for the plants.
This perennial can be grown as an annual crop, it improves the structure of the soil, enriches it with nutrients, prevents erosion, and is also a good food for animals and an excellent honey plant.
Arguing passionately about ways to increase the productivity of certain garden crops, many summer residents lose sight of the fact that all these questions have one root. And until you deal with it, nothing worthwhile will grow in the garden beds.
Don't push for pity
There is a saying: “A stupid person grows weeds, a smart person grows vegetables, and a wise person grows soil.” These words contain the whole meaning of working in the garden! What do you, dear readers, think? Do you agree with this saying?
And what type of people do you consider yourself to be: stubborn conservatives or curious innovators?
Although, I understand, no one wants to be stupid, probably everyone considers themselves wise. Is this so? How often do I read letters that are filled with complaints about the soil: some complain that their soil is sand, others cry because of clay, and still others generally make “discoveries” such as the fact that, for example, they have loamy black soil. What exactly is this, does anyone know? And all such messages end the same way - nothing grows in the garden, and if it does, it’s very bad.
But, fortunately, there are other messages where people tell how they turned poor land into fertile one. And there are more and more such lucky ones, which is very pleasing. Thanks to them! They are real hard workers. And since we’re talking about soil, how can we not remember about our second bread.
Potatoes are the best indicator of what is going on in the garden. He needs good, loose soil; without it you won’t get normal harvests.
And the one who managed to fulfill this main condition and make friends with potatoes will no longer be able to confuse the rest of the garden crops - which of them will be weird on the fertile land? For example, varietal large-fruited garlic generally grows in me like on a conveyor belt (photo 1). Loose soil is also good for carrots and other root vegetables.
Again, experience with potatoes teaches you to be careful and thoughtful about watering. With them, our second bread yields twice as much. Anyone who underestimates this loses a lot. And any fertilizers and all kinds of growth stimulants are only the third condition for a good harvest.
I don’t think anyone needs to explain why tubers need loose soil. But maybe someone doesn't know? Then, in short: if the soil is light, then the growing tuber effortlessly pushes it apart, and nothing interferes with its uniform growth. So it turns out smooth, depending on the variety, round or oblong, as the breeder “ordered” it. And heavy soil is more difficult to move apart, so the potatoes there are smaller in size and more bizarre in shape.
Voids and dimensions
I have experienced all this wisdom myself. When I bought it in the village small house with a plot of 20 acres, I immediately realized that the former owners did not garden, because there was no soil there, but solid clay. In 2011, I planted 12 varieties of potatoes. Only one survived and gave an excellent harvest - Vineta (originally from Germany). Apparently, there is some kind of indestructible inner strength in him. I still haven’t parted with it: it produces crops in any weather and on any soil, and is resistant to late blight.
That year his tubers were also huge, but not round, as they should be, but lumpy, like cobblestones. This is the result of uncultivated soil. I don’t have photographs from that time, but today Vineta’s tubers are the same as in photo 2. I write so much about him because I am very grateful to him. If it hadn’t yielded a harvest then, I might have given up growing potatoes altogether. Therefore, I advise: if you are new to cultivating this crop, start with Vineta. Well, now I’ll tell you in detail how I improved my soil. By the way, a question: do you know the criteria for assessing its quality? After all, the words “good” or “loose” by themselves mean little.
So, loose soil is when you can stick your hand into it up to the wrist without effort(i.e. approximately to a depth of 15-20 cm). So that. So think about what kind of land you have.
To begin with, I marked out the ridges a meter wide, and my husband fenced them off with boards. It’s already easier: all work to improve fertility now needs to be carried out only in stationary boxes. I made passages between them of 50 cm each. Looking ahead, I will say that later, for the sake of convenience, I changed these dimensions: I made the ridges a little less than 1.5 m wide, and the passages – 70 cm each.
I plant potatoes in boxes in two rows. Believe me, the sparser the holes are placed, the more opportunities the plants will have for normal growth. And only then will they please you, first with strong, powerful stems, and then with large, numerous tubers (if, of course, your variety has not yet degenerated).
Although I don’t strive for records, the past season was generous with achievements. For example, one tuber of the Unica variety grew weighing a little more than a kilogram (photo 3). Someone reading this will say: “That’s all!” I won’t argue, the weight is not prohibitive, but it’s not 150-200 g. After all, there are gardeners who don’t like very large potatoes (though I haven’t personally met such people, but only saw their letters) for fear that there are “giants” inside there may be voids. Well, then they can save time and not read about what I write here - this information is not for them. Although the large tuber potato varieties that I currently grow do not have any voids. And large potatoes just make my soul happy. Imagine, one bush of the same Unica produces 4-5 kilos of tubers, Sonny - about the same, but Galaxy is a little more generous: last year it gave out six kilos (photo 4)!
Yes, it’s a little difficult for me to harvest such a harvest: you dig and dig and wonder when it will end. And the number of varieties, like a snowball, grows and grows, although every year I reject 10. As a result, I don’t even know exactly how many of them I have in use now (last fall I was sent 21 varieties).
Soil improvement experiments
Got distracted again. Let's return to the ground. The first two years I did this: I brought peat, manure, sawdust by car and distributed it all over the ridges, mixing it with clay. The result was ambiguous: the soil did become loose, but by the next season there were no noticeable traces of sawdust and peat. Some monkey work! Although by that time the ground could no longer be called clay, but loam, I realized that this path was a dead end. And the work was terribly hard.
My next experiment was like this. I dug holes the size of a 10-liter bucket in the beds, transferred the excavated soil to another place (for example, to beds made for watermelons and pumpkins), placed fertilizers on the bottom, mixing them with the soil, and on top - a tuber with long etiolated (sprouted in darkness) with sprouts (photo 5), and filled the remaining space with well-decomposed black peat. If desired, it can be replaced with loose compost or soil mixed with sawdust, or finely chopped hay.
This work was also not easy: during the season it was possible to prepare only 13-14 beds in this way. Potatoes grew wonderfully in such pits, the yield was high. But! When I dug up the crop, the peat was still mixed with loam, because if there was loose soil The tubers not only grow to the sides, but also burrow into the depths. And I was forced to improve the technique.
It's very simple, remember. So, first we fence off the place where the bed should be with boards, take out the turf and hammer many small wooden logs into the bottom of the bed. Next, fill the box with loose substrate.
That's all! In the spring, all that remains is to add a little sawdust treated with urea and a little fertilizer for potatoes before planting.
I will add that I do not hill up the plantings, but only mulch them with a 3 cm thick layer of mowed grass (but only after the sprouts have sprouted). Over the summer I add this mulch a couple of times more, and when I dig up the crop, the soil underneath remains loose. Actually, I don’t even dig, I just pull out the tubers with my hands. I take a shovel when the potatoes are deep.
Clay soil is difficult to cultivate; such soil is not fertile and allows the cultivation of limited varieties of garden crops. It is possible to correct the situation, but it will take time and a lot of effort. There are proven methods based on removing excess moisture by changing the topography, applying fertilizers, and growing green manure.
Clay soil
Clay consists of many tiny particles that become highly compacted when exposed to moisture. The monolithic mass allows oxygen and water to pass through itself in small quantities, which is detrimental to most plants. Biological processes are inhibited in clay. Garden crops begin to wither, productivity decreases and many plants die.
Clay soil is considered to be soil that contains up to 80% clay and 20% sand. At home, it is impossible to accurately determine the percentage. An approximate analysis can be done with a simple experiment:
- In the garden, dig a hole half the depth of a spade bayonet. Take a handful of soil with your hand and knead it into dough. If the soil is dry, you need to add a little water.
- Roll out the finished mass into a sausage, then roll up a ring with a diameter of 5 cm.
If the sausage cracks when rolled into a ring, it means the soil is loamy. The absence of cracks indicates increased clay content. In order to grow garden crops on such soil, it needs to be prepared.
Clay soil has negative qualities:
- heaviness;
- conducts heat poorly;
- does not allow oxygen to pass through;
- water stagnates on the surface, which swamps the bed;
- moisture does not reach the roots of the plant well;
- Under the sun, wet clay turns into a crust, the strength of which can be compared to concrete.
All of these negative qualities interfere with the normal biological process necessary for every plant.
It is important to know! The surface of clayey soil up to 15 cm thick may contain a small amount of humus. This is more of a minus than a plus. The problem lies in increased acidity, which has a bad effect on plants.
It is possible to turn clay into fertile soil, but the work is labor-intensive and will take at least three years.
Site preparation
Water and clay form an explosive mixture, which, when hardened, differs little from concrete. Stagnation of moisture in rainy summers threatens the area with waterlogging. Nothing will grow in such a garden. Improvement begins with the arrangement of drainage. The system is designed to remove excess moisture. To figure out whether drainage is needed, conduct a small experiment:
- A hole of about 60 cm is dug in the area. The width of the hole is taken arbitrarily.
- The hole is filled to the top with water and left for a day.
If after the specified time the water is not completely absorbed, the area needs drainage.
Surface drainage
The system involves digging small trenches along the entire perimeter of the site. Moreover, they are dug at a slope so that the water is drained by gravity to a designated place, for example, a ravine.
Dig trenches along paths, along the perimeter of beds, lawns, and recreation areas. Drainage trays covered with gratings are laid around buildings. All surface drainage is connected into one system, which can drain water into wells.
Deep drainage
Heavily flooded areas with high location groundwater requires the arrangement of deep drainage. The principle of the system is the same, only instead of the usual small grooves, perforated pipes - drains - are buried deep in the ground. Mains are usually laid to a depth of 1.2 m. The pipes are connected to storm drainage trays, surface drainage trenches and drainage wells. The distance between drains depends on the depth of their installation and the composition of the soil, but not more than 11 m.
To improve drainage in a heavily flooded area, it is optimal to arrange a combined drainage system, consisting of a surface and deep system.
In addition to arranging drainage, they are improving the relief in the clay area. They try to raise beds, flower beds, and vegetable gardens by adding soil. Water will drain faster from higher ground.
Fertilizer application
Clay soil is infertile. Mineral fertilizers won't help here. Only organic matter will help. Sand will help loosen the soil, and liming can reduce acidity.
Peat with manure
Improving clay soil begins with the addition of manure or peat. Organic matter is added at the rate of 2 buckets per 1 m2 of garden. The earth is dug up to a depth of 12 cm. Over time, earthworms and beneficial microorganisms will breed in this layer. The soil will become loose and moisture and oxygen will begin to penetrate inside.
Attention! Only rotted manure is used, otherwise the roots of the plants will burn. Peat should not have a rusty tint. This indicates large iron impurities that have a bad effect on vegetation. Before adding to the soil, the peat is well ventilated.
Sawdust
Sawdust is considered a good organic matter and perfectly loosens the soil. However, during decay, they pull nitrogen from the soil, reducing its fertility. The problem can be corrected by wetting the sawdust before adding it to the soil with a urea solution. The fertilizer is diluted with water to a concentration of 1.5%.
Advice! Wood chips soaked in pet urine that have been used as bedding work best.
Sawdust is added at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 m2 of garden. The earth is dug up to a depth of 12–15 cm.
Sand with humus
Sand will help loosen clay soil. However, it is not fertile in itself. Sand is added with humus. This needs to be done every fall. The amount of sand depends on what crops will grow in the garden bed. Let’s say that to grow vegetables and flowers, 1 m2 of land is covered with 1 bucket of sand. When growing cabbage, apple trees, and beets, the amount of sand per 1 m2 is reduced to 0.5 buckets. In at least 5 years, the thickness of the fertile layer will reach 18 cm.
Important! Sand with humus must be added annually. The beneficial substances from the humus of the plant will be taken away and must be replenished. The sand will settle within a year. If you do not add a new portion, the soil will again become clayey and heavy.
Soil liming
Liming the soil helps reduce acidity and increase fertility. This is done in the fall once every five years. Slaked lime is added to the soil to reduce acidity, and chalk helps to increase fertility, as it contains a lot of calcium. The addition of wood ash, dolomite flour and ground limestone shows good results. The amount of substances applied depends on the composition of the soil. This cannot be done at random. A preliminary analysis is required.
Growing green manure
Annual plants called green manures are well suited to fertilize the soil. They are sown before planting vegetables or after harvesting. Young greens are mowed, but not removed from the garden, but dug up with soil. The most common green manures are:
- Rye. Sow in August after harvesting. Greens can be dug up late in the fall or in the spring before planting.
- Clover. The site cannot be used for planting garden crops for three years. Clover is mowed annually and the green mass is left to lie in the garden. In the third year, the plot is dug up to a depth of 12 cm. The clover roots will also rot and become additional fertilizer.
- Phacelia. Sow in spring after snow melts. At least a month after germination, but three weeks before planting, the green mass is mowed. The garden is dug up to a depth of 15 cm.
- Mustard. White mustard considered green manure No. 1. It is sown in early spring and mowed when the seedling height reaches 10 cm. It can be sown in August after harvesting vegetables, and mowed in the fall before frost. The soil with green manure is dug up to a depth of 12 cm.
Empty areas of the garden can be planted with ground cover plants. In hot weather, they will prevent overheating of the soil, retain moisture and become an organic fertilizer in the future.
Gardeners adopt the experience of the older generation and often use traditional methods improvement of clay soil. Here are a few of them:
- Large clods help improve the structure of the soil. In the fall, the site is not interrupted with a walk-behind tractor, but dug up manually with a shovel. Large clods of earth retain snow in winter and warm up better in spring. Fertility will not increase, but the soil will become more pliable in processing.
- The clayey area cannot be dug deeper than 25 cm. This will not make the soil looser. As the depth increases, the properties of the clay become even more pronounced.
- Using mulch on the beds gives good results. Straw, sawdust, leaves or pine needles are spread on the ground around garden plantings. Mulch prevents rapid evaporation of moisture and the formation of crust on clay soil. The thickness of the mulch depends on the material used and is a maximum of 5 cm. In the fall, it is dug up with soil in the garden bed to obtain organic fertilizer.
Advice! It is easier to dig up clay soil in dry weather. It is difficult to work with wet clay, plus you will end up with lumps that are difficult to break after drying in the sun.
Recently, gardeners have begun to adhere to an innovation that involves partial improvement of the soil. Plot with clay soil They do not dig up and fertilize all of them, but only the beds where garden crops are supposed to be planted.
If all else fails
If improvement work clay soil were unsuccessful, there is no need to abandon the site. Even on such land you can grow useful crops:
- from flowers you can plant peonies, aconite, Volzhanka;
- among garden crops, many varieties of strawberries, cabbage, salads, and peas take root well;
- Among the fruit crops that grow on clay are currants, plums, cherries, and grapes.
It all depends on the varieties of each crop. Those plants and trees that can withstand a lack of oxygen and high humidity will grow on clay.