My soil is hard & dry, i cant get my shovel in.What can i do to break this up and make it healthy again?

Question

I have only shrubs growing and lavender which seems to love this type of soil, but I wanted to landscape, I water and it is still hard I cant get my pit fork in without bending the prongs. What products should I use to soften the soil and make it more suitable for most plants? It’s a rock hard mess at the moment, and I wanted to get it prepared for next planting season.

thanks for the great advice, one thing i should mention is i live in Australia, winters are very dry hear it doesnt snow and a cold day is 13dg, rain has been limited this year so we are in a bad drought. Hope this helps. Keep it coming its a huge help.

Answer 1

Without knowing the specific type of soil you have, it's difficult to diagnose and give you a clear answer. I'll assume you have a heavy clay soil and here's a safe solution we've used in the agricultural and turf industry whenever they've had compacted soils;

Try using a combination of humic acid and compost over your soil.
Heavily compacted clay soils is when clay particles are laying flat tightly together and there's some salt which adds to this compaction...which is what you're seeing. By applying humic acid, it will cause the clay particles to separate from one another and allow the water to penetrate more readily. Assuming your irrigation water is good and salt-free... the salts attached to the soil will be washed out at this time and your soil will be able to accept water and oxygen.

The application of humic acid and water will cause the soil to become softer and more manageable. In order to avoid this from happening in the future, you should incorporate compost into your soil by using a roto-tiller or spading it in. The addition of compost and the beneficial microorganisms in it will help keep the soil soft. You'll need to maintain this by continuing to add compost or mulch every 3 or 4 months.

The roots of all your plants will move more freely throughout the soil and you should see a positive response in growth from your plants.

Hope this will help solve your problem. GOOD LUCK!

(Certified professional crop consultant with a degree in plant science)

Answer 2

Well when faced with hard dry soil that has been compacted over the years there really is only one solution it is called darn hard work.... either use a rotary hoe (the easy option) which can be hired at Kennards Hire Service in Aus.... or buy yourself a good mattock (The cheaper option) and dig dig dig with the mattock.... once you have dug the soil and turned it over then you can add things like compost, gypsum, sand etc to keep the soil friable...

The best thing about Aussie soils is that once it is turned over and some compost and water added it will heal itself really well.... I recently dug some very hard compacted soil over and turned some cow manure through it and now it is beuatiful soil and I was pleased to see that just one week later it is full of worms....

Best of Luck....

Answer 3

If you are determined to have a lush green lawn in this place then I have no advice for you. However, we're dealing with the same kinds of situations in several places, and what I've done is to grow crimson clover. On any kind of slope I've scratched several 1/2-inch deep furrows that are perpendicular to the direction the water will take, and I have put clover seed in those furrows and covered them with regular soil. After tamping by stepping on it lightly, I have water the line of seed and then left it alone unless there was no rain for several days. This is a great way to get something growing on the spot, and clover not only is pretty and loved by insects and bees, but the roots are nitrogen-fixers and they improve the soil. If at some point you decide you don't want the clover you can always kill it with Roundup and plant something else, leaving the nitrogen-fixing nodules in the soil to nurture the next "crop."

Answer 4

Your soil is severely impacted, and can be considered bedrock. You have two options:

1. Put new soil on top of it and create a raised bed, preferably to about 20cm or more after watering it in to provide plenty of depth for new plantings. Keep composting regularly to maintain the bed, and invite some earthworms, because that sort of soil is actually biologically dead, and needs to import the soil chemistry. Depending on location and whether it affects your shrubs and the lavender, that can work out quite well.

2. The whole deal with impacted soil is to un-impact it. Generally that equates to physically breaking it up. Some soils, particularly clay, can be broken up using lime, I think, but you'd be better advised to ask a nursery, depending on soil type. Be careful of any hard labor on this because it can be an own goal. You can wear yourself out trying to make a garden of a desert. Impacted soil is by definition impoverished, and you'll still need to supply your plants with nutrition and decent loam.

You're right, Lavender and other almost indestructible plants do well in really awful soil. Actually, you could, if inclined, do a feature area of lavenders and other tough plants like aloes. They require very little maintenance, and can be relied upon to flower.

Answer 5

I would do either of two things....rent a rotiller to break up the soil, then add as much topsoil and composted material as you can get in there...and keep adding and working in new material every season. But wait till the weather is mild for your area...

The other choice if you want to plant in smaller areas is to create raised beds by whatever means appeals to you and your style..stones, timbers, slate..whatever is your favorite. You then have the opportunity to add a balance of new soil, composted materials and anything else that you need for your particular growing choices. I would also Google some gardening sites for advice with photos and question boards . I use Doug Green's Garden for basic easy to understand gardening. Best wishes.

Answer 6

Lots of good advice in there...the one thing I can contribute is once you've broken the surface of the soil, by whatever means, add as much organic compost as you can and keep doing that every year.
I have such sandy soil in it's original state it's practially white. I have a thriving garden because every year I bring in between two and 10 truckloads of compost. I mulch the surface with leaf compost in teh summer, and in the fall, winter I bring in composted chicken manure to break down for spring planting.
Best of luck!

Answer 7

I would do as the others said, but would refrain from using the peat moss. Peat moss takes years upon years (we are talking ceturies) to completely establish itself. To harvest the peat moss, the bogs where it grows have to be completely destroyed.

If you live in an area where trees drop their leaves, till those into the soil instead, or compost, or add some store bought dirt.

Do you experience cold winters where it freezes, if so, the hardness of the ground may be because it is frozen, so it would be best to wait until the spring thaw to prepare the soil. Otherwise, the tiller would break.

just an idea,
sammie

Answer 8

How To Soften Hard Soil

Answer 9

Before you start working the soil, water the heck out of it so its a little softer. A rototiller or anything else won't work too well if the ground is rock hard. All the other advice is good.

Answer 10

http://www.english-gardening.com/green_up_your_thumb/extreme_clay.htm -- clay soil | extreme clay soil | plants for clay soil | compost 1 | compost 2 | compost 3 | improving the soil | pruning | soil types | the basics.
I found many good suggestions in this site for improvement of heavy soil and for a selection of plants that love heavy soil.
Good luck.