hard soil question and an other question (lawn, growing, fertilizer)
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We own a camp in the middle of the Allegheny National Forest. We are up there every weekend and all summer. The soil in as hard as can be and seems like there is alot of clay in it. What is the best idea to get some sort of grass to grow or something else that can take lots of foot traffic. Most of the area gets full sun. I dont want to spend a ton of money on doing this as this is just a camp. I did a sort of raised bed garden in one spot minus the box and it is growing good. When and how would I plant beans? We are in Elk County PA, which is mid north in PA. I also dont know how to find out what to plant when and what would grow in our area. I would like in the future to have dwarf fruit trees too but dont know if they would grow in my area.
I have been reading this site for days now and LOVE IT.
The grass you see on a golf green is grown in clay (and needs lots of sun). You don't need to cut it short and I think it will only grow so high anyhow, like 4 or 5 inches. When planting things in clay dig a much bigger hole and fill it with mulch/leaves/pebbles and top soil. Then put your plant in and fill with soil around it.
There is probably no short cut or cheap way to grow grass in the conditions you describe. If you really want grass, bite the bullet - get a bunch of compost. Spread it several inches thick across the lawn, then rototill it several inches into the existing dirt. Seed, fertilize, and water routinely to get the grass established.
is there another plant that could be used for ground cover? this area is rather large that needs something other than hard dirt or mud when it rains hard. it would be rather expensive to put that much compost down several inches thick we are talking about a good 1/4 acre or more.
Some varieties of perenial rye grass are suggested for clay soils. You may want to check with a local extension agent for a recommendation. If you're only there on weekends, it may be difficult to get any kind of lawn established. I'm not sure of any types of ground cover that stand up well to foot traffic so that might not be an option.
Mint! :P (Kidding, but it's been known to grow in clay soils...)
As far as compost... could you afford a thinner layer? I've seen a broadfork used in conjunction with a layer of compost/topsoil to both aerate the underlying clay and provide enough lighter top material for new plants to root. It worked in my neighborhood to transform a baseball field into a productive urban farm (though they also did trench gardening with cardboard and compost in trenches the first year, which helped a great deal). Just aerating and a thin layer of fertilizer might work for you if all you want is grass. Chicken waste is great for the soil, and you could probably get some from local farmers.
Most groundcovers will probably do ok in full sun. It's really a matter of what you want... grass, wildflowers, etc. Native plants of course will be easier than imported varieties. If you want it, you can figure out a way to get it to grow!
The only thing you can really do with clay soil is amend it so the insects and earthworms keep it loosened. However, that isn't going to work for turf. The only other option I can think of is gypsum. I don't know how much it will cost you because pricing varies around the country.
thanks for all the suggestions will look into trying to rent a tiller and add in some gypsum or peat moss. We use it every weekend until June then we are up there until September 1st then its back to weekends. So I have alot of time in the summer time to get it going. We arent particular about what it looks like growth like we just want something other than dirt or a mud bog when we get lots of rain like this weekend.
What else in the area grows as ground cover in mostly sun? Can't be all bare ground every where can it?
Too bad it's all full sun, see my thread here on moss.. I got very good info quickly.
In any case breaking the hard pan will need to happen and a trail made to walk if you want looser soils.
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