How do you guys garden with the clay heavy soil?

[mrunik]

Thanks for those replies! I didn't think about there being that much of a topsoil layer on top of the clay. When I was driving around all the soil I saw looked red. I should have thought of that!

So older homes should have a decent layer of topsoil in most areas? Where in the Knoxville and surrounding areas would you expect to find the thickest areas?

I assume areas where there is more farmland would have a thicker layer of topsoil?

[Barking Spider]

Rural areas. My subdivision was built on an old farm (in Karns). However, Its got a hill, so each house likely had a fair amount of grading done that took away the fertile top soil. Of course, it was developed in 1992-1993, so most of the yards probably have pretty good soil.
When I was inspecting new construction, I carried mud boots to slip on to walk around the outside of the homes. I would have to scrape off a huge amount of clay off those boots. The developer, just graded everything down to bare clay and rocks, even though there might have been great soil there to begin with. Its the nature of the beast when building a home.

[Ancientoak]

Good info, thanks for replies folks.

I want to start a garden too and was wondering about the red soil I saw here.

[NJDevil]

My friend in south Clinton says they don't have red clay there.

[Barking Spider]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

My friend in south Clinton says they don't have red clay there.

They just need to dig a little deeper.