How do you guys garden with the clay heavy soil? (Knoxville: sale, renting)

[dominicus]

Im wondering how do you guys garden considering the soil is clay heavy?

Is there a need to bring in additional soil and manure and/or additional things to garden vegetables and fruit trees?

I know clay has a good source of minerals which is one of the benefits, however it seems like the high percentage of clay requires some mmodifications.

[MrsMopar]

Originally Posted by dominicus

Im wondering how do you guys garden considering the soil is clay heavy?

Is there a need to bring in additional soil and manure and/or additional things to garden vegetables and fruit trees?

I know clay has a good source of minerals which is one of the benefits, however it seems like the high percentage of clay requires some mmodifications.

I had to LOL at your comment; we just did our very first garden here in Tennessee and I was wondering what we had in store for ourselves.

Since all areas are different, here's what we did. We tilled the soil where we wanted the garden about 6 times. Our goal was to break it up first, then sort through any rock, then basically soften it. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I'll be darned, it did! We did this over a few weeks time, not all in one day. We let the rainfall work it's magic on it as well.

You may want to consult a local garden center near where you live to ask them directly. Those folk are a treasure trove of knowledge!

[DaveC20853]

Amend with lots of sand and organic material. Depending on the size of garden desired you may want to consider raised beds and bringing in good topsoil.

We spent years getting our clay soil in Maryland up to the point we wanted it. It was a large garden by most standards (1500 sq ft). Now retired in K'ville it's container gardening.

[J&Em]

First of all welcome. Second there is a whole Garden subforum right here on City data with people who can help.

The clay soil here is quite fertile and does well for growing things. Most of my garden plants and shrubs seem to be bigger than promised if that is any indication. All the soil needs is the standard garden amendments... compost and manure. Adding sand to the mix has been a popular myth for a long time but soil science research shows it is a good way to make bricks out of your soil. The following has "recommended" and "not recommended" amendments that applies pretty much to our local dirt as much as it does to NC red clay: http://durham.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/32/UNH%203.PDF

UT has a lot of publications for growing things in this region and several counties have active Master Gardener programs through the extension offices that can give you a lot of help in getting started. I suggest you get the soil tested through them. It's a very small cost and comes back with a lot of information on what your soil will need to grow whatever it is you want to grow. I do mine for both garden and turf areas but you can also have it tested for other uses. Several farms in the region have excellent fruit tree crops- blueberries, raspberries and so on are becoming more and more planted, too.

[hiknapster]

These folks are amazing and can probably answer all of your questions:

Stanleys Greenhouses & Plant Farm | Your Knoxville Tennessee family-owned Garden Center

If all else fails we have at least one farmer's market going in the area almost any day and numerous ways to get local produce and meats.

By the way, when I was married we rented a tiller and he barely got the earth to budge. I say it was operator error, though.

[Barking Spider]

I grow most of my stuff in raised beds.
I have spent years chipping, mulching, tilling, composting and it has paid off even in the areas where we don't have raised beds.
We have a lot of rocks in our soil too, so heavy clay and rocks. Kind of like a concrete mix. We just work at it.
Amend, amend, amend! I chip all of the shrub clippings and either mulch with it, or compost (or both). I add the sawdust from my workshop, and compost kitchen scraps as well.
That said, we do have areas in our yard that has great loamy soil.

[J&Em]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

I grow most of my stuff in raised beds.
I have spent years chipping, mulching, tilling, composting and it has paid off even in the areas where we don't have raised beds.
We have a lot of rocks in our soil too, so heavy clay and rocks. Kind of like a concrete mix. We just work at it.
Amend, amend, amend![ I chip all of the shrub clippings and either mulch with it, or compost (or both). I add the sawdust from my workshop, and compost kitchen scraps as well.
That said, we do have areas in our yard that has great loamy soil.

Amen! As someone who teaches all about gardening you'd be surprised at the number of people who don't get that one simple rule and go out to nurseries and box stores getting recommendations to buy all sorts of bags of topsoil and humus and tons of fertilizer and then renting tillers to turn over the soil so more weeds can sprout rather than getting/making what they need most; compost and more compost. It makes for better water flow, root growth and can help balance pH values. Beside which it is such a green thing to do. I envy you the multiple sources of organic amendments. I'm guessing you have good mulch to go with that?

[builderofbonsai]

Wow, I'm glad I found this forum. I'm from Wisconsin originally (where I could grow ANYTHING!), and just relocated to the Knoxville area. I'm freaking out about trying to grow things in this soil! Our yard has no real landscaping or flowers, or anything. If our yard didn't have weeds, we would have no lawn at all! My dream is to make the back yard into a Japanese garden, and the front yard to have grass and some groundcover closer to the road and along the driveway. It's hard for me to believe something can be done, but, I can't stand the idea of not having a nice yard/garden. We live in an oak wooded area, so have quite a bit of shade, but areas of sun throughout the day. I did do composting in Wisconsin, and plan to do the same here. Lots of oak leaves, to which I will add shredded paper and kitchen veggie scraps. I used a three bin system in the past, and am thinking of doing the same here. I'm thinking this is going to be a several-year endeavor to get my yard in order. Bummer. I'm on a tight budget, so...

Any ideas and info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Barking Spider]

I use a tumbler composter. It really is less work, and seems a lot faster as well. I found one in a moving sale years ago and it lasted a long time. When it finally died I bought a new one on line.

I have a pretty decent shredder as well, and that really helps making mulch. It just takes time, and work.

[KathiOH1]

Several of our neighbors built the raised beds as BarkingSpider mentioned. DaveC20853 is on the money if you want to use your own ground. I have a wonderful garden area now.

The first year:
I tilled it to break it up, then added sand and manure and re-tilled. If it was still lumpy, I added more sand. If it was too sandy, I added more manure.

After that:
The second year, I added some miracle grow soil to what I had and turned it over. I also bought a compost bin and started utilizing all the food garbage I had just been throwing away. Now after winter, I scoop out a little old soil to fill in sunken places in my yard and add back into the garden some fresh compost. Works like a charm.