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Another good tool to have is a steel digging bar, which has a point on one end and a chisel-like structure at the other. I've found it to be indispensable when digging post holes in our clay. I jam the chisel end into the hole a few times, and then the digger can actually pull the clay out. Many other uses as well.
Two tips I have learned from my friends on city-data: Invest in a mattock and ammend your soil with compost!
You can use most anything that will help keep the clay from compacting back together, such as some of the mulch next to where you are digging, small sticks, etc. Another good tip is to make sure you dig a hole at least twice as big as the pot. While you want to make sure you keep the plant watered, you also don't want it to sit in a "clay bowl" full of water.
For growth, many plants follow the saying
1st year - it sleeps
2nd year - it creeps
3rd year - it leaps
I'm planning to establish a new small flower bed in an area of red clay. Thinking about mixing in compost from the City of Raleigh Yard Waste Recycling Center. Has anyone used this? If so, what did you think of it? I'm thinking of getting a couple bags ($3.00 per 35 gallon bag or can that you fill; $30.00 per approximately 2.5 cubic yards load).
Not sure about using it for a vegetable garden since I don't know what herbicides, pesticides, etc. were on the materials. Any thoughts on this?
All I have is red clay. I will say there is no other soil better. Clay is wonderful good for vegetable gardens, shrubs and trees in particular. Holds water well, adding a little lime and your all set. OP shrubs look great.
The problem is, our area also has gray and yellow clay, and these are dreadful. All clays are not alike.
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Compost from City of Raleigh to Improve Red Clay?
