Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [clay]

Fine grained mineral component of soil. Lots of clay can cause a soil to be heavy and sticky.

Clay usually refers to mineral/rock grains in a soil that are very small (finer than mud and silt). Large proportions of clay will make a soil heavy, difficult to dig, and difficult for roots to grow in.

Clays are produced by natural erosion, deposited as river deposits (e.g. on a flood plain), ancient glacial deposits (i.e. boulder clay), or even from a soft bed rock (e.g. the Cretaceous clays of Texas and SE England).

In geology, clay has a second meaning and refers to a large class of sheet silicate minerals (kaolin is probably the best known example). These invariably form fine grained particles that are often clay sized - hence the duplicate meanings of the word: A lump of clay is probably made of clay sized particles of clay minerals!

This tag should be used for questions about clay soils. Typically these will concern soil improvement and the kinds of plants that can be grown in clay soils.

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Do I need to mix rice husk and clay soil?

Someone gave me 1 sack of rice husk and multiple sacks of clay soil. I've been thinking if just planting in a pure clay soil is enough or do I really need to mix it to rice husk? If I need to mix it, what are the ratio? What are the cons and pros…
Cary Bondoc
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Drought-tolerant grass for sunny, wet Texas clay

I live in Texas, and my back yard is on the bottom of a hill; thus it gets lots of run-off from other houses in the subdivision. The run-off causes problems you'd normally expect: Soft, boggy lawn especially in the shallow drainage swales that…
Mike Pennington
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Weeds, Grass, Soil: What to fix first?

My backyard is pretty much a weed garden. I have the following concurrent problems: Poor soil (mostly hard clay) Lots of weeds (mostly bull thistle and some dandelions) Dead grass (around 30-50% of it is brown and dead) A few small bare…
ashes999
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How can I soften clay soil and enrich it for plants?

A few years ago, we used a clay type soil for filling holes in our garden. Later the soil became very hard and most of our plants and trees are not healthy. Only unwanted plants are growing. Is there any way we can make the soil healthy for garden…
johnie
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Should I do a soil test before or after amending soil?

I want to plant blackberries, raspberries, and a vegetable garden in the heavy clay soil in my backyard. So, I plan to heavily amend it by spreading 3" expanded shale and 6" of compost and working that 12" or more down by double digging. Since I…
Philip
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How to revive a low nitrogen and rocky soiled lawn?

The situation is explained below in terms of my lawn with the question at the end I recently moved into a new home two years ago and by the looks of the lawn it was low in nitrogen. A little more back story is that I don't think it was ever treated…
Gandalfous
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Garden smells of dog urine due to no drainage

I have 2 dogs, who routinely use the bathroom in my front garden. One of my dogs pees in the same place about 90% of the time he goes out. Due to a lack of drainage, and what I imagine is 100% saturation of the soil beneath, the pee will pool on the…
dannosaur
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Drainage problems and replacing existing grass

We have a lot of standing water after rain. Also our grass is "mushy" long after the rain has past. What is the best drainage and how do I prep my soil for new grass? Standing water:
K M4
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Clay Yard Drainage Issues

We just moved into a house with a yard that's about 45'x80' with some pretty bad drainage issues. After large rain the whole yard is water logged for days, with a few square yards where it actually pools. I think we'll need to level the yard to get…
Otus
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How can I remove or disperse clay soil stuck in/on grass

I recently augured two holes in my yard for posts. I was not able to keep all the debris contained. I cleaned up what landed on a board I laid down and the large piles with a shovel. I raked up as much of the remainder as I could. There are still…
Freiheit
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What is the advantage of a raised bed over clay soil vs just amending the clay soil?

Assuming: There are no tree roots or moles around to worry about. I am young and don't mind bending over the extra 6-12 inches. What is the advantage of building a raised bed vs just heavily amending your base soil until it's almost as high…
Philip
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What are good evergreens for a windbreak on heavy clay soil?

Looking for an evergreen variety or two to establish windbreaks in an exposed position on heavy clay soil that can get very dry in summer. Temperate climate in the UK, the site gets plenty of sun. I can find dozens of evergreens advertised, but many…
Guy Inchbald
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Potential drainage issue?

I excavated the yard to build a stepping stone walkway. There's water collecting at the intersection of the walkway and the city's sidewalk. I'm planning to back-fill and compact with crushed gravel before laying the stones. Will the drainage…
anset
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Dead Dogwood post-mortem: How to ensure these next plants do better in clay

This question is accompanied by this previous question... Did my Dogwood die because it was planted with wire around the roots? So clearly my two dead Dogwood trees didn't do so hot in clay. The previous landscaper recommended them and planted them…
maple_shaft
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Is drainage needed for a new lawn on compacted clay?

I am in the process of creating a lawn at the back of my house. The previous owner had paved and stoned the area. The size is about 30ft by 40ft, it is raised from the level of the house by about 2ft, with steps leading up (see pic 1). It was 50/50…
Marvin Higginson
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