Clay soil

From Gardening Wiki

Heavy Clay Soils

Heavy clay soil is so distressingly familiar to the suburban gardener in many parts of the world.

The most certain remedy for this condition of things lies in heavy and untiring manual labour. In a word, the ground needs digging and trenching again and again before it can be brought into a state of 'assured fertility. The object in this case is, of course, to open the soil so as to admit of a freer passage of air and water.

Frequent digging of the soil is by far the most efficacious method of inducing this desirable result, but other and extraneous means may be brought into play. These are the incorporation with the soil, as it is trenched, of such disintegrating elements as coarse sand, gritty road sweepings, and, in moderation, sifted coal ashes. Light manure should also be used generously, but in this case well-decayed littery horse manure only should be employed. The sand, the road sweepings, and the littery manure should be spread evenly over the ground just before digging, and then be buried fairly deep.