amending clay soil?

my friend and i are going out the the garden center today to get some soil amendments. We plan to pour them on top of the soil and till them in, then build a raised bed on it and fill it the rest of the way.

my plan was going to be to take compost, black gold, a bag of perlite, and maybe peat or something,and maybe some lime, to help the clay soil that's in there . I wanted any input on this, I really wanna do it right!

Don't use perlite. Buy a bag of gypsum it will help to break up the clay. Use as much composted manure as u can afford. Peat moss is for fluff and it holds moisture also but clay doesn't need any help with holding moisture. Composted manure is your answer. Not dehydrated manure. It will burn.
And a handful of lime and another handful of Epsom salts.

Nizza said:

my friend and i are going out the the garden center today to get some soil amendments. We plan to pour them on top of the soil and till them in, then build a raised bed on it and fill it the rest of the way.

my plan was going to be to take compost, black gold, a bag of perlite, and maybe peat or something,and maybe some lime, to help the clay soil that's in there . I wanted any input on this, I really wanna do it right!

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don't till them in. dig the bed out, mix, and refill. its a lot of work, but you'll get better results.

Bentonite or Basalt dusts are pretty good in improving clay soils.

Clay soils are one of the best type of soils there are as they hold nutrients very well only downside is it also holds alot moisture gypsum will help break the clay up and improve drainage over time but best thing for it is tons of organic matter, compost, animal manure, mushroom compost is A+++ but cam be expensive but as hard and frustrating clay can be persevere with organic matters and u will have one of the best soils around

Gypsum takes forever and I am not convinced it works in all clay soils [as cation exchange can be all over the place]. All clay is not made alike

I live in a former streambed/wetland and volcanic packed, hard as fuck, clay is the order of my day. Organic matter, organic matter and more organic matter and time.

And cover the soil don't leave it bare.You should NEVER EVER have bare soil...... I like to cover mine throughout the rainy season to keep compaction to a minimum.



Don't Till, tilling is not necessary. Once you have the organic matter, proper soil health should start to resume........ Tilling was introduced from the old world, where organic soils were often many feet thick [think peat] and an occasional till was needed. [Salt pan's are another area of possible tilling]

Then that shit was introduced into the New World and for what? Mainly domination of will, you will wreck your soil structure by tilling....