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sandy0225 · 11-27-2012, 09:05 AM

well there's two ways to do it. One is to just dig a hole and plunk them in. they won't grow as fast in pure clay, but they will grow.make sure you put the root ball just a little below grade and cover it with some of the soil so it doesn't dry out so fast. If you're not totally redoing your beds, that's the easiest. Then mulch them well with something like leaves or manure that will eventually break down and become part of the soil.
If you're totally redoing your beds, then the best thing you can do is get a tiller, and till the crap out of that spot until you've got it all loosened up, and till everything you can find into it. composted manure, shredded leaves, old hay, perlite, used potting soil, peat moss, broken down wood chip mulch that's real old (check your local place that grinds up pallets/etc into mulch, they might have a really old pile they will give you or very cheap-it's $10 a pickup load here), or compost, or old shredded newspapers, or anything pretty much is better than nothing. I'm not a big fan of sand unless you get that really coarse kind, because it seems like it makes the problem worse.
You probably won't do anything until spring anyway, so if you're going to till it, start collecting stuff now. Then you'll be ready. There are lots of free leaves available , etc in the fall.

11-27-2012, 09:05 AM	#19 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 436,383 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: Nothin' but Clay Soil well there's two ways to do it. One is to just dig a hole and plunk them in. they won't grow as fast in pure clay, but they will grow.make sure you put the root ball just a little below grade and cover it with some of the soil so it doesn't dry out so fast. If you're not totally redoing your beds, that's the easiest. Then mulch them well with something like leaves or manure that will eventually break down and become part of the soil. If you're totally redoing your beds, then the best thing you can do is get a tiller, and till the crap out of that spot until you've got it all loosened up, and till everything you can find into it. composted manure, shredded leaves, old hay, perlite, used potting soil, peat moss, broken down wood chip mulch that's real old (check your local place that grinds up pallets/etc into mulch, they might have a really old pile they will give you or very cheap-it's $10 a pickup load here), or compost, or old shredded newspapers, or anything pretty much is better than nothing. I'm not a big fan of sand unless you get that really coarse kind, because it seems like it makes the problem worse. You probably won't do anything until spring anyway, so if you're going to till it, start collecting stuff now. Then you'll be ready. There are lots of free leaves available , etc in the fall. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!