Clay soil: characteristics and properties, how to improve them and make it fertile

The development of plants, their growth, flowering and fruiting are largely related to the quality of the soil on which they are planted. However, inconveniences with insufficiently high fertility and soil quality are most often allocated for summer cottages and household plots. Most of the problems arise with heavy clay soil, which must be cultivated to improve characteristics and useful properties.

What is this?

Clay soil is 80% clay and 20% sand. At the same time, the percentage of clay components can vary significantly.The higher it is, the denser and heavier such soil. It does not have a crumbly or grainy texture, which is why, when compressed into a lump, it forms a plastic mass from which various figures can be sculpted.

In terms of mineral content, such soil is considered rich, but "greedy". This means that the earth contains enough nutrients for the growth of plants, but in a form that is not readily available to them. In a dry state, it passes water easily, but when filled with it, it ceases to absorb, which is why there is little water in the depths, and stagnates on the surface, forming puddles and sticky mud.

In the heat, the surface dries out, a dense clay crust appears on it, which cracks, forming dense, “stone” pieces. In the spring, such soil warms up for a long time, which is why the seeds germinate for a long time, and the planted plants take root more slowly and start growing. The dense structure prevents the full penetration of air into the soil.

If the site has dense clay soil, for growing plants it needs to be ennobled, made lighter and looser, more permeable. This will have to be done in several stages and, possibly, repeatedly, since it tends to swim and turn sour in the surface layer, and high acidity harms most plants.

Advantages and disadvantages of clay soil

Given the properties of clay soil, it is difficult to make it fertile and loose, but with some effort, this can be achieved. Such soil has both pros and cons, which must be taken into account even before the development of the site begins.

Dignity:

1. High moisture content. Clay soils retain precipitation well, so when ennobling the top layer and using mulch, a garden, vegetable garden, berry garden or flower garden can be practically not watered.
2. Clay has a lot of nutrients. If you make them available to the roots of plants, you can achieve a good harvest.

Flaws:

1. Prone to waterlogging of the upper layer with insufficient water supply to the underlying layers.
2. Insufficient air permeability.
3. Dense cracking crust in heat and drought.
4. Too dense, heavy structure.
5. Slow warming in spring.

To make such a soil fertile, you need to use several different methods at once.

Different from sandy soils?

Clay soils contain varying amounts of sand and other substances.If there are more than 80% clay particles in the soil, then it can be considered simply pure clay. Using basic concepts, we can say that clay soil predominates in clay soil, and sand predominates in sandy soil. This characteristic clearly describes the main differences between the two soil options.

Sandy soil contains the most sand and much less other components, unlike clay soil, loose, moisture permeable, dries quickly, has few nutrients, but is well permeable to air. Thus, soils differ in the main component - the percentage of clay.

Improvement methods

For the successful use of clay soils in agriculture in summer cottages and household plots, they must be improved and changed so that plants can receive the necessary nutrients, water and air. The work is carried out comprehensively and consists of several different methods of influence.

Preparation

With a small area, for example, allocated for a flower bed, front garden or vegetable garden, it is easiest to completely remove clay soil to a depth of 1-1.5 meters and replace it with loose fertile soil with a high content of mineral fertilizers and organic matter. Then the plants grown in this place will be able to grow for many years without adding additional substances.

Large areas are annually plowed to a depth of 20-30 centimeters, then organic matter is introduced - manure, humus, peat. These components enrich the composition, make the soil looser and attract worms, which further ennoble the earth.

If you plan to arrange lawns and flower beds, you can get fertile soil, for example, black soil. The same method is used when arranging flower beds and high beds.

Soil permeability is increased by adding sand, straw, bark, compost, rotted sawdust, sunflower husks and other materials, and acidity is neutralized by liming.In this case, it is necessary to first do an analysis for the content of calcium, an excess of which can be harmful to plants.

Fertilizers

Despite the fact that clay soils are considered fertile, the nutrients in them are in a bound state, inaccessible to plant roots. To improve the composition, it is necessary to apply fertilizers, mainly organic, since minerals are contained in clay in sufficient quantities.

Compost, manure and sand for permeability are applied in a bucket per square meter of planting area.

Sowing green manure

Clay soils should not be empty, so they are sown with green manure. This protects the soil from erosion, drying out, enriches it with humus, makes it loose and nutritious.

The following plants can serve as siderates: lupine, fodder mustard, clover, as well as lawn grasses.They loosen the earth with their roots, enrich with nutrients, for example, legumes supply the soil with nitrogen, and also improve the texture when rotting. Sow in the fall, after the main harvest, then sow in the spring and leave for a year.

What can be grown?

In order for seeds to sprout on clay soil, sprouts to appear and full-fledged he althy plants form, it is important to choose the right planting material. The following plants grow on such soils:

1. Tall trees - fruit and ornamental. They have strong roots that easily cope with dense soil and reach the lower layers with sufficient moisture for growth. Dwarf and columnar trees need additional components in the planting hole.
2. Shrubs with long roots.
3. Berries when grown in beds, high beds, with a thick layer of mulch.
4. Root crops if planted smaller than loose and permeable soils.
5. Flowers: daylilies, peonies, asters, carnations, loyal to clay soils.

Bulb plants need light and loose soils, so they are planted in raised beds or high beds with improved soil.

Soils containing clay can be used subject to a set of procedures to improve their composition and fertility.

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