I NEED SOME ANSWERS ON HOW TO MAKE CHANGES TO MY SOIL
HELLO I NEED SOME ANSWERS ON HOW CAN I MAKE CHANGES TO MY SOIL IN MY YARD I HAVE FINALLY REALIZED THAT THE SOIL IN MY YARD IS VERY CLAY OR ALKALINE LIKE SOMETHING IN THAT CATEGORY.I WAS WONDERING EVERYTIME I BOUGHT SHRUBS THEY WOULD ALWAYS DIE ON ME SO NOW I KNOW IT COULD BE THAT MY SOIL IS TO CLAY OR ALKALINE FOR THEM. I WANT TO MAKE MY SOIL MORE MOIST IN MY YARD BECAUSE I WANT TO BUY AND PUT SOME EVERGREEN SHRUBS IN MY YARD BUT MOST OF THE DARK EVERGREEN SHRUBS REQUIRE MOIST SOIL TO SURVIVE.I HAVE HEARD THAT BUYING MULCH MAYBE THE BEST BRAND WOULD BE THE SCOTTS BRAND I HAVE HEARD THAT PUTTING MULCH IN YOUR YARD WOULD MAKE YOUR SOIL MORE MOIST.I HAVE ALSO HEARD THAT DURING THE FALL WHEN THE LEAVES FALL OFF THE TREES YOU COULD USE THE LEAVES AS MULCH AS WELL. ITS GOING ON DECEMBER AND I NEED TO GO AHEAD AND START PREPARING MY SOIL IN THE YARD FOR THE UPCOMING SPRING. I HAVE NOTICED ONE AREA OF MY YARD WHERE THE LEAVES COVER THE GROUND THE SOIL IS VERY MOIST UNDERNEATH THE LEAVES THE SOIL WAS A DARK TO LIGHT BLACK I'm ASSUMING IT WAS MOIST SOIL BECAUSE I FOUND A SLIMY WORM OR TWO IN THE WET DAMPED BLACK LOOKING SOIL. AFTER ALL I DO LIVE IN ALABAMA AND WE HAVE LOTS OF CLAY AND ALKALINE DIRT AND SOIL DOWN IN THE SOUTH. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE SOME ADVICE IF THE MULCH AND THE LEAVES ARE A GOOD CHOICE FOR MAKING SOIL MOIST IN THE YARD.THANKS
Hello, jam8952. I'm so glad you want to make changes to your soil. Your
plants will love it. Very few plants like alkaline soil. Most plants like a pH
of neutral to slightly acidic. To correct this you need to add sulfur to the soil.
This will lower the pH into the proper range. When the pH is too high or too
low, the nutrients in the soil are locked up and unavailable to plants.
Too much clay soil is always a problem. Clay holds on to water so tightly the
plant can't take it up. The soil can be sopping wet but the plant is dying of thirst.
Two things help with this problem. They are organic matter and gypsum.
They help break up clay into smaller pieces which allows water to drain
deeper into the soil. Also organic matter will hold onto water that the plant
can take up. For organic matter I would recommend a good mushroom compost.
Mix it in as deeply as you can. Next add the gypsum and water in. Mulch is good!
Lastly, this is not a one- time fix. Continue to amend your soil. A good
soil test for pH and nutrients would be wise. Take care and good luck.
plants will love it. Very few plants like alkaline soil. Most plants like a pH
of neutral to slightly acidic. To correct this you need to add sulfur to the soil.
This will lower the pH into the proper range. When the pH is too high or too
low, the nutrients in the soil are locked up and unavailable to plants.
Too much clay soil is always a problem. Clay holds on to water so tightly the
plant can't take it up. The soil can be sopping wet but the plant is dying of thirst.
Two things help with this problem. They are organic matter and gypsum.
They help break up clay into smaller pieces which allows water to drain
deeper into the soil. Also organic matter will hold onto water that the plant
can take up. For organic matter I would recommend a good mushroom compost.
Mix it in as deeply as you can. Next add the gypsum and water in. Mulch is good!
Lastly, this is not a one- time fix. Continue to amend your soil. A good
soil test for pH and nutrients would be wise. Take care and good luck.
Last edited by Hortman on Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'll second Marlingardener's advice to have your soil tested. The soil in my yard is very clayey ... terrible, sticky, silvery-gray stuff ... but it's also quite acidic. Evergreens of all types seem to grow quite well here, though. Plants that require good drainage, like my rhododendrons, gets planted very shallowly, or even just set on the surface of the ground and the soil mounded up over the root ball. It's the same concept as raised-bed planting. 
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rainbowgardener
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Not all clay soil is alkaline and you should test to know, but a lot of it is. I have heavy clay alkaline soil. Definitely keep adding organic matter, leaves, compost, aged manure, etc -- not as mulch, but mixed into your soil.
But you also need to grow things that are adapted to your soil. Forget the acid lovers like rhododendrons and azaleas, they will never thrive for you, no matter what you do... Trust me on this, I have tortured several rhodies to death as they slowly wither away despite my best efforts.
Shrubs that should do well in your soil include lilac, daphne, manzanita, mahonia (holly grape), mugo pine, juniper, potentilla, sumac, snowberry, boxwood, hydrangea (it will be pink flowering, but will do just fine). Incidentally of those daphne, manzanita, mahonia, pine, juniper, sumac, boxwood are evergreen.
Otherwise, if you just have to have an azalea or something, grow it in a container, so it isn't affected by the native soil.
But you also need to grow things that are adapted to your soil. Forget the acid lovers like rhododendrons and azaleas, they will never thrive for you, no matter what you do... Trust me on this, I have tortured several rhodies to death as they slowly wither away despite my best efforts.
Shrubs that should do well in your soil include lilac, daphne, manzanita, mahonia (holly grape), mugo pine, juniper, potentilla, sumac, snowberry, boxwood, hydrangea (it will be pink flowering, but will do just fine). Incidentally of those daphne, manzanita, mahonia, pine, juniper, sumac, boxwood are evergreen.
Otherwise, if you just have to have an azalea or something, grow it in a container, so it isn't affected by the native soil.
THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH FOR THE ADVICE IT WAS VERY HELPFUL.I ACTUALLY HAVE A AZALEA BUSH OR TWO IN THE YARD DON'T NO WHAT TYPE OR VARIETY THEY ARE. THEY HAVE BEEN THERE FOR I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG MAYBE 15 YEARS NOW THEY START TO BLOOM AROUND THE SPRINGTIME AND THE BLOOMS ARE RED THERE PRETTY BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY FRAGRANCE THERE NOT A FRAGRANT TYPE OF AZALEA.I ALSO ORDERED ME A PH TEST KIT TO TEST THE SOIL IN MY YARD IF THIS PH TEST KIT DOESN'T WORK OUT THEN NEXT I WILL BE TAKING A SAMPLE OF MY SOIL TO A LOCAL COUNTY AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGENT.I ALSO ORDERED ME A PLANT THE OTHER DAY CALLED FRAGRANT SWEET BOX SARCOCOCCA RUSCIFOLIA IT IS NATIVE TO THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS AND CHINA IT SAID IT WAS FOR PLANT HARDINESS ZONE 8 IN THE USDA AND I LIVE IN ZONE 8A IN ALABAMA SO I HOPE IT WILL LIVE IN MY CLAY OR ALKALINE LOOKING SOIL.I ALWAYS HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING ANYTHING TO GROW IN THE YARD EVERYTHING ALWAYS DIES ON ME.THE ONLY THING THATS STILL LIVING AND DOING GOOD FOR ME IS THE LIGUSTRUM JAPONICUM RECURVIFOLIUM ITS A LANDSCAPE SHRUB THAT IS SUPPOSE TO HAVE TINY FRAGRANT FLOWERS.I HAVE A WHITE PLASTIC FENCE AROUND THE SHRUB FOR DECORATION.
