Hard soil help suggestions?

[Miya]

Hi Everyone,

I just received a new Japanese Maple for my birthday and was anxious to get it in the ground a couple of days ago. My DH and I just bought our first home at the end of June and I hadn't done much gardening in the area I wanted it planted.

When I started cutting the sod off I got about 1/2 in. into the ground before I was stopped. Here I was bouncing up and down on a spade until hubby felt sorry for me (I'm sure it was funny to watch) and came outside.

Apparently we have very hard clay soil in the front yard. Now I don't know what to do about it. I could make a raised bed but that would require more stone to support the soil and I really wanted it where I chose.

Is there anything that can be done to breakup the clay so my little tree will thrive? They have shallow roots but as hard as the soil is water won't drain well either.

Help!

[Little]

Try a tiller. They're a bit pricey, so see if any of your neighbors have one. It'll cut right into the soil and churn it up ... but depending on what kind of soil a Japanese Maple takes, you may want to mix it with some bagged soil.

[Miya]

Thanks Little. I didn't think of that at all.
I'll probably add some bagged topsoil and though we've started a compost bin in the backyard, it hasn't had time to compost yet so I'll add some of that too. I'm just afraid as it gets hot again that the clay may harden back up and cause problems in the future.

[Miya]

Does anyone know of a way to generally increase the drainage of soil? Most of our front lawn is sod over compacted clay. Will fertilizing and aerating help it loosen up?

[WildChild]

I live in the land of clay soil. We could supply the world pottery industry. You don't want to add sand, after all concrete or adobe are what mixture? Organic material is what you need and lots of it. Compost is really good way to go and tilling it in can be good. Gardening in the clay west, you should triple dig and work in a ton of compost, then till to break it up and get it well mixed - then you can plant. A little compost just won't do it because when the roots spread they will hit the clay. It's a good workout.

[Olympia]

I know this an older post, but...
Anytime you have hard soil, buy a bag of peat, mix it together with the soil you have or purchased bags of soil. I usually
divide 4 parts soil to 1 part peat, but it depends on your soil... If you have a plant that needs a higher acid content, add more peat...Just make sure it is mixed together well. The plants soil is not compacted as much, and allows air and moisture to get to the roots..