4 Simple Ways to Break Up & Soften Hard Soil Naturally

[@yeshuaisthewaythetruthandt515]

In the fall season, trees shed their leaves to cover their roots blanketing themselves n at the same time mulching themselves for nourishment in the rainy season. Trees are smart. They know how to survive for hundreds of years

[@GameChanger597]

Our Creator is smart😉

[@getrelaxed3848]

@@GameChanger597 exactly

[@RossH324]

Nature is smart. ; -)

[@MN_Candy]

@@RossH324 and who created nature ;)

[@AppletonPermaculture]

@@MN_Candy ur mom

[@samjones3106]

I collected tons of leaves from around the hood last autumn. Mixed them into the soil and this year had a very good harvest.

[@kwentworth1887]

Hood leaves are the best leaves 🤣 The OGs of organic matter 😂

[@ForageGardener]

Incredible!!

[@karenl7786]

@@kwentworth1887 😄

[@ElderandOakFarm]

@@kwentworth1887 haha!

[@boomchicaboomboom]

The hood gardener. Congrats on trying to help out your neck of the hood. We need more hood gardeners.

[@valeriesanchez3074]

Just grow sunflowers. After harvest. The roots will aerate the soil. Side note, if you let the roots decompose, You will have amazing , nitrogen rich, fluffy soil. Very easy way of getting wonderful soil.

[@ohio_gardener]

This applies to all vegetables you grow as well. Don't pull the plants out at the end of their season, but cut them off at soil level and let the roots decompose to feed the soil.

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

Thickly sown sunflowers 🌻 made great winter windbreaks & the dry stalks make great kindling for the wood stove (handsaw needed to cut them into sticks though).

[@MrZesty-zu4xj]

9:58

[@rieriec.36]

You MUST BE VERY CAREFUL WITH SUNFLOWERS AS THEY ARE TOXIC TO SOME PLANTS...CHECK IT OUT

[@learntobake2023]

@@rieriec.36 thank you for the warning

[@Mntdewmania1]

If you want to know what to use just start at 3:00 and then 5:00 for the 2nd thing and 8:40 for the third, and the 4th and last one is at 10:00

[@internetdinosaur8810]

Thanks homie

[@madmanjim795]

I live in tropical Indonesia and my soul is heavy red clay. I dug down 12inches, removed all rocks/stones and heavily amended it with compost, worm castings, rice husks, carbonized rice husks (as biochar) and cocopeat. I also added organic fertilizer and organic soil treatment. My plants are so lush and healthy. I regularly top up the beds with more organic matter and worm castings.

[@foleyfarms]

My soul is a heavy red clay as well my friend

[@synchronicity67]

@@foleyfarms hahaha..so 's mine.. 🤪🌸

[@TriniMonstera]

@@foleyfarms typo bro, typo.

[@andresamplonius315]

Have you made biochar out of coconut husks? Do you spread biochar on your animals beds so as to become activated with their manure? I plan on doing that when I move to the tropical zone

[@madmanjim795]

@@andresamplonius315I've not made coconut husk biochar but you can buy it here and it would work. I don't have animals but I guess what you suggested would work 👍

[@gretaeberhardt541]

I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned from this. When I hear “the why“ behind a process it is so much more meaningful than just saying to do this or that. If I understand the reasoning I retain the information. This was so very helpful. Thank you!

[@codysaunders7348]

I cut down 5 acres of invasive black alder here in Ontario, the soil is mostly silt and clay. As you can imagine, like concrete. In order to soften the ground and actually be able to produce a viable crop, we decided to take the long route. I think everyone wants immediate results, but it takes time to convert poor quality soil into nutrient rich loose black earth. Anyhow, we tilled all the leftover wood mulch INTO the soil, leaves, grass clippins, spent mushroom blocks, etc anything with carbon. We made rows, which will never need to be tilled again. We hot compost and have a few worm bathtubs and all my spent mushroom compost, so we coat the rows liberally throughout the season. To directly add nitrogen throughout the season to balance out the high carbon and feed the growth of plants, we made all kinds of liquid nutrient supplements, ie worm tea, compost tea, chicken soup and watered the various crops throughout the season. Anyhow, first year was pretty great, we harvested about 2000lbs of Blue Sapphire potatoes and plenty of lettuce, kale, tomatoes, etc - although, more importantly: the soil is now much more loose and I can run my hands through it. We will continue to add compost, crass clippings, leaves, and mulch on top of the rows to build the soil further. So for all of you that think tilling is BAD under all circumstances, I believe it is the best initial option for people with compact soil, unless you want to build up your soil over years, which is essentially like pouring 8 inches of garden soil on soild rock. We are anticipating a great 2nd year, but I believe the soil will peak in quality by year 3. Cheers, great channel

[@VisionaryGardener]

If you have to till your soil in the beginning, cover it first with leaves, straw, compost, compared manure, gypsum, zeolite, etc, THEN till. That way, you're mixing in the things that will eventually provide soft soil that doesn't need to be tilled at all. You can also compost in situ in areas where you aren't currently growing anything. Dig a trench, put your food and plant waste into the trench, and bury it. It will break down rapidly and be ready for you to grow in the following season.

[@TheScientist40]

excellent recommendation. I'm on team #addcompostandbiocharwhenyoutill

[@christophergruenwald5054]

Living roots are what build soil aggregates. I’ve done no till for 2 years now. Cover crops, chop and drop, and always keep an armor over the soil.

[@giovoni7942]

Can you recommend a cover crop for zone 9b?

[@zoeburruss677]

@@giovoni7942 clover?

[@cr4zyj4ck]

If your land is particularly horrendous, tilling in a good quantity of chopped straw or leaves or something similar can help jump start the process. Some clay pans are so hard not even daikon or dandelion can penetrate, and manual crushing of the clay and mixing in organic matter is the only way to get things started. Transitioning off that into 100% no till is the end goal, but some land is so dead you've got to start life in it yourself.

[@beskamir5977]

@@giovoni7942 Any legume should work. I recommend picking one that you can eat ;)

[@tmontero8492]

You explained the issue of loosening hard, compacted soil so well, and in terms I could understand. I am so grateful that you share you knowledge and experience with others. Thanks, Luke.

[@nancywebb6549]

I have a bulb drill for my rechargeable drill. When I dig and hit hard soil such as clay I drill the soil then I add compost to the hard soil which I have broken up. It works like a charm! Sure makes digging easier for this 77 year old woman.

[@heatherebel2955]

Just starting to garden watching all your old shows to help me along the way and to start thank you for all the shows you've done helping people to grow the best gardens they can

[@jenevans9004]

Thanks for the info! I’m a newer gardener and tore up some lawn to put in a garden bed. I just put the top soil straight on top of the clay native soil and have had so many issues with the poor drainage and the top soil getting washed away. I only put down annual flower seeds this year so at the end of the season, I’m going to get some compost and rent a tiller to till the garden bed before laying down some mulch. Looking forward to starting again next year with better soil.

[@candaceturner6924]

Fantastic video Luke! Clear, informative & well presented🤩👍🏻 Some people bang on, but take forever to get to the point, losing audience interest. But not you! I’m new to gardening & this is the first of your videos I’ve seen. Definitely won’t be the last. Thank you so much!😊🌻

[@trevorstewart8]

My Dad used the growing of potatoes to break in a new garden. By dropping a potato in its grow hole the potato will do the work for you, pushing out roots and expanding the tubers. Fertilizing them with super phosphate and blood & bone, plus the occasional watering will bring you a great lawn base by the time the potatoes are harvested in 3 to 4 months. Most of the cultivation work is done for you.

[@faithworksfarm4903]

Wow the soil compaction totally makes sense now for where we have left our pigs to graze for longer periods of time. They till it up with their noses and eat out most of the weeds but after awhile leave it like concrete Thank you for helping me figure this out.

[@sarahohalloran6695]

Great video. The only problem is generating enough compost. Most people don't have a farm or loads of leaves to make enough compost, or even a truck to get the raw materials. Buying bagged compost is super expensive.

[@finagill]

I have heavy clay with lots of smaller rocks. This year I started preparing an area for a garden next year. I covered the area in cardboard and then covered the cardboard with grass clippings. It was about 8" of grass clippings. Last week I decided to transplant a few plants to the area and was surprised by how easy the soil was to dig, how much the color changed, and all of the worms. I'm also growing some cool weather cover crops to help even more. IMO, if you have a year you can use cardboard, grass clippings, and cover crops to really make a difference. But it appears that it will take about a year to really improve.

[@kensimmons9960]

Thanks for the post, Jamie! I have used the cardboard - lawn clippings method for about 6 years - Worms love cardboard - they move in and do the work for me! The local appliance store has started setting the large boxes aside for me. When I first moved here my neighbors thought I was crazy mowing my 1 acre lawn with a push mower (with a bagger) to collect grass clippings and chopped leaves. Now I get complements on the garden, and they get free tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash. I sprinkle wood ash from my wood stove on top of the grass clippings in the fall to add minerals to the soil. Not really sure how much this helps, but it sure doesn't hurt. On my more established beds I put them to bed before winter by covering them with newspapers and chopped leaves. (upstate NY snow belt, cold winters)

[@finagill]

@@kensimmons9960 My experience is that what you are doing will improve the soil.

[@gerripoole5565]

Thank you Luke. This is the video I've been looking for

[@pamelah6431]

In addition to these things, I leave the roots of annuals in the ground to help add organic matter to the soil over winter. Great tips!

[@aaronmehl2759]

I had two plots in a Community garden. One of them I added compost to and mulch on top. The one I only mulched on top, was a puddle and the soil remained hard. The other one was soft and fluffy. You are so right on.

[@leatherelectric]

Awesome video. You're very natural on camera. 5 years ago I moved 15 miles north in Ohio. My previous garden of 20 years yielded BUSHELS of Beefsteaks and Red Chil Peppers and Letture and varying Onions. My current garden is a clay factory. In 2016 I planted 8 tomato and pepper plants and the yield was modest, but not a complete failure. I took my previous garden for granted, she was a sweet lady. I've covered my new garden with leaves and compost for a couple years. Lots of bugs and worm friends doing fertile stuff. Built 2 BIG raised beds to go along with my 20x10 ground level garden. I know I bit off more then I can chew but for some reason I'm enjoying the strife. School of hard knocks is the only garden school for me. Subbed your channel. Thanks for the quality.

[@phondo2]

Awesome! For 20 years I've been laying my compost over my hard clay soil.

[@spitfirespilie7931]

That is funny I came across this because it’s actually exactly what I needed to hear. We just moved from Florida to Missouri and the soil is completely different. I am excited to put your advice into action. Thanks for sharing your knowledge it’s always helpful.

[@Chattyman2]

I was going to say you forgot about cover crops to occupy beds during fall to late winter but then you mentioned it towards the end 😅 It is like you read our minds

[@randyketcham3840]

Really appreciate the video about this topic. I am in the middle of a huge project to turn the reclaimed strip mine clay ground we have into a much better soil for the yard, garden and flower beds. We have been using the mulch/compost addition and growing the white radishes and turnips and just letting them die off and rot down through the winter. By the way, I noticed in today's video you are also enjoying this unseasonably warm weather this late in the year! Thanks for all of your hard work with the videos and your garden store!

[@truefuschniken]

LOVEEE this!!! We just watched the documentary called, 'kiss the ground' and it was all about this!!! 😍

[@trishthehomesteader9873]

I loved that documentry! I highly recommend it. Really takes being a good steward beyond sustainable. 👍

[@DragonBabyLove]

@@trishthehomesteader9873 Love that movie too!

[@margaritarivera4396]

Thanks for the info, I live in Laredo, Tx and my backyard soil is hard and clay like. The good news is that I have started a compost bin. I've been learning so much from your videos.

[@mildredwilkins5781]

Adding just cardboard and keeping wet will invite worms, who are your little employees. They will break up your soil. If you add ALMOST anything you keep improving. Add compost, you are improving. Add leaf mulch, you are improving. Add shredded paper, you are improving. Add topsoil, of course you are........ Add grass clippings, same thing... Keep adding stuff, you will eventually, way sooner than you think, have muchly improved soil.

[@lisacook7917]

Perfect timing with this video. I have 4 acres of very hard or heavy dirt. We tilled it last year but it just harden right back up. We are looking at planting radishes hopefully yet this fall.

[@andresamplonius315]

Radishes to loosen up the soil, legumes for Nitrogen and grasses for Carbon, buckwheat for Potassium, or was it Phosphorus? Whatever... Flowers for pollinators, predator and parasitoid insects. Mustard for harmful fungi, Tagetes for nematodes, Comfrey to loosen up the clay... For cover crops, four or five species are the minimum... Mix in as many as you can get, Nature loves diversity...

[@kathylemke7854]

This was fantastic information, thank you! I appreciate how you explain the reasoning and scientific processes behind what you are suggesting!

[@spades-n-spatulastd2727]

THE BEST INFORMATION ONCE AGAIN LUKE! Thank you. ❤

[@whipplemr]

Brilliant video. Explained well, no time wasting. Really well done. Thank you!

[@mark1952able]

Good man! MAKES SENSE! HELP THE EArth'S SOIL.........TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! GIVE IT A SHOT!

[@Gkrissy]

Much needed video. Thanks for sharing it was very helpful. I have Georgia clay soil and working on fertility with compost. My in ground soil does have lots of worm life oddly but just needs soil conditioning and fertility improvement. I am using composting and no till gardening and I’m willing to wait. I also plant flowers in the most compacted spots and I have 3 raised beds.

[@kristenharper8464]

Pretty much the same here...south Georgia red clay but I've moved right onto the northeast Florida line and now I have this saltwater and seashell to deal with .it's burning up everything I plant so far .. I'm not gonna give up. Good luck out there

[@andresamplonius315]

@@kristenharper8464 Gypsum helps with the salt, also OG. Beets are salt resistant and take plenty of it out of the soil. Purslane's a good companion plant/cover crop that helps other plants with the salt. Vetiver grass may be worth trying. Plant in rows to make living hedges and harvesting biomass for mulch a couple of times per year. It's salt resistant and its deep roots hold the soil and bring up nutrients

[@phylliswemhaner5906]

Thank you for the information! I have several compacted areas and was wondering what the best method was to soften them!

[@kimberlypruszynski1122]

Thanks! Never knew about gypsum

[@boomchicaboomboom]

Thank God I live on farm land now and don't have soil compaction problems anymore. The downside is that everytime ANYTHING drops seed it germinates and seems to propagate. I have to constantly weed because of it. I used to live on land that had horrible clay soil and had to try and re-work the soil. This is a helpful video for people to watch if they have issues with their soil.

[@xyzsame4081]

Mulch should help, but usually that means to you have to plant seedlings (they tend to do better under mulch at least if it is wood chips). if you have farm land cover crops is your answer. In a garden (homestead, market garden) mulch drastically reduces weeding times. See Charles Dowding for instance.

[@sandyjohns6142]

I'm new to gardening. I definitely learned something new. I mixed my clay soil with compost and peat moss. Over time, my soil compacted again. I think I'll add only compost next season. Thank you

[@MsTexan1]

Love this video! Gypsum and compost are my go to in this Texas Coastal clay 🙌

[@lephilosopheinconnu3952]

What does gypsum do to clay soil exactly? I think I have some in my property that I might be able to use. Greetings from South America

[@AppletonPermaculture]

@@lephilosopheinconnu3952 did you watch the video? He explains it in a fair amount of detail

[@karinbug]

This is fantastic! Some of these things I was doing (unknowingly) to help our rock hard, clay soil. I’ve also noticed a big improvement since we started keeping chickens. When they’re not eating my plants 😄 they’re helping scratch up the clay and their manure is making huge positive changes. Good to know about the sunflowers, we need all the help we can get! I’m looking forward to more great content!

[@AliTahreiSh]

Thanks Lots of good advises

[@that_auntceleste5848]

I love the video Luke, and I must say I also love the other comments from the community of gardeners here sharing experiences. MI Gardener seems to draw in some good peeps. 😄

[@pidpit4397]

Thank you. Live in San Antonio, and need to amend my soil here. You have great ideas, and I will be trying them soon.

[@lukelints9776]

Carrots I have seen really can help. Also, planting trees in your garden once your woodchips are established can create microrizal fungi which go down into the clay layer and basically make areas roots grow. Also, asparagus goes down 14 feet into the soil.

[@beskamir5977]

For me, potatoes did a really good job of breaking up my soil. Sure we tilled it a bit to start and threw some organic matter in but we didn't even properly mulch it last year and the soil still ended up really fluffy by the end of the summer. As for asparagus. You just broke my mind about it having 5ish meter roots. That's insane!

[@lukelints9776]

@@beskamir5977 they actually have up to 15 feet for roots and you should look up Korean Natural farming, Chris Trump has some great stuff and you can use water soluble calcium to break up clay layers.

[@michellenobile4199]

This explains so much I didn't know! Thank you!

[@bendmymind486]

Super informative… I learned a lot here as a first-year veggie gardener in clay-heavy soil. I can hurt my lower back trying break up compacted ground, so looking for ways to make it easier eventually. I’m definitely going to plant more radish (great with hummus & dips, besides just in salads), & dandelions- if those are the yellow ones & not the white ones kids “blow”, then a healthy hot tea can be made from them. At the same time, their roots would be helping my soil improve for the future. 👌 Editing to add: I’ve never even heard of gypsum, so that helped me too! TY

[@harryportermills]

The yellow and white dandelions are all the same plant. After the yellow flower blooms it turns into the white seed head.

[@hibiscusdandelionlove7804]

Always grateful for the new info😌

[@halidehall7358]

Thank you

[@pvtrout]

Love your content.

[@brusselsprout5851]

Thank you Luke.

[@Theferg1]

I live in Charlotte NC and my yard is hard as a brick!! I have tried everything to get the grass to grow and cannot figure it out but I have put in a lot more studying and working in and I think I have figured it out so we will see!! To be continued!!

[@itsshwetas]

This is perfect for my parents as they've got clay soil in their area. Shared. Thanks Luke :)

[@ARLITAGARDEN]

I really love to watch your video it's help alot because I am garden lover.

[@robyndurdin6965]

Thanks Luke. I really enjoyed this one, as we have very heavy soils where we are in Australia. Can grow things really well big the ground is like a rock come spring/summer. A lot of information to take into consideration 🥰

[@123sonner]

will do this after removing rock hard clay from a palm and banana shrub area (no bananas but overly successful NZ native palm reaches over the roof of my house and bangs it in the wind., wish me luck

[@rogana5158able]

Thanks Luke 👍🙂

[@TheBobelly628]

Thanks for the tips!!!My soil in NY is so hard like pure clay so much so was thinking of getting a kiln to make pottery 😁

[@rickytorres9089]

Sunflowers and legumes being positive green covers VERY interesting. That there's quite literlaly plants that actually produces more nutrients than they "takes" to grows.

[@dennisthegrower]

Hello good tips. Yes the last way to loosen clay soil is what I use to get ready to plant vegetables. Will first turn and mix composted soil in and plant flowers. Only I use marigolds at first, got all the marigold seeds I need for free from the last years plants. Then in following years plant tomatoes or peppers of different varieties. Till soil looks like it has softened. I have got strawberries growing in soil that I worked that way for a few years. thank you for sharing I watch your videos often.

[@tourismhotspots]

Very nice description to manage hard soil. Among the four methods, the most suitable method is application of vermicompost.

[@gardenstatesowandsew]

Thank you 😊

[@radharcanna]

Great information. Thank you.

[@richards5110]

Don't like compost as mulch. Great way to solarize a good fraction of the microbes out of it. Cover crops are the prime method for loosening soil, beyond the more immediate method of working in large (LARGE) amounts of compost/organic matter. Cereal rye, vetch, sorghum-sudangrass, etc. all build incredible root structures that can bust up the toughest clays, all while pumping liquid carbon in the form of root exudates into the soil to feed the soil life.

[@bryans6539]

Try fava beans and field peas as well. Good for nitrogen fixing, and can be tilled in as a good green manure after. My brother sells CC to farmers, they have a forage mix. Fava, mustard, vetch, field peas, and daikon. But I just did peas and fava in my personal garden.

[@andresamplonius315]

Maybe compost AND mulch as well to protect it... Of course I agree with the idea of cover crops... Gypsum really works to soften up clay I've seen

[@salnenz]

Thank you. Thank you!

[@glendaaddison7262]

Hello from Arkansas. Omg! You’ve explained this so well I finally understand. Lol. All this talk about compost and DIY potting soil mixes was so confusing to me. But you explained the whole process of how and why and now it’s finally clicked in my head. 🤣 Thank you so much! I love gardening and have a green thumb but now my plants will thrive better and I’m not so confused as to why this and why that! Have a great day and keep up the good lessons. It is all so clear to me now! 🌈☀️😎

[@HomesteadDNA]

Great video! We just bought a new homestead and have a 1 acre hay field that we will be converting into garden area. We will definitely be using these methods to improve our soil.

[@luistello1971]

Luke, this is a great video. I learned a lot, so thanks for sharing.

[@hogscattle7877]

Super awesome information! Thank you!

[@Gm-nx9je]

I enjoyed this video and it is helping me to make sense of our soil as I struggle to make a new border. the soil is sooo solid! thank you. I have just subscribed and I look forward to watching more of your videos. all best

[@td2926]

It’s hard to focus on the video, you have one of the most photogenic smiles I have ever seen!

[@lilal3753]

Oh great! Now I'm going to be looking at his smile.

[@td2926]

@@lilal3753 Oops 🙊

[@tyee.5023]

You can use compaction layers to benefit your soil. I saw a farmer who only force tractors on a tiny space, and it was rutted in the rows and all his tractor tires and bredths were fitted to these ruts. These ruts made compaction layers which provided water retention that slow fed water when his beds drained out. Interesting!

[@eileenbrittain7734]

I love the way you explain technically without overwhelming watchers with tmi. I wonder what your background is? We’ve been gardening for 50 years and still learning!

[@ILikeFreedomYo]

Thanks Luke. I needed this info bad and you read my mind. I'll give it a try.

[@canadianeh4792]

One thing you missed that might be considered natural: livestock. Turn out poultry or swine, depending on the size of your garden. They love to dig and poo so if you do a rotational grazing schedule on your cover crop, following behind with your gardening plans you'll have soil that's been fertilized, tilled, and cleaned out of pests. I would say heritage breed pigs do the best job of this, but they will tear up everything in the garden. Chickens are easier to confine and won't tear your beds up. Added bonus: eggs and meat

[@terriperry6360]

I am going to do that next year with my chickens. I'm going to put tunnels in the path portion and rotate it so the chickens can eat and keep the weeks suppressed. I'm kind of worried though about salmonella. I'm not sure how this is going to work.

[@canadianeh4792]

@@terriperry6360 Vaccinate! Talk to your vet about it.

[@tyee.5023]

@@terriperry6360 check out how chick ms get salmonella. Also check out Gabe Brown, he has an audiobook on audible called "Dirt to Soil" and he talks about livestock use instead of tilling and his farmers opinion on vaccination

[@cbasbwoyETP]

Can you till around plants already growing in the garden? Great video! Helpful as always..

[@fantafantanocoke]

Thank you so much for this helpful video!!

[@soulseeker42388]

Dig a few trenches in your garden and put rotting wood and compost in the bottom of that trench and fill with peat moss organic biomass coco coir.. any to fil in the space and make a soild anchor point for that plant and over the years the compost and rotting wood will help feed the soil and bring it back

[@LanNguyen-wy4un]

Thank you, Luke. Wonderful tips.

[@seek2find]

I learned some great stuff about using gypsum, daikon and radishes to help loosen my heavy clay soil. Thanks so much!

[@coldwhitespring5004]

This is gold, thanks!

[@somewhereupthere]

Wow, thanks! I learned so much from this video,a real eye opener. 👍👍👍👍

[@samerwin2503]

Would this apply to a raised bed? I purchased a 'garden soil' mix from a local landscaping company and I noticed that it seemed very heavy once we got rain. Now that its been warm for a few days and its started to dry out, the soil is very hard and cracked in some areas. This had already been placed in my new front flower bed (which I plan on doing sunflowers and zinnias so I'm so happy you mentioned them!). When putting it in my new raised beds, i mixed in a 50/50 of the 'garden soil' and 1/4 screened compost and also layered some potting mix I had left over in the middle and on top. I have also mulched a bunch of leaves and topped the beds with that and hopefully this helps the issue.

[@burkeandsons5]

Yeah, I believe that totally

[@MiTeeVideeO]

MIgardener, YOU are very informative!!! Thank you to the utmost. On video clock-time span > 5:10 - 8:40. Do the evergreen trees, in the background on the other side of the shed, belong to you? Thank you. Howard

[@carlyanne38623]

This video came at the perfect time for me!

[@GLORIAADU-dt4iu]

Thank you, i will try to get it done

[@valboni5709]

Thanks for the info!

[@BlackKettleRanch]

Excellent and efficient video.

[@teresajepsen586]

I really needed this video! Thanks Luke!

[@pascalxus]

Awesome! thank you so much for making this video. this is an important topic for many of us here in CA! personally, i've bought thousands of daikon radish seeds and plan to plant them everywhere. :)

[@bryans6539]

Instead of daikon, try field peas, and fava beans meant for cover crop. You can till them in as a green manure, and they add nitrogen to the soil from their nodes. The daikon is nice to break up the soil, but hard to till in, and not fun to pull up hundreds of them. Alternatively do a mix, with less daikon. I just did peas and fava. My brother sells cover crop to farmers.

[@allaninq]

I discovered one method by accident. I planted turmeric over my clayish, compacted soil. After harvesting them I found the spot just loose and loamy compared to the other areas of my garden.

[@julieshaw6774]

Thanks for the help

[@consciouscrunch5556]

You're a good teacher thanks

[@VayaconDios018]

Wet soil will sponge up with right amendments

[@nickn.332]

Fantastic tips, I watch a lot on this topic and I learned from you here. It's awesome when little things I've noticed line up with your tips, the mulched parts of the garden and areas we let the grass grow out always have far nicer soil than the stuff under a 2" lawn that gets driven over once or twice a week with the mower and gets baked in the summer sun to a brick-like crisp. Now I better know why! Thank you! cheers from east and slightly north of ya in Southern Ontario!

[@Lok_N]

I added tons of organic material, covered the top with wood chip, the soil is a lot better and has tons of earthworms but still a too clay like, will adding gypsum affect the earthworms?

[@tyee.5023]

Put roots in the ground, fiberous things like greens. When you terminate, chop their tops off and let their roots rot in the ground. These roots break clay soil and provides food for decomposers, as well as helping the next plants roots with 'root highways' they can extend.

[@mhawang8204]

Gypsum is a quick fix but clay will still harden over time. Adding organic materials is a better way to go in the long term. It adds other nutrients to the soil and build soil structure. Your soil will grow richer and richer the more you work on building it.

[@journey2asimplelife]

Great video!

[@beckysheetz4343]

really useful. Thank you!!!

[@Jodi9810]

I just bought gypsum a few days ago in an effort to improve the looseness of my soil. I'm not sure how to apply it. I sprinkled a little across the top of each bed along with some worm castings and compost, then covered with shredded leaf mulch. It doesn't seem like enough to do much good, but maybe it will, or needs to be reapplied in similar amounts every few months or so?

[@xyzsame4081]

Why compost beats gysum or sand as a soil amendment (on CLAY) on the Channel Some Room to Grow. Good explanations. Now I have seen the Australian Self Sufficient Me apply a little gypsum when planting saplings into large holes (Australia also has clay). Big hole and two handfulls. He knows of the discussion and adds a little. Allegedly it is only a quick fix.

[@xyzsame4081]

the looseness ? Do you mean structure, pores ? you want substrate that can hold water, is kind of crumby, but still holds together, does not compact when wet, and keeps the pore structure (air for soil life) even when wet. Clay is sticky when wet and hard when dry. - What helps but needs time is working in wood chips. Will bind nitrogen for a while, but over time with give the soil structure, pores and make the dirt into a substrate. If you want to grow in it you have to add extra nitrogen (compost, nettle teas, even fertilizers if they do not damage soil life).

[@xyzsame4081]

Gypsum is a short time fix at best, (that can be O.K. if you want to give a tree time to establish itself in clay). It breaks down fast. Wood chips (this time worked into the clay, which is usually NOT done) on the other hand need some nitrogen management in the first year but their positive effect compounds, it gets only better over time. The material shrinks - so it creates air pockets that invite soil life and add to structure. Then the worms can come in (if you can ONCE go a deep digging you could bury wood chips AND organic matter that is liked by worms, then they will go down - and the moles that eat them follow and creater larger tunnels. Worms are tiny bioreactors when they eat and excrate the dirt / soil the bacteria in their gut add something. That gives structure and water retention capacity.

[@xyzsame4081]

You can put wood chips into clear plastic bags, add water, maybe inocculate them (some rotten wood, or soaking water from such wood) and let them sit outside in the sun. A woman from Iowa says they broke down intro substrate within 2 months. Was a happy accident. Clear bags stored outside, Iowa has plenty of sun in the summer, but also some good rain. The bags let in water, maybe the clear bags were made of a material that breaks down easily in sunlight and rain. Did not (temporarily) bind nitrogen of the soil, there wasn't any around. The only input was solar energy (heat), water, and maybe CO2 and / or nitrogen from the air. (I assume there was some air flow if it gets hot in the bag, the air will expand and stream up / out and fresh air will come in, even if the holes are not large. Either fungi prevail under such conditions that can make do w/o nitrogen, or they get it out of the air - if they must. That substrate would not be high in nutrients for a vegetable garden, it is fungal dominated soil, but improves water retention and structure. And 2 months and plenty of clear bags (I guess black ones would also work), or just making smaller heaps (aearation) and cover them with tarp while letting in some air (plastic pipes with holes maybe to increase air supply). They just have to be moist and warm to work at a high rate. That way you could create good substrate fast - and many landscapers, muncipalities, electricity companies offer wood or wood chips. Often for free. Burying logs, branches, even bramble thorns is an option if chips are not for free or hard to get. Chips will break down faster. Or you borrow a machine to chop up branches. Arboral wood chips are better anyway (twigs smaller branches, needles, even some leaves) they have more minerals and nitrogen.

[@arzuyt1983]

Great useful ideas. Thanks a lot! I was so disappointed with my compact soil. I believe your suggestions will help.

[@the1plantguy]

One thing about no till. It takes time to naturally improve the soil. Several years actually. But it will definitely do the job. Just look at forests. Dig down under an old tree and notice the very dark and rich soil. But it took many years to get like that.

[@cr4zyj4ck]

Exactly. No till works really well on already established soil, like if you have a lawn or some other thick vegetation already growing, putting in a no till bed is easy. But if you have dead, barren earth (hardly soil at all) which permeates so many new housing developments now because the lot pads are all leveled with horrendously stony fill dirt, you'll have to do some work removing stones and integrating organic matter into your beds if you want to start producing this decade. Tilling to integrate compost and other organic matter like wood chips or straw the first year then planting plants with deep taproots and letting those roots rot in place is a good place to start on the path to no till if you're starting with very barren land. Soil amendments like gypsum obviously depend on your soil type (wouldn't add gypsum to sand, for example.)