Southern clay soil. ugh.

[SeniorCitizen]

If jugs can't be viewed i guess the site has more problems than i thought . #25 and #28 show quart jars as sample photos .

 

[StarTech]

No problem here seeing the images. But of course I am using Firefox with ABP and NoScript engaged. Others may be using different systems too. But I think the comment was an off the wall one as nothing was noted as top soil. Noting that top separates into different layers and won't stay as one layer.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

Of course nothing will be independently labeled as top soil . So what is top soil and how deep does one dig to get to the bottom of top soil ? # 25 pic is a mixture of soil down to 6 " or 8" where grass roots often thrive. If there is a top soil there may be bottom soil but i don't know where it is and have never tried to find it . I've dug 3-4 ft. post holes and would swear i was close to bottom soil , but i have no proof so i usually don't mention it .

 

[StarTech]

How much you have of top soil layer is variable. Say you are top of a hill then you have a lot less then if you were at the bottom of same hill. I have seen subsoil to right the top ground where erosion has washed away all the top soil.

 

[RayMcD]

You will have to enrich the soil with some sort of compost to break the clay down. Cotton gins or sawmills will have an abundance of rotten cotton hulls or seeds and sawmills will have piles of rotten sawdust. Each will either give it away or sell it at a reasonable price. Tip the loader after he's loaded you and the next trip you'll see larger loads than you paid for. Disc it into your soil well. Bermuda or zoysia is a good southern grass.

Bermuda and Zoysia do well in the Atlanta area of GA. Bermuda will take over and choke out Zoysia if give the opportunity from my experience.

 

[7394]

No problem here seeing the images. But of course I am using Firefox

Same here I see the images in glass jars, guess I'm used to about 12" of Black Top Soil. I live next to a dairy farm & get all the good stuff we need. When we moved here about 18 or so years ago the Farmer asked if we needed any fertilizer (poop) So I said Yes, he said can you spread it, I said not easily. He offered his Ford tractor with box blade in back, I spread it over the whole property. Was a bit rich, but it kicked in & really was game changer.

 

[RayMcD]

Same here I see the images in glass jars, guess I'm used to about 12" of Black Top Soil. I live next to a dairy farm & get all the good stuff we need. When we moved here about 18 or so years ago the Farmer asked if we needed any fertilizer (poop) So I said Yes, he said can you spread it, I said not easily. He offered his Ford tractor with box blade in back, I spread it over the whole property. Was a bit rich, but it kicked in & really was game changer.

If you want to try something really rich get ourself a load of chicken poop. Honestly my Dad threw away the shovel afterwards, it took paint off the bed of his truck. r

 

[MyGrassHasCrabs]

If you want to try something really rich get ourself a load of chicken poop. Honestly my Dad threw away the shovel afterwards, it took paint off the bed of his truck. r

Yeah, that stuff works great, but the smell is a deal breaker

 

[SeniorCitizen]

I haven't seen any pics of anyone's clay top soil in a jar . Jars must be scarce . lol

 

[bertsmobile1]

Chicken poop is best composted before use bit it is not much use on clay soils
The best thing is to add sand in the form of sandstone crusher dust or plain crushed sandstone, it is very cheap.
Clay is clay because of the crystal shape , size and uniformity
Adding gypsum alters the crystal shape chemically
Adding sand alters the uniformity
Cheapest gypsum is old plaster board ripped out of houses run through a coarse shredder
Very fibrous things like palm fronds chopped up & rotary hoed into the soil will also help
Just rotary hoeing in arbourist waste ( chipped ) will make a big difference but make sure when you work the coil you make a slope as clay coils will not drain so if you work it dead flat and get a lot of organic matter into it you have just created an inland swamp every time it gets wet