How to plant in clay, poorly draining, and compact soils. Proper tools, amendments, and techniques.
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- The products I use - kit.com/HortTube
This video is a detailed description of planting in clay or poorly draining soils. This video shows the gardening tools, soil amendments, and techniques for managing difficult soil situations. Learn how to dig easier in compact soils and the amendments that can improve them in the future.
Jim has over 30 years experience in the green industry and is the current owner of Earthworks Nursery.
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30 Allen Rd. Clayton, NC 27520
I am 77 and am past digging with a pick axe. I use a tulip auger on my drill. Works great!
I use that method too, but also have a 40V cordless posthole digger that I use. Makes perfect little holes for 1 or 2 gallon plantings.
3 point pick rotate it in the hole use as augur
I miss these old videos. Jim knows his stuff. He was all business back then .
I am a new home owner and planned out a garden but was totally overwhelmed, as this is my first time gardening and we have heavy clay as well. No other videos were able to tell me *exactly* what I need to do, start to finish. Your simple but detailed instructions have made me feel confident and excited to start! Thank you so much for this video!
Erin M Us too with the soil. Raised beds for food, and amending ALOT for in ground 😝
Same here in Western CO. I needed to do something fast that wouldn't take years of soil amendments and TIME. We decided to start with small flowerbeds around the front of the house and we ended up shoveling a lot of clay soil out (for the trash), then we bought a variety of soil amendments (miracle grow in ground use, compost, mulch, worm castings) and added as we planted. We mostly eyeballed ratio. I'm not saying this is ideal or right way but our flowers are doing well so far.
I searched 'plant in clay soil' and found this, now I'm hooked on your channel. My broken rake and 3 useless shovels are getting tossed aside as I get me a trenching shovel and fiberglass rake. 😢😁🙏
Easily the best video for planting shrubs in this soil setting!! I love how humble you are as well. Explaining the different bags of material was extremely beneficial! Thank you sooo much 🙏
Thanks to you, I bought a trenching shovel. (Our soil is almost all clay.). My gardening life is much better now.
I know this video is 4 years old but this is exactly what I was looking for tonight!! I almost cried today realizing how much clay is in our front porch to be landscaped. Thank you!! May call you for a consultation!
Ella, you have my deepest sympathy. We have 100 acres of environmental zoned land in the Hunter Valley in Australia. Highly reactive permean (hence the zoning - the are has permean fossils) clay. I warn our visitors - do not stand or drive on anything brown if it's wet! The block is sploped. The house is a suspended cantilevered concrete floor and the shed 2000sqft and is on fill. The earthworks and shed slab were frightening.
I have had my right foot amputated and have had four back ops, so I'll go the tiniest shovel!
I'm learning as a newbie how to deal with it from the gardening perspective.
Good luck in your endeavours. :)
So hard to find such clear and useful information. He's great!
Wow! I just came across this. I live in Central California. So not south at all. But i just bought a 107 year old home. And the soil is very compacted. And sandy too. Its weird. I have been composting so im making some beautiful soil. But the part where he talks about making a "clay pot" really hit me. I did break up soil a bit under my veggie garden. But i cannot even remember the bag of stuff i added??? One bag was mostly woodchips so i put that on top. Now i need to take some notes to really help my plant babies. Thank you all for the help.
Meet too!
This video saved me from making a few costly mistakes. Thank you!
Finally a channel from the south. Most channels that I have found are from the north. Nobody knows clay like a southerner. Great information, I subscribed.
+Cathy Brown Thanks for watching and subscribing
I live in SW Indiana. Although our soil isn’t the red color like that which is found in some southern states...believe me, it is hard, heavy clay.
We have horrible clay soil here in western Oregon. Sticky when it's wet, and during the summer shrinks into a rockhard mass that won't let water permeate. Of course weeds have no trouble growing in it.
Ruth stout method covered with back to eden method and make the land vigorous again. It really is that easy.
@@THEREALInfamousP Unless you are in the a wet and damp area and then you are just creating a slug nursery on that wet clay.
As always, if you ask 12 gardeners, you will get at least 20 different opinions.
RE: tools
I generally feel the old traditional tools have passed the test of time HOWEVER, a while ago I purchased a tool called, THE CLAW. It looks like a long handled digging fork with the tines bent into a corkscrew pattern and with a handle placed cross wise at the top.
What it does is to stur the soil without your needing to lift it. It works great and is far easier on my aching back.
Also-
RE: Organic matter
I suggest using whatever you can get cheaply. In the past, when I had my boat, I would save the seaweed that everyone else swore at. It was full of micro neutriants, it was free
and saltwater weeds will not grow in your garden. Results are amazing. I also use coffee grinds, mixed into the soil-again they are free. Not sure why but they attract earthworms.
The worms work your soil-again for free. At 3:00 the worms stop working. They stop for a coffee break. HAD TO SEE IF ANYONE WAS STILL READING MY LONG COMMENT
Susan Siegel Really 3:00 p.m. or a.m. EarthWorms Stop for Coffee Grinds Break or Something Else like VermiPooping!
Susan Siegel So.... will the worms work any faster if my grounds are from espresso?
Susan Siegel lol I read it and I also use coffee grinds in my soil. My banana plants love them!
ladies and gentlemen the claw is not for CLAY SOIL , this hort guy does have dense compact ground , and I have the densest fine clay that CATS DO NO GO NEAR
Lol...
He reminded me of how much my late Dad loved his rake. He had it for years and years, and as he said "it's had about four new handles and three new heads but it's the best rake ever" :)
Great information! Thanks from a clay yard in Michigan 🙂
This is the most comprehensive guide I've ever come across for planting in compacted/clay soils. I love how you talk through all of the options a person may see at a garden center or even be suggested to purchase by an experienced gardener who forgot to ask enough questions about the planting site. I saved this video so I have something to recommend to friends and family new to planting and especially with new construction homes.
❤
Obviously, I’m late to the party having only discovered your channel within the past year but have to comment that your instructional style is so thorough and you also share an absolute wealth of information, I feel like I’m attending a Master Class. Bravo, Jim! Thank you so much for all that you do.
My husband and I dug a hole for a small tree in our clay soil this weekend ... and we about keeled over! Lol 😂 I purchased many other plants too, but we actually stood there and discussed returning it all back to the store! I kid you not - getting through that wet clay soil (Dallas, TX) made us feel like we were hit by an 18 wheeler! Still working on getting them into the ground bit by bit ... but a pick axe?? GENIUS!!!
I’m fighting clay soil in Dallas too. Ugh! Hope y’all powered through yours and got the plants in!
Wish I had seen this before I planted my hedge in clay soil! Such good info.
So glad to find a southern gardener. I'm in North Georgia...at the base of Stone Mountain. Red clay soil with rocks, rocks and more rocks. Your instructions very helpful. Thanks
Throw water into hole it should disappear if not soi is clay
We have clay here Seattle too - it’s consistency is similar to pottery clay. We “go up.” Meaning, we clear the grass or the mulch, put a layer of cardboard down and then dump a yard or two of compost on top of the cardboard. We plant right into it right away - conifers, perennials, ground covers…The whole thing settles down eventually and becomes ground level with all the other plants. Easy Peezy and no digging. Top it up with a layer of compost every spring. Works like a charm.
I love the mans passion for his rake.
Obviously lives his tools☺💚
This is SO helpful. I moved into a new construction home. Pros: no tree roots to deal with. Cons: red construction filler clay for many inches, so many rocks I don't even know what to do with, sod that doesn't want to grow into a massive slate of rock it was laid on top of, etc. No worms!!! Haven't found a single one. It's so heavy packed and dense, I'm not surprised.
From a former Raleigh landscaper....well done Jim!
So grateful to see a knowledgeable person presenting these correct steps to plant installation and gardening! Thanks!
Your videos are for dummies and I like that. You make your video so simple anyone can understand. Some speak to us novices like we are Martha Stewarts. LOL. THANKS for making your videos Super Simple.
I've been using the wrong soil mix to plant in clay all these years! Local Garden centers don't know what to do either! I knew about digging the clay pot. But I've been working too hard! No more! My parents always won Yard of The Month wherever we lived. Charleston or Columbia, SC. Dad knew everything! Miss him so much! Enjoying your videos! Tam from Columbia, SC.
You shouldn't have to amend even clay soil. It's the earth. Plants know how to grow in it and clay soil is chock full of nutrients. But you do need to choose the right plants.
This video was super helpful. I bought all the tools and came home and hit my hard flower bed with the pick axe. It worked like a charm. Thanks, Jim!
You Sir, are a master of the clay! I have struggled many years with the southern clay soil. After watching your video, I think that my planting will greatly improve! Thank you!
I thought you were going to cry and hug your tools! ❤
Very helpful! the small details you pointed out are exactly what I needed. Thanks for sticking to pertinent info and not talking about unrelated things like your pets or your vacations like some will do, allowing us all to learn from you quickly and then get out to the garden to do the work we intended.
👍🏼
I just moved to an area with clay soil for the first time and failed miserably at planting my first shrub. Couldn’t even dig the hole and really made me question my self worth 🤣 Thank you for this video, it was exactly what I needed!
your worth it. go for a swim and learn yoga.
Amazing show and tell. Love the fact that you actually demonstrated everything .
I am so grateful for this video! Where would my plants be without this?? 😵💫 Thank you!!
A pick ax! Duh! Im so thankful for this. Im turning up way too much compacted clay and rocky earth to amend it for a raised garden bed and between a spade shovel and pitch fork I was going to lose my mind. Back to work tomorrow
SO grateful for our fellow Americans that help us learn the ropes on this kind of stuff....THANK YOU!!
I live in San Antonio, Texas the soil is very horrible here. The video was very straight forward easy to follow instructions for planting in clay soil. I liked that he tells you what tools to use and why. I was using a regular shovel to dig my was I struggling. So I came here for information. To the store I go to buy a trench shovel.
Very nice demonstration of planting in clay soil. This is a very common problem in many areas of the country.
Thanks so much for uploading this very educational video!! One never stops learning no matter how many years a person has been gardening.
This video has helped me so much! Clay conditioning soil has really made the biggest difference with my gardening.
I have heavy clay soil and come back to this video year after year for a refresher whenever I'm planting new shrubs. Thanks for the info!
Thank you for explaining how to use the “tools” and your soil mixing technique.
Oh dear, I've been doing this all wrong. I have been using good soil conditioner that I get at my nursery, but I've been adding cow manure as well and a lot of it with the soil conditioner. I'll mix it really good with the red clay until it looks and feels like cake mix. My new landscape seems to be doing fine, but I want to do it correctly moving forward. So glad I came across this video.
I think you’ll be ok; especially if you are doing whole beds. He’s talking about digging holes directly in nearly pure clay which can form a bowl from which water can’t evacuate from.
Jim,you are so correct on a trenching shovel in clay. It made planting several trees in clay much easier. Thanks for teaching an old man (me)new tricks.
I just bought 7 camellias from Southern Living, the October Magic Dawn variety. I’ll use this video to plant them in my front bed.
Tuscaloosa, AL
Thanks!
As we embark on landscaping our front yard ourselves, this is truly helpful, and I so appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with the world! Thank you!
EXCELLENT illustration for planting.
I'm excited I found this video and your channel. I'm a new homeowner in the Clayton/Wendell area and your videos are almost tailor-made for every yard project I've been taking on this spring. I wish I'd seen it before I planted all my blueberries and hydrangeas in 50/50 peat moss and mulch!
Thank You Thank You Thank You! I bought a very old house with very established plants and weeds that I don't want hanging around. I really don't have the budget for a landscapers and as a city girl I have no idea what I'm doing and have been battling these these for over a year. I've been watching your videos all day and my goodness. Just thank you!
Thank you from southeast TN finally someone addressing issues with our soil. Great video keep it up.
Thank you. Glad to help.
This type of "Pickax" is actually called a "Pulasky" after one of the founders of the US forest service, started under Teddy Roosevelt. The sharp end is the "pickax" and the other wide spade-like end also needs sharpening and is for chopping and pulling roots and trail maintenance, also for quickly digging holes when planting a swath of reseeding seedlings and for digging out buried fires under trees during forest fires. (A forester in the field got to carry one tool - if they were lucky). Forest rangers are really badass. I met some in Big SUR during Sobraines Fire. btw great videos, this and others very well done !! THANKS !!
I'm back! This video is such an informative one that I wanted to come back for a refresher view. Videos like this, I like to put in my arsenal of HOW TO videos on how to do things the right way! To bad I can't give it a thumbs up each time I watch it!.👍
May I just say, I love it that you’re a landscaper and still have such an amazing garden. My step dad is a landscaper and he rarely has time to garden. He says he’s lucky if he gets to mow the lawn lol
Thank you for sharing this guidance about planting in clay. We're in Northern VA with all clay soil which is a bit of a shock when gardeners first move here (myself included) This is truly helpful so I'll share it with others.
This was very helpful for me today. Thanks for a clear and easy instruction video.
I am so glad I found your channel - all of these are incredibly helpful. And you helped me realize how many things I’ve already done wrong in my clay soil... thank you!!
Thanks for this great video! I’m a Dukie and would swear I’m hearing a central NC accent. Feel like I’m hearing home. Will now be a subscriber forever!
I have just recently cleared out an 80 square foot flower bed at the front of the house, and have dreaded the task of dealing with that clay soil. Thanks SO MUCH for posting such informative and helpful videoes. I'm learning a lot, trying to get inspired to put a few things in the ground come fall. Thank you!
Hi kohomada
You are a god send. We live in wake county, with clay soil and I felt powerless. You empowered me!
Thank you so much for this! It is exactly what I needed to do well in my area. I had been making all the mistakes you warned of for two years. So glad my wife found this!
Awesome. Thanks for watching
Lol turns out I was also using all of the things he says not to use 😂
So helpful! You don't see many videos about planting in clay soil.
I love your program. I live in Oklahoma where we have clay soil also. We do not get the abundance of rain you do so the gardening is a bit different even though the zone is the same. Your common sense style of teaching, along with your important details such as proper tools to use, are very helpful. Thank you for your hard work. Peggy B
Thanks for all the information you share. My husband and I love to see your videos.
Just moved here from Oregon and I’m thrilled to have found your channel, Jim. A virtual wealth of great information. After spending my first
year thru the seasons I’m ready to make a few changes in the yard and your channel will help me avoid a bunch of uninformed mistakes. Thank you.
Welcome. Thanks for watching
Revisiting this video three years later bc ice recently moved and the soil is much more clay based. Ughhh. Thankfully your channel is helping me deal with it.
Outstanding instructional video at a basic level that is easily understandable. Your efforts, skills and shared knowledge are sincerely appreciated. THANKS
+john kulcsar Thank you for watching and commenting
Thank you. Very helpful!
agree
!
Thanks for the soil ammendment recs! At 59, I discovered my cordless recip. saw with old wood pruning blades made chopping through roots much easier. Cut to digging post holes for fencing and yes, I used the recip to loosen soil! Actually, I like it using a post hole digger to dig shrub, tree, plant holes. Yes, I am lazy and my rotator cuff is shot!
So happy that I found your videos! Moved to Raleigh little under a year ago and did not realize how much clay based soil is here. Fantastic video and very informative!
I've lived at this house for 30 years and just really got in true gardening the last two years with a room addition on the back. I'm so glad I saw this video, I know I've made a mistake on the amendments so I'll address that going forward. Also, everyone laughed at me last year when I was using a pick axe to dig - now I can tell them all - Jim does it! 😁
Yeah it feels weird using a pick axe but after you use it you never go back! It's a necessity in hard soil.
Thank you for the advice. I'm new to working with rocky clay soil and find that digging a single hole was difficult and time consuming. I believe your tips will help me a lot!
Im in NC too and just beginning the journey of try to fix the planting areas of the house I've lived in for 20 years. I had no idea how challenging it would be!
Thank you!! Very useful. I live in Spain, Mediterranean zone and I just bought a house in the countryside with plenty of space to plant lots of trees and plats. I like very much your videos, you give a very detailed explanation which I will follow :)
Thanks for watching.
Malena valcarcel - Please be aware the moist retention capability of clay. Might be a small advantage in your particular location. Same for the manure/composts you´ll want to use. Check before amending your soil. ;-)
Cheers
Just moved to East TN and so glad I’ve found this channel! So different from what I needed to know in the SW.
Instead of a pic ax which does work, I have found my pitch fork much more productive. Work smarter not harder😅 The pitch fork breaks up a larger area and is about the same size as the shovel. Also if I'm adding soil condioner the pitch fork allows me to easily mix into the clay like a blender. Then I use my shovel to remove the new improved soil, add the shrub, back fill it with the improved soil. Easy peezy😉💕 tfs! Im enjoying your videos!
Peat Moss is an amazing amendment as long as its not just clay you're mixing in with it. Grab that compost (home made or store bought), I use a little sand, peat moss, and pine bark fines mixed together to boost the acidity a bit. The soil always ends up very well draining and holds a lot of moisture.
FINALLY AN ANSWER! Zone9b clay soil here in So Cal. Thank you! I have a 20ft H x 80ft W slope that has pre existing fruit and hedge planted up high on the ridge. I have only tackled small shrubs down close to the retaining wall base, so far - for fear of failure. Thank YOU, I have been searching for this SPECIFIC advice!
Nice to hear someone talk abt the area. I'm in Kdale and digging in this clay is terrible! But I planted those trees! Good vid!
I just want to thank you, for everything! I’ve been doing this major project, all by myself, now- I’m doing the fun stuff.. landscaping.
Thank you!!
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful as I live in Virginia. I need to say you are always out of breath so I hope your health is okay. We need you man!
Jean Fagan
Might be nerves. I get out of breath when I have to speak because I'm terrified!
So happy I found you! I'm in North Carolina and my new home has all hard red clay. I was so excited to plant flowers, shrubs and trees until the first time I tried. I have barely planted anything because it is so difficult. Not enjoyable at all! This is so helpful!
Awesome video - very helpful to me in Southwest GA with the rich red/orange clay soil.
Thank you so much for producing this very informative video. It was EXACTLY what I needed to know to get my plants into the ground where they will actually survive!
Clay and rock 😔 they don't call it Rock City here for nothing. I've lived here 30 years and over the years I had my sons dig holes in this "dirt" and they said if they had to plant one more tree they were not going to mow the yard anymore 😁 😉 I've been retired for a year and I'm going to make my ugly old small backyard into a beautiful garden and I've learned a lot from you.. thank you
Thank you for this. It was easy to understand and so helpful. Greetings from Kansas, where the soil is clay.
Thank you for a detailed, no waffling nonsense explanation.
I've watched several videos and they just waffle, I watched one with the title of converting clay soil to black and he talked for 15 minutes about various plants and never mentions the word clay once. He just talked about the plants he had, nothing to do with the soil.
Mattock. Excellent video, probably the best on youtube. Clay soil is a terrible problem in southern Australia as well.
We have moved to the land of clay soil and have a lot to learn. Thanks for all the good information
Thank you Jim for sharing your knowledge about planting.
I live in SW Washington and have that yellow/orange clay too. We get a lot rain so battling moss on the surface and clay underneath is a little tricky. Thanks for the tips because that clay is only a couple inches below the topsoil and it’s a monster to battle.
Same here! I moved here in 2021 and I’ve wasted $$$ planting things like hostas and peonies that just didn’t grow🤷🏽♀️
U made the explanation very simple and easy for understanding. Well done Sir.
What a great video. So much extremely valuable information in 25 minutes. Thanks!
+Ashish Borkar Thank you very much.
Hi
Thank you for this detailed and easy to follow planting guide. I live in nevada and have very hard I assume clay like soil I will definitely be adding soil amendments thanks to you. My nursery will be able to tell me what we need for our soil here in Nevada. Great video 👍🏾 I learned a lot. 😊
Excelente video. Felicidades. Para los amantes de las Camelias. AquÍ en México City es difícil conseguir La Camelia Sasanqua y sus variedades. Pero la zona central de MÉXICO es maravillosa para cultivarlas. Me gusto su video.
Thanks for this! My tree guy just planted a 6 foot Osakazuki Japanese Maple in my clay soil in Northern Virginia and accidentally topped it off with a bag of potting soil instead of mulch. I think I will go out tomorrow and scrape away the potting soil. Darn. Glad I saw this video.
Jim (and others reading), you may be interested in what I did today with some of our clay soil in the backyard. I dug a hole to plant an apple tree (it is spring here in Australia) and removed quite a lot of clay and planted the tree into a combination of compost mixed with quality garden soil. The clay was dug out in chunks, each roughly 4 inches in diameter. I've placed them out of the way behind some shrubs for now. I put a few chunks of clay in a bucket and filled the bucket with water, The water went brown immediately and believing clay to be full of good minerals, I tipped the brown water into a watering can and watered the vegetable garden and the newly planted apple tree. Hopefully this will give the vegetables and apple tree a boost. I mulched the apple tree after planting it, with wood chips.
I saw this video a couple of years ago after I had just moved to Alabama. I want to thank you for this advice of using soil conditioner as it has been a game changer for my garden. I feel very confident about the time and money that I spent on several trees, shrubs, conifers etc., because of the good advice that you shared. Thank you again! You are the best in my opinion.
I live 30mins from Raleigh and yes we have clay soil here! I was using regular shovel to dig and omg yes it was hard to dig lol I didn’t see or find your video till now 😒 but thank you for sharing I know proper tools to use now
I’m glad you are showing us
Hi Jim,
i think and important point to mention is that when your digging that close to electrical services you should call dig rite first and have them come out and mark the lines so that you don't accidentally slice into a electric line and possibly fry yourself and or get killed.
Plz tell me the flower name
@@khademulislam510 camelia
I saw the title of your video & just had to watch. I'm in Colorado so a totally different environment. However, I found so much great info in your video (you're a great teacher) that I had to subscribe!
I have always wondered if I was damaging the tree roots when I run into them when planting new shrubs. Also my NC clay is full of rocks in all sizes. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us.
I read an article that discussed cutting roots. The rule of thumb is that a root can be cut if it's about 3x the diameter of its tree away from the base of the tree. If I can cut a small root underground with digging tools, I don't worry about harming its owner. ;)
I always cut the roots because I have to, there's so damn many of them in my yard
Praise Jesus we found you! Thank you SO much for all the great instruction and presenting it in a down to earth humble manner. LOVE your videos! Headed for new fiberglass handled tools. I too have been doing it all wrong, and the hard, expensive way. Tytytytyty!
What I’ve learned from old-school Japanese gardeners and bonsai nursery owners for planting in clay/compact soil... gypsum powder 😉
Improves drainage and loosens/aerates clay
Adds beneficial calcium
Flushes out excess sodium buildup
Less Talk, More Delicious thx, is it a natural thing?
Can you add Gypsum to an already planted tree?
It is natural. It's mined from the earth, Ashley Good.
Cara Buchanan yes. It’s soluble enough that it’ll wash into the soil next time it rains hard.
I live in a section of Hillsborough NC where the soil is not only orange-red clay but also completely compacted, and I therefore avoid buying anything but baby plants so as to avoid having to do the impossible, namely dig a decent-sized hole. Thanks to you, though, I just learned I've been using the wrong end of the pickaxe! But still... digging holes in this area, not for the faint of heart! 😄