[Snap Dragon]

Sorry if this seems like a real billy basic question but as it's my first year doing this here goes...  :oops:

My plot was roughly rotavated a few weeks ago but with all this warm dry weather it's forming a crust on it... it's a clay type soil.

I don't have enough stuff to cover it all over and am hoeing and raking as I put stuff in.

The stupid question is... I would like to try and get my soil as fine as possible to sow seeds in but is there a knack to it? I've raked it over but get left with lots of pebble sized bits of soil that don't break down. I've been removing them and piling them up in a corner. I don't want to create a dust bowl by overdoing the raking and end up doing more harm than good! And I don't want to lose too much soil! I could borrow a smaller rotavator and go over it again but have heard that too much rotavating ruins the soil.  :?

So getting back to basics... what's the best way to prepare soil for sowing?

[gobs]

Wait till Monday's or whenever, where you are, rain and then give it a raking, etc. that should do it, might not look it, but seeds will come up in it, unless you sow them too deep.

[willnbirdie]

Hi

I could of asked this question too - we are new to allotmenteering and are finding it hard to get rid of lumps as you say roughly pebble size, our soil is slightly clay too.  We dug over by fork not rotavator.

We have been moving lumps back to the side but would be interesting in a good way of getting rid of them - someone suggested adding some sharp sand?  :?

Will be keeping an eye on this post

willnbirdie

[Gareth J]

I have heard that adding lime in the autumn helps, but i am very new to this so someone with more experience can confirm or laugh at this

[Snap Dragon]

Hi

I could of asked this question too - we are new to allotmenteering and are finding it hard to get rid of lumps as you say roughly pebble size, our soil is slightly clay too.  We dug over by fork not rotavator.

We have been moving lumps back to the side but would be interesting in a good way of getting rid of them - someone suggested adding some sharp sand?  :?

Will be keeping an eye on this post

willnbirdie

Phew.... glad I'm not the only one then!  

I'm creating quite a nice little soil pebble mountain!

It's one of those questions you think about but feel too stupid to ask!  :oops:


I've got lime in the shed and will hopefully get manure at some point this year so I'm hoping to improve the soil during Autumn and Winter.

[compostqueen]

there's moisture under that pebble     I don't think you need graded grains to sow successful crops    you can riddle it to get it fine enough to sow in.  The left over bigger bits of soil are fine so you can chuck them on the beds where it doesn't matter, eg the rough stuff like courgettes, squashes, corn, beans  

[muntjac]

you can use lime in winter to seperate the clay particles and for now just use sharp sand a good shovel full to the sq yard .then water n rake it next day .do this a couple times and it should break em up .adding humus cheap peat loke material etc will also help

[Snap Dragon]

you can use lime in winter to seperate the clay particles and for now just use sharp sand a good shovel full to the sq yard .then water n rake it next day .do this a couple times and it should break em up .adding humus cheap peat loke material etc will also help

I've got lime in the shed ready for later on in the year........ do I just rake it into the soil and leave it to do it's stuff?

I'll send hubby out for some sand this week to make things easier for now.

[muntjac]

depends on what you want to plant .id leave it till winter anyways as the weather will wash it in,dont plant spuds on it though next year ,you bcan the following year with no ill affects  

[compostqueen]

Sharp sand or grit sand is ever so good.  I found some on the plot that my old man had stored in my shed so nicked it and mixed it with soil and homemade compost. It really helped break up the clayey soil.  I did it when the soil was moist though which helped

[noshed]

If you bash the surface with the back of your fork, this is more effective than raking (Allan Titchmarsh tip). Also I sow small seeds in rows with a bit of compost or old grow bag in the bottom. Then put a bit more on top.

[lincspoacher]

Thats interesting.

When i first started playing with seeds, i sowed them in finely screened loam.

The piles of pebbles left over i used for the bottoms of pots, and the larger lumps of partially composted bark etc i chucked into the compost bin.

[Snap Dragon]

I wondered about putting the lumpy bits on the compost heap but didn't know if they'd break down.

At the moment I've been piling any old rough bits under the hedge at the bottom of the plot to stop any unwanted neighbours from the outside world coming through!

[bb_odiham]

I've got really chalky soil and have spent hours and hours with a garden sieve getting out the larger bits of stone and chalk.

The effort has really been worth it.

What I try to do is to ensure that I get as much soil off the lumps of chalk/stones as possible before discarding.

It's like panning for gold

I replace the "lost" soil bulk with organic compost and rake and mix in well, repeating every few days.

The result is soil that grows things incredibly well - iow, the hard work pays off in the long run.

Of course, all this "know how" is just me reading it up in books and applying it (and some experience from a disasterous first start last year)