My heart goes out to you tinbasher.. As I said in a previous reply I did manage to improve the clay enough to now have good mixed borders - but it was backbreaking work..
All I need to do now is to plant some fruit trees, I wouldnt even contemplate digging out huge areas!! the veg beds we have in that area are all raised and filled with bought top soil and compost.. (not cheap! 
)
The upside of the clay is of course that once improved, it does make a fantastic growing medium - roses love it!
I'll see if I can get some before and after pics on here..
Tina
Oh don't worry about me. No - be envious of me
- cos I've done it all now and the results still give me a warm glow. Yep, as bad as it is, it isn't half pleasing when it's been dealt with. You know you never need go there in anger again. I've never tread on any of the area either since it was done, (apart from one or two slips). I bolted a heavy 3" x 3" angle iron to the wall all down the 27 foot length, and set flags on edge to protrude a foot beyond the soil level at the other side along the pathway. A scaffold plank spans the gap - can just about lift it comfortably from one end if I need to remove it, but once resting on the angle iron it can be moved along by flipping it over and over sideways along the plot. I generally remove it in winter so as to store it upright in a sheltered place, but otherwise it's usually in position at the end of the plot. The soil can still be worked by fingers if need be. A fork goes through it like a knife thru butter. It's excellent and I'm glad I went to all that trouble. The plank method is good for developing a sense of balance too and it also raises you automatically a foot above the soil level so harvesting high growing beans and such is easier as well. Sowing seeds in drills across the width can be achieved by lying face down on the plank and getting up close with the earth. If it's sunny enough, it's even been known as a good place for 40 winks
- stretched out on a warm plank like a leopard on a branch.
I'm actually dealing with the other side of the path at the moment. Between my path and the old lady next door there's a 2 foot width of earth (ie, clay) along which is the division fence. I told her last summer I'd replace the fence over autumn/winter but do it properly and dig out all the clay as deep as I did the garden and then we could grow fruit along it. She agreed - heartily. Why did I open my mouth? The area is a 36 foot run. It's only 2 feet wide I thought, only a qtr of what I dealt with on the main patch, though it is 9 feet longer. Hmm. Anyway, I'm halfway there at the moment and have 6 raspberry canes in the first 9 foot and a Tayberry in the next 9 foot. Only 18 feet more to go and no time to do it in.
I went to the allotment on Sunday and dug out a trench 32 feet by 2 feet by a spade's depth. I nipped back up there at lunch-time today to check on how much water if any has collected (I'm glad it's rained since in a way). A couple of members there today who weren't present on Sunday find it hard to believe I did it all with a spade in an afternoon. One of them is convinced I brought some sort of digger. :shock: Obviously all that lot in the garden has trained me into some sort of clay removal machine.
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January 02, 2009, 21:27