Do you have clay soil that is a struggle to work with in your garden?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered...and cover cropped.

We also have heavy clay soil in our garden, and in this article we’ll go over the ways that we’ve been able to transform our soil texture away from clay and to something more workable and lush.

We’ll go over the best regenerative gardening techniques to transform your clay soil and create a healthy, thriving garden.

How to fix heavy clay soil

To remediate heavy clay soil, you’ll need to implement regenerative practices to improve its structure and drainage.

Imagine that you’ve invited hundreds of people over to your house. As people start to pour in, it soon becomes impossible to move around. Everyone is stuck, bottle necked, and packed together. At a certain point, nobody can get through the crowd to reach the door.

This is what it’s like with heavy clay soil. The soil material is so overcrowded and compacted, that water and air cannot get through it.

In order to fix heavy clay soil, you’ll need to break up the soil particles, add organic matter, and build up air pockets within the soil.

How to break up the soil particles in heavy clay (the no-till way):

• Use a broadfork before planting in the spring, or before planting a cover crop in the late summer. A broadfork creates holes in the soil in a way that is far less invasive than tilling. In these holes, air can move through and water can more easily be absorbed.
• Plant a cover crop of daikon radish. The roots of the daikon will break up soil particles, and add organic matter to your soil as it breaks down. Keep the daikon roots in the ground when it’s time to terminate the crop, and mulch over the roots with the green daikon tops. You might need to plant daikon for multiple off seasons, depending on how compacted your soil is.
• Add worm-filled compost as a top layer. If you make your own compost and let it sit for a while, chances are you’ll have some worms taking up residence in your pile. This is a great opportunity to let the worms live their best life tunnelling through your clay soil.

How to add organic matter to clay soil:

• Keep the soil planted year-round. Never let the soil be bare. Keep it planted with a food crop, flower crop, perennials, or a cover crop at all times.
• Practice chop and drop. When harvesting from a plant, remove and drop any green material that you won’t be eating and leave it on the soil. For example, if you’re harvesting a cabbage, pull away the outer leaves and let them be a mulch on the soil.
• Mulch your soil continuously. As the mulch breaks down, be sure to add fresh new layers.
• Keep roots in the ground, when possible. For example, keep the cabbage roots in the ground after harvesting the main head from the plant. Cut the cabbage plant back to just under the soil, and let the remaining parts decompose in place.
• Plant a cover crop for low-cost green manure. In addition to daikon, some high-producing green manure cover crops are hairy vetch and alfalfa.

How to aerate clay soil without tilling:

• Soil Amendments: Add soil amendments specifically designed for clay soils, such as perlite or vermiculite, to improve aeration and drainage. Follow the recommended application rates for these amendments.
• Organic Matter: Add generous amounts of organic matter, such as compost, well-rotted manure, or leaf mold on top of the soil. This improves soil structure, promotes drainage, and increases nutrient availability.

As a regenerative gardener, it’s important to deepen your understanding of soil structure, learn how to improve water absorption and drainage, and to be putting an effort towards adding organic matter to your soil.

These techniques can be adapted to address a wide range of gardening problems, such as water conservation, tending to the soil microbiome, capturing carbon in your soil, and improving overall yield.

Before you go...

Check out our guide to regenerative no-till gardening to further improve the health of your soil

Learn how to transition your yard into a regenerative garden

Follow these guidelines to make fertile and rich compost