What happends when you add lime to clay soil?
Question:we want to be able to plant shurbs and bushes? Want to know when we can start to plant shurbs and bushes when adding lime?
Answers:
a soil test(contact your Extension office in your county to get one done!!) will tell you how much or IF you need lime in your clay soil..if it IS added, it's only a sprinkle on top of the soil or mixed into the clay. it doesn't change the workability of the soil!.... what you DO need is compost!!... and plenty of it!.compost breaks up the clay, feeds the plants as it decomposes, draws in the worms to do the good things they do, and if you will top-dress yearly with more compost, your soil will soon become like that found in the forest!....
mix the compost with your clay soil until you get a workable soil... it should be not quite as soft and fluffy as potting soil, but close!. here in my NC red clay, I use thirds. one third my soil, one third compost and one third a finely shredded pine bark(soil conditioner).. that's gotten me something very good to plant in.((. Please do not use 'peat moss'.. the combination , if it ever dries out completely, makes your clay into brick and it's miserable to try to soften it again!.the shredded pine bark does the same thing, that of opening up the clay to water, but does a much better job of it than peat.sand is also a brick-maker, unless it's mixed with compost and soil conditioner to make a better-draining soil mix than that without sand. again, sand and clay make bricks...))
It depends on the grade of lime you add to the soil. First, lime is only ground up limestone rock. The finer it is ground, the faster it works. It changes the PH level of the soil, enabling the soil to release the nutrients your plants need. The finer grades can 'burn' the plants more easily. Check your local garden center for the grade best appropriate suited to the plants you want to plant. (You probably should do a soil PH ((acid/alkaline)) test to determine how much lime is needed for YOUR particular soil. Work the correct amount into the soil when you dig the hole to plant, water it in, then go ahead and plant.
First things first. If you want to plant anything in clay soil, it has to be amended because moisture will not penetrate clay soil, nor will it leave. That means you purchase peat moss ... and lots of it. Half soil to half peat moss is a good starting mixture. This will loosen the mixture and allow moisture to penetrate. Only then do you think about adding lime, an important component that will raise the Ph level to a workable number. Lastly, wait until the clay soil is relatively dry. If it's wet, and you try to work in some peat moss, you'll just end up with the worlds biggest ball of clay mud with a bunch of peat moss stuck to it ... and still have never separated any clay.
Lime is used to correct pH imbalance in soils, not to correct texture issues such as too much clay.
For clay, you should dig down and turn in sand (for texture that helps prevent the clay from easily rebonding into larger clumps) and compost (for both adding nutrients lacking in clay soils and texture.)
Do this by hand with a good shovel. Do NOT use a rototiller - it will create a slurry that may make things even worse.
Good luck-
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gypsum sand and small mulch will do the best job of breaking up you clay soil. the lime is just a ph balancer, and may not be called for--do a soil test first.
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