For the first time in about 4 years, I have all 4 of my vegetable troughs planted with vegetables. But boy, that 4th one was tough.
It was solid clay, growing weeds. Even worse than the others I’d dealt with. I started hacking at the surface, and the clay was just breaking into large lumps.
I did try breaking it up, but it was solid, so I decided to remove the top layer.
This is some of what I took out
And here is some more
And here is the trough afterwards.
Anyway, it was back-breaking work, and when I went to fill the trough up, it took 2 50L bags of soil conditioner, and 120L of of compost. I’ve just finished planting it with lettuce and my remaining Brussels Sprouts plants, and this is how it looks. A lot better!
It should be noted that clay contains lots of nutrients, and is great for water retention, which is why I am happy with the amount of clay I have let there. But the soil conditioner should also work some magic on it, and although this year might not be ideal, as I am mostly growing in the top layer of compost, future years will be much improved.
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