amending the soil

[Steve Bakken]

Our soil in our flower garden/fire pit is HEAVY clay and black dirt. Even last fall after the drought it was heavy and sticky. We're constantly losing perrenials to root rot. Any suggestions as to what a guy could amend it with?

[Nainoa]

I used to have high clay... Now I have high sand.

What I would do in your shoes is dig out the bed a foot or two below grade. Then I would spread 6 inches of sand.

Fill back in... And then till a modest amount of sand into your clay.

Then make sure you till really good every year to maintain air space in the soil.

Without the air space in post till, you won't get any real drainage no matter how much sand you try to ammend with.

[Dotch]

I know where your Dad lives but not sure exactly where your home is located. It sounds like an internal drainage/water table issue if it was still wet last fall. What kind of perennials are we talking about? South central MN soils are also notorious for their sneaky little high pH spots which can go over 8 at times. That's just in the top 6" so it's generally even higher deeper in the soil profile. Selecting species and cultivars that can handle it if that's the problem becomes critical. A current soil test is the best way to determine that. We're buzzing around the 5 county area frequently so PM me and would be happy to stop and take a look at it sometime, NC.