My dacha is located in the Leningrad region in one of the largest areas. When the territory was developed and plots were handed out to the workers, few people thought about the fertility of the soil. Land was completely unsuitable for gardening for planting. There were no alternative options then, so they had to be content with what they got.
At that time, I got a plot with dense, heavy soil. Clay began immediately under a thin layer of earth and sand. It could be felt during a deep digging of 1.5 bayonets of a shovel. It was very difficult to work with such a substrate. In dry weather, a hard crust appeared on the surface, and in rainy weather, the earth turned into a viscous mass. It is hardly worth writing about the many other shortcomings of such soil. I am sure that they are well known to my reader.
The situation worsened over time. The earth was becoming more difficult to dig, and the roots clearly did not have enough air. The spring cultivation of a vegetable garden generally turned into a real challenge.
To solve the problem, I began to introduce baking powder into the soil. His role was played by quarry sand. The pleasure was not cheap, so the process was slow and the situation practically did not change. Over time, I began to notice that the sand is gradually washed away, going deeper into the ground. The result was very disappointing.
The next attempt was to sow siderata. At first I tried to sow oats in the spring. I dug up the grown culture, and then planted the main plants. The result was not bad, but it was more suitable for improving soil fertility than for loosening. I tried autumn planting of rye after oats. The results were similar.
After several years of trying, I still managed to find the best option. Fallen leaves became the solution to the problem. In the fall, I brought it in for digging at the rate of 1/2 bag per 1 sq. meter of earth. There was an abundance of this on the site, so in one autumn it was possible to cultivate a significant part of the garden. It was the easiest and most affordable method that I have ever tried.
After a couple of years, the ground became much softer. Earthworms began to appear in the soil. The situation began to change for the better. The substrate became loose. In addition, there was another non-obvious plus. The site looks cleaner now. Almost all the foliage went for digging.
The only thing I was afraid of was the appearance of pests and diseases, which theoretically could be in the fallen leaves. However, for all the time of practice, I did not notice much of a difference. As before, the situation changed from year to year. Once upon a time pests pestered more, but once they were not at all visible.
Read also on my website -How to improve clay soil without serious financial costs
I recently got groups In contact with and Classmates, there I post announcements of new materials every day.