Oh my, I'm not the only one. How are your plants doing in it?

I've similar problems here.
Also, there are layers of red Ironstone beneath the topsoil that I had to remove. Glad I got most of that removed years back when I was young enough and strong enough to do it. Don't imagine I could now if I was just starting my gardens. The soil in my back yard is like yours in the photos. All summer it is like concrete. I cannot dig down more than an inch without using my Maddox (my Mad-Axe, he he he), so now is the time of the year to dig it out while we are getting some autumn moisture, if I'm going to it at all that is.

I have bags of tulips and other bulbs to get set out too. I meant to do that in October, but with Papa in the hospital and all, there was no time when the time was right.

It was supposed to sunny and warm today, highs in the 70s, but it started out a bit cooler with overcast skies, but the weatherman said 70s, so set the AC to come on if the temps got up there. It was in the upper 50s and I only needed a tee shirt. Really pleasant fall day. My friend Bill said I could come over and get all the oak leaves and sand I wanted at his place, so, I drove over to the Spider Dome (A really cool speak-easy out in the countryside about 20+ miles from here) this morning bright and early, and got fifteen 50 lb.feed bags packed full of Oak leaves and about 50 pounds of that good, rich sandy loam, with the intent of digging it all into the gardens and setting out the spring bulbs. Came home, unloaded everything, had a quick, healthy bite to eat. It was getting chilly out, so put on a warmer, long-sleeved shirt and headed out into the garden to do some digging and planting and maybe move shrubs and etc., and I'll be dog gone if it didn't start to rain on me. I'm glad for the rain, but gee whiz! What happened to my sunny skies and 70 degrees we were supposed to get today? Foiled all my plans! Phooey!

I came right back inside, made some fresh, hot coffee and turned the heat back on. It chilled me to the bone. Bummer...

It can never be easy...indeed!
I feel for you Regina. Yes, I do!
~Annie

I have same soil here. Clay has some good properties but one must work the soil at exactly the right time, which does not always fall on the days that we have off or can work the garden. But from your pix it seems the soil was too wet that day. Yes, if too dry, one must use a pickaxe. I literally did that before I learned of the right moistness of the soil. One garden guru and author (Felder Rushing)says it must be the consistency of moist chocolate cake. But I just say it must be very slightly damp and crumbly. If it clods up like pottery clay then it is too wet. Of course keep adding organic matter it really does improve things over time. Mulch with organic matter too. You are right to dig hole 2-3 x as wide as the rootball but no deeper. Also situate the plant very slightly above soil level for drainage. Good luck and hang in there.

I happily admit that parts of my yard is the best soil you can imagine. soft sweet sandy loam. So rich in organic matter, filled with fat juice worms. Thanks to years of composting :)

Then there's the REST... A thin layer if silt on shale that probably goes a mile deep. I need a garden fork and a bucket to dig a hole. It's back breaking work. I fill the holes with good soil, then plant. I'm sure it's better than clay, but it's definitely never easy.

I find that there are many shrubs and lots of trees that do quite well in this type of clay. As for my perennials and annuals I have to dig up the soil and mix with or replace with top soil and compost.
One good thing about it, you can dug a pond without using a liner. We did this years ago.
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Gasp!!! Regina! I think you just blew my mind with building a pond without a liner! That is so neat, and such a great idea. Is the second pic also a pic of the pond you made? How big is it?
CMK

CMK, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but I was trying to find some other pictures of my pond but I'm not having any luck.
The second picture is the same pond. Don't you just love that turtle! I am really bad at estimating the size but when I can get out there and do some measuring, I'll let you know. The pond is in a part of my yard where I used to keep my horse(he died a few years ago). It is not fenced in so the deer walk right in it and eat the water lilies and the heron eat all my frogs. It is a haven for wildlife. By the end of the summer, it's usually bone dry and with the melting snow and spring rains, it fills up again. My biggest problem are the cattails, they take over and we have to keep digging them out. The water is always clean and there are no mosquitoes.
I would like to build a pond in the area where my flower beds are but that's a project for later.

Thanks for the info! How awesome is it that you have turtles and other neat wildlife attracted by it?! I have to say, I am a wee bit envious of your pond ;-) I love how naturalistic AND realistic it is- if I were to make a pond it would be like yours. Could you take a dip in it, being so clean? I've always thought it would be neat to have a pond you could swim in (whith no chemicals!) as well as enjoy aesthetically.

That would be great, having a pond actually in your garden. Would the ground around it stay wet/moist? If so, that would open up a world of cool bog and wetland plants for you to grow and collect (see how I like to enable! Lol!) ;-D
CMK

WOW that is amazing! Now I kinda wish I had clay soil.
The turtle is adorable. I love to here the frogs sing at night in the summer.
Kudos on making lemonade out of lemons
:) Laura

Most of my "neighbors" out here have natural ponds. Mostly, they are for their cattle, horses, goats, and Alpacas, but one neighbor 1/4 mile up the road, built one in her front yard. It is large and the driveway circles around it. There are cattails and other plants. It is wading-deep. She says she wades out in it to thin the cattails every couple of years. I asked her about the water snakes and poisonous water snakes. I wouldn't like having it that close to my front door. She said, no problem. She just sits on her front patio and "Pops them off" with her gun when she spies one in or near the pond.

I have long been wanting to build one up in the meadow above our house - a natural arroyo (as we called them in So. Calif). We are in the fly-path of many migratory birds, including Canadian Geese, Inland Terns, Marsh Hawks (that nest each spring in the Big Wood) and Mallard and other other species of wild duck. Also there are the deer and wild turkeys that live out here. It has been my dream, but couldn't afford to pay someone to dig it.

I know the clay will hold water up there, as there is a natural wetland area on the second tier - it holds water 3/4 of the year when there is rain and snow enough (those good years - sigh). Now would be the ideal time to dig it. We are getting lots of rain and maybe there will be snow this winter, too. I know where I can get a start of cattails aplenty. I want to plant native willows on the southside for shade in the summer. If I stock it with perch and bass, I'll have my own "fishin' hole".

Well, this summer I learned that my beloved, darling nephew who owns his own plumbing business has a very nice backhoe and I know he will dig it for me. I think this post has enabled me BIG TIME! I am going to contact him immediately and see when he can come out!

THANKS for the nudge! :)
~Annie

We paid a guy $50.00 an hour to dig this after my DH tried to do it himself, a shovel a day. Forget about it!
It was a few years ago though.
I just came back from measuring the pond and it's 30'x 20'.
It is (or was) 4'at the deepest and the rest around 3'. Over the years the debris from plant material has made it more shallow. You could not swim in it.
I agree with Annie about the wildlife we have tons of birds and other creatures that visit.