I collected tons of leaves from around the hood last autumn. Mixed them into the soil and this year had a very good harvest.

I live in tropical Indonesia and my soul is heavy red clay. I dug down 12inches, removed all rocks/stones and heavily amended it with compost, worm castings, rice husks, carbonized rice husks (as biochar) and cocopeat. I also added organic fertilizer and organic soil treatment. My plants are so lush and healthy. I regularly top up the beds with more organic matter and worm castings.

In the fall season, trees shed their leaves to cover their roots blanketing themselves n at the same time mulching themselves for nourishment in the rainy season. Trees are smart. They know how to survive for hundreds of years

Leaves , grass clippings and rabbit manure worked for me with chicken manure sometimes ...I went from red clay to fertile ground in about 3 years ...the key is time and organic matter

Living roots are what build soil aggregates. I’ve done no till for 2 years now. Cover crops, chop and drop, and always keep an armor over the soil.

Just grow sunflowers. After harvest. The roots will aerate the soil. Side note, if you let the roots decompose, You will have amazing , nitrogen rich, fluffy soil. Very easy way of getting wonderful soil.

You explained the issue of loosening hard, compacted soil so well, and in terms I could understand. I am so grateful that you share you knowledge and experience with others. Thanks, Luke.

If you have to till your soil in the beginning, cover it first with leaves, straw, compost, compared manure, gypsum, zeolite, etc, THEN till. That way, you're mixing in the things that will eventually provide soft soil that doesn't need to be tilled at all. You can also compost in situ in areas where you aren't currently growing anything. Dig a trench, put your food and plant waste into the trench, and bury it. It will break down rapidly and be ready for you to grow in the following season.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned from this. When I hear “the why“ behind a process it is so much more meaningful than just saying to do this or that. If I understand the reasoning I retain the information. This was so very helpful. Thank you!

I have a bulb drill for my rechargeable drill. When I dig and hit hard soil such as clay I drill the soil then I add compost to the hard soil which I have broken up. It works like a charm! Sure makes digging easier for this 77 year old woman.

That is funny I came across this because it’s actually exactly what I needed to hear. We just moved from Florida to Missouri and the soil is completely different. I am excited to put your advice into action. Thanks for sharing your knowledge it’s always helpful.

Really appreciate the video about this topic. I am in the middle of a huge project to turn the reclaimed strip mine clay ground we have into a much better soil for the yard, garden and flower beds. We have been using the mulch/compost addition and growing the white radishes and turnips and just letting them die off and rot down through the winter. By the way, I noticed in today's video you are also enjoying this unseasonably warm weather this late in the year! Thanks for all of your hard work with the videos and your garden store!

I was going to say you forgot about cover crops to occupy beds during fall to late winter but then you mentioned it towards the end 😅 It is like you read our minds

Thanks for the info! I’m a newer gardener and tore up some lawn to put in a garden bed. I just put the top soil straight on top of the clay native soil and have had so many issues with the poor drainage and the top soil getting washed away. I only put down annual flower seeds this year so at the end of the season, I’m going to get some compost and rent a tiller to till the garden bed before laying down some mulch. Looking forward to starting again next year with better soil.

This is fantastic! Some of these things I was doing (unknowingly) to help our rock hard, clay soil. I’ve also noticed a big improvement since we started keeping chickens. When they’re not eating my plants 😄 they’re helping scratch up the clay and their manure is making huge positive changes. Good to know about the sunflowers, we need all the help we can get! I’m looking forward to more great content!

Just starting to garden watching all your old shows to help me along the way and to start thank you for all the shows you've done helping people to grow the best gardens they can

LOVEEE this!!! We just watched the documentary called, 'kiss the ground' and it was all about this!!! 😍

Thanks for the info, I live in Laredo, Tx and my backyard soil is hard and clay like. The good news is that I have started a compost bin. I've been learning so much from your videos.

I had two plots in a Community garden. One of them I added compost to and mulch on top. The one I only mulched on top, was a puddle and the soil remained hard. The other one was soft and fluffy. You are so right on.

Great video! We just bought a new homestead and have a 1 acre hay field that we will be converting into garden area. We will definitely be using these methods to improve our soil.

Love this video! Gypsum and compost are my go to in this Texas Coastal clay 🙌

Wow the soil compaction totally makes sense now for where we have left our pigs to graze for longer periods of time. They till it up with their noses and eat out most of the weeds but after awhile leave it like concrete Thank you for helping me figure this out.

If you want to know what to use just start at 3:00 and then 5:00 for the 2nd thing and 8:40 for the third, and the 4th and last one is at 10:00

I cut down 5 acres of invasive black alder here in Ontario, the soil is mostly silt and clay. As you can imagine, like concrete. In order to soften the ground and actually be able to produce a viable crop, we decided to take the long route. I think everyone wants immediate results, but it takes time to convert poor quality soil into nutrient rich loose black earth. Anyhow, we tilled all the leftover wood mulch INTO the soil, leaves, grass clippins, spent mushroom blocks, etc anything with carbon. We made rows, which will never need to be tilled again. We hot compost and have a few worm bathtubs and all my spent mushroom compost, so we coat the rows liberally throughout the season. To directly add nitrogen throughout the season to balance out the high carbon and feed the growth of plants, we made all kinds of liquid nutrient supplements, ie worm tea, compost tea, chicken soup and watered the various crops throughout the season. Anyhow, first year was pretty great, we harvested about 2000lbs of Blue Sapphire potatoes and plenty of lettuce, kale, tomatoes, etc - although, more importantly: the soil is now much more loose and I can run my hands through it. We will continue to add compost, crass clippings, leaves, and mulch on top of the rows to build the soil further. So for all of you that think tilling is BAD under all circumstances, I believe it is the best initial option for people with compact soil, unless you want to build up your soil over years, which is essentially like pouring 8 inches of garden soil on soild rock. We are anticipating a great 2nd year, but I believe the soil will peak in quality by year 3. Cheers, great channel

Thanks Luke. I needed this info bad and you read my mind. I'll give it a try.

Just what I needed for my garden next year! Thanks so much for the tip! 👍🏼

Fantastic tips, I watch a lot on this topic and I learned from you here. It's awesome when little things I've noticed line up with your tips, the mulched parts of the garden and areas we let the grass grow out always have far nicer soil than the stuff under a 2" lawn that gets driven over once or twice a week with the mower and gets baked in the summer sun to a brick-like crisp. Now I better know why! Thank you! cheers from east and slightly north of ya in Southern Ontario!

Awesome video. You're very natural on camera. 5 years ago I moved 15 miles north in Ohio. My previous garden of 20 years yielded BUSHELS of Beefsteaks and Red Chil Peppers and Letture and varying Onions. My current garden is a clay factory. In 2016 I planted 8 tomato and pepper plants and the yield was modest, but not a complete failure. I took my previous garden for granted, she was a sweet lady. I've covered my new garden with leaves and compost for a couple years. Lots of bugs and worm friends doing fertile stuff. Built 2 BIG raised beds to go along with my 20x10 ground level garden. I know I bit off more then I can chew but for some reason I'm enjoying the strife. School of hard knocks is the only garden school for me. Subbed your channel. Thanks for the quality.

Perfect timing with this video. I have 4 acres of very hard or heavy dirt. We tilled it last year but it just harden right back up. We are looking at planting radishes hopefully yet this fall.

Thanks Luke. I really enjoyed this one, as we have very heavy soils where we are in Australia. Can grow things really well big the ground is like a rock come spring/summer. A lot of information to take into consideration 🥰

I have heavy clay with lots of smaller rocks. This year I started preparing an area for a garden next year. I covered the area in cardboard and then covered the cardboard with grass clippings. It was about 8" of grass clippings. Last week I decided to transplant a few plants to the area and was surprised by how easy the soil was to dig, how much the color changed, and all of the worms. I'm also growing some cool weather cover crops to help even more. IMO, if you have a year you can use cardboard, grass clippings, and cover crops to really make a difference. But it appears that it will take about a year to really improve.

My Dad used the growing of potatoes to break in a new garden. By dropping a potato in its grow hole the potato will do the work for you, pushing out roots and expanding the tubers. Fertilizing them with super phosphate and blood & bone, plus the occasional watering will bring you a great lawn base by the time the potatoes are harvested in 3 to 4 months. Most of the cultivation work is done for you.

Fantastic video Luke! Clear, informative & well presented🤩👍🏻 Some people bang on, but take forever to get to the point, losing audience interest. But not you! I’m new to gardening & this is the first of your videos I’ve seen. Definitely won’t be the last. Thank you so much!😊🌻

This was fantastic information, thank you! I appreciate how you explain the reasoning and scientific processes behind what you are suggesting!

Great useful ideas. Thanks a lot! I was so disappointed with my compact soil. I believe your suggestions will help.

another great video Luke. By the way since I am a Northern Michigan native, I really appreciate the fact that this past week has been T shirt weather which is not the norm... Usually it is rain, cold, sleet making it not so fun doing the fall garden chores. I have 3 compost bins going year long which I add to my garden this time of year. I have not tried gypsum, but will start adding when we spread out the matured compost.

Always grateful for the new info😌

This is perfect for my parents as they've got clay soil in their area. Shared. Thanks Luke :)

In addition to these things, I leave the roots of annuals in the ground to help add organic matter to the soil over winter. Great tips!

Hello from Arkansas. Omg! You’ve explained this so well I finally understand. Lol. All this talk about compost and DIY potting soil mixes was so confusing to me. But you explained the whole process of how and why and now it’s finally clicked in my head. 🤣 Thank you so much! I love gardening and have a green thumb but now my plants will thrive better and I’m not so confused as to why this and why that! Have a great day and keep up the good lessons. It is all so clear to me now! 🌈☀️😎

I love the video Luke, and I must say I also love the other comments from the community of gardeners here sharing experiences. MI Gardener seems to draw in some good peeps. 😄

I learned some great stuff about using gypsum, daikon and radishes to help loosen my heavy clay soil. Thanks so much!

Thanks for the tips!!!My soil in NY is so hard like pure clay so much so was thinking of getting a kiln to make pottery 😁

Thank you, Luke. Wonderful tips.

Great content. Lots to try and think about. Trying to prep a barren 30' × 50' hard clay area for next spring.

Thank you. Thank you!

I'm new to gardening. I definitely learned something new. I mixed my clay soil with compost and peat moss. Over time, my soil compacted again. I think I'll add only compost next season. Thank you

Much needed video. Thanks for sharing it was very helpful. I have Georgia clay soil and working on fertility with compost. My in ground soil does have lots of worm life oddly but just needs soil conditioning and fertility improvement. I am using composting and no till gardening and I’m willing to wait. I also plant flowers in the most compacted spots and I have 3 raised beds.

Brilliant video. Explained well, no time wasting. Really well done. Thank you!

I really needed this video! Thanks Luke!

This video came at the perfect time for me!

Thank you Luke.

Fascinating! I am going to change up some of my fall clean up methods! TY! 🌱🌱🌞

Good man! MAKES SENSE! HELP THE EArth'S SOIL.........TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! GIVE IT A SHOT!

Would this apply to a raised bed? I purchased a 'garden soil' mix from a local landscaping company and I noticed that it seemed very heavy once we got rain. Now that its been warm for a few days and its started to dry out, the soil is very hard and cracked in some areas. This had already been placed in my new front flower bed (which I plan on doing sunflowers and zinnias so I'm so happy you mentioned them!). When putting it in my new raised beds, i mixed in a 50/50 of the 'garden soil' and 1/4 screened compost and also layered some potting mix I had left over in the middle and on top. I have also mulched a bunch of leaves and topped the beds with that and hopefully this helps the issue.

Thank you. Live in San Antonio, and need to amend my soil here. You have great ideas, and I will be trying them soon.

I live in Charlotte NC and my yard is hard as a brick!! I have tried everything to get the grass to grow and cannot figure it out but I have put in a lot more studying and working in and I think I have figured it out so we will see!! To be continued!!

Awesome! For 20 years I've been laying my compost over my hard clay soil.

Thank you, i will try to get it done

You are so clever about explaining and you definitely know your soil I will do as you say and let you know how it went thank you 👍

Thanks Luke 👍🙂

I really love to watch your video it's help alot because I am garden lover.

Great information. Thank you.

Thank you Luke. This is the video I've been looking for

Super informative… I learned a lot here as a first-year veggie gardener in clay-heavy soil. I can hurt my lower back trying break up compacted ground, so looking for ways to make it easier eventually. I’m definitely going to plant more radish (great with hummus & dips, besides just in salads), & dandelions- if those are the yellow ones & not the white ones kids “blow”, then a healthy hot tea can be made from them. At the same time, their roots would be helping my soil improve for the future. 👌 Editing to add: I’ve never even heard of gypsum, so that helped me too! TY

THE BEST INFORMATION ONCE AGAIN LUKE! Thank you. ❤

I love the way you explain technically without overwhelming watchers with tmi. I wonder what your background is? We’ve been gardening for 50 years and still learning!

Thanks for the info!

This is gold, thanks!

Hello good tips. Yes the last way to loosen clay soil is what I use to get ready to plant vegetables. Will first turn and mix composted soil in and plant flowers. Only I use marigolds at first, got all the marigold seeds I need for free from the last years plants. Then in following years plant tomatoes or peppers of different varieties. Till soil looks like it has softened. I have got strawberries growing in soil that I worked that way for a few years. thank you for sharing I watch your videos often.

really useful. Thank you!!!

You are brilliant and so concise, your description is very helpful- what would you suggest for a flower bed having several years of flourishing plants and top dressing of bagged mulch blends, the soil is quite compact and full of root mass. Currently fork loosening around plants and then the water absorbs better. Thinking of getting a whole bunch of gypsum also we’re having a drought so that doesn’t help. Maybe not enough mulch ???

Great video. The only problem is generating enough compost. Most people don't have a farm or loads of leaves to make enough compost, or even a truck to get the raw materials. Buying bagged compost is super expensive.

Luke, this is a great video. I learned a lot, so thanks for sharing.

Hi! Thanks for the lesson! I definitely learned something new. I copied your composting stall design! My husband has built 3 stalls for me!

Yeah, I believe that totally

Wow, thanks! I learned so much from this video,a real eye opener. 👍👍👍👍

You're a good teacher thanks

Thanks for the help

Can you till around plants already growing in the garden? Great video! Helpful as always..

Thank you for the info! I have clay soil and this video was very helpful! :)

Thank you! This was great and so informative!!! This was the topic I asked you to do videos about😊

Look forward to this new series Luke.

Sunflowers and legumes being positive green covers VERY interesting. That there's quite literlaly plants that actually produces more nutrients than they "takes" to grows.

Thanks Lots of good advises

Thank you for all your videos

I enjoyed this video and it is helping me to make sense of our soil as I struggle to make a new border. the soil is sooo solid! thank you. I have just subscribed and I look forward to watching more of your videos. all best

Awesome! thank you so much for making this video. this is an important topic for many of us here in CA! personally, i've bought thousands of daikon radish seeds and plan to plant them everywhere. :)

Thanks! Never knew about gypsum

Very well explained ☺ 👍

You can use compaction layers to benefit your soil. I saw a farmer who only force tractors on a tiny space, and it was rutted in the rows and all his tractor tires and bredths were fitted to these ruts. These ruts made compaction layers which provided water retention that slow fed water when his beds drained out. Interesting!

Thank you so much for this helpful video!!

Thank you!

Thank you for the information! I have several compacted areas and was wondering what the best method was to soften them!

Carrots I have seen really can help. Also, planting trees in your garden once your woodchips are established can create microrizal fungi which go down into the clay layer and basically make areas roots grow. Also, asparagus goes down 14 feet into the soil.

Great video!!

I won't say that I have a no till garden. Huge laugh....im without a tiller...im doing all mine by hand with puck axe shovels etc. Got some compacted rocky soil that would ruin a tiller...ive had good luck digging down removing millions of rocks and heaping on load after load of compost and some crumbly black dirt that used to be rabbit manure about 12 years ago.. I've used black rotten sawdust mixed with sand and compost and now my potatoes are already 2 inches tall and I'm happy to see a lot of red worms now when I dig...

Thanks Luke, from western UP of Michigan💛

I definitely have this problem in my gardens. We built some raised beds numerous years ago. We bought soil for them sight unseen (big mistake) and it is very much a clay soil that we are battling to improve.

Very useful info, thank you for sharing.