I found fill

[Yardgnome]

Hi guys. The dirt in my yard is mostly clay and it is very hard to get anything to grow. I have access to a bunch of clean fill. What I want to do is spread this dirt over my yard in a thin layer this fall and a couple of times next spring to kind of balance out the clay. Is this a good idea or am I an idiot? What kind of prep should I do if it is a good idea? Also, how do you tell if it is "clean" dirt?

[AZTLANLC]

What are you planning to stablish?

Have you tried it or you are thinking of planting something, cause around here most of the customers I work with have nothing but clay and let me tell you I have found that grass if timely and propertly installed stay better than any other places where we brought soil.

Plants depending on the specie, we either just plant'em the normal procedure or raise em up a little bit and they also stay in pretty good shape.

To balance out the clay you really have to put much more than a thin layer of fill, it has to be mixed also for the clay to break if any. otherwise it will just be on top of it.

I have try sand with somewhat good results, but then again I stop trying to correct soil since I'm having good results not doing it.

[Bamboo]

if you put nice soil ontop of crap soil you will create a slip plane and also the plants will think their in a big flat pot. Best to break out the gypsum and dolimite tmi green sand and the blood bone and all the goodies you can mix in to the clay than bring in the soil and integrate that into the mix aswell.

[Stonehenge]

Call your local county ag extension office and ask them about testing your soil. You'll collect the sample and give it to them for testing. They'll be able to tell you what your soil needs.

But truthfully, "clean fill" doesn't sound like the building blocks for a garden of eden.

[jwholden]

Jeff is right on. How can you fix it if you don't know what is broke.

Ask the extension service to test your PH which should be around 6.5, Organic matter content which should be between 5-10 percent, and if you want to go for broke soil texture to confirm you've got clay and not a silty loam in disguise.

The cure all for both sandy and clay soils is adding and incorporating compost to get more microbes and organic matter in the soil. Make sure your parameters are where they should be before wasting time and money.