My soil went from gray clay to dark crumbly stuff in 4 years

When I first dug into my backyard in 2019, the dirt was this hard gray clay that would turn into bricks when dry. I started adding shredded leaves from the neighbor's maple tree every fall, plus kitchen scraps in a little pile behind the shed. After 4 years of that, the soil is now dark and fluffy and I can push a trowel in with one hand. Has anyone else noticed a big change in their soil after doing something simple like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamiew532d ago

Are you sure it's really that different or is it just the top few inches that got fluffy? I've seen people claim they turned clay into loam in a few years but when you dig down a foot it's still the same old gray concrete. Not saying you're wrong, just that a lot of those soil transformations are way shallower than people think. I've had clay soil for years and adding organic matter helps but it takes a long time to really change the whole profile. Plus that dark crumbly stuff might just be the uncomposted leaves sitting on top rather than actual soil structure change.

jamiew532d ago

Buddy of mine had the exact same experience, took him years to get past the top four inches.