i know in NC you can get free soil tests from your county co-op extension. fall is the ideal time, because it's a service offered for farmers, too, and spring gets busy. but go ahead and do it now, to get some results. plan to send in a sample from each area where the soil is markedly different- it probably changes a good bit in acidity, nutrients and soil makeup from the woods to the bog. you'll take several samples from each area, and mix them, then take the portion of that that fits in the soil test kit & mail it off or drop it at the co-op extension office. the results are mailed to you. (the instructions will be in/on the kit as to how deep to deep, etc.). on the report they will recommend what to add to the soil to bring it up to a normal range- and if i recall right when you send it in, you can specify what you'll be growing so they can tailor it more. i don't know for sure that SC does this, too, but i bet they do. good luck! tam

Well, the same fix for sandy soil will work for clay soil - LOTS AND LOTS OF COMPOST!

It seems as though you don't have pure clay, which is all to the good. You will probably have to terrace to get good veggie beds, and if you want even semi-formal flower beds, for them too, unless you have more and larger flat areas than it sounds like you do. If you know where your building site will be, then you can begin to inprove the soil elsewhere. Just be aware that as the site gets cleared and graded, a LOT more area than the footprint of the house will be impacted. You will probably end up with sub soil in a lot of that area, especially if, as you imply, there is little topsoil anyway. The contractor can, as he starts grading, scrape up the "topsoil" and pile it up to be later spread out again, but there might not be much, and almost certainly not enough to cover all the cleared areas very deeply. You should start now to make compost - pile up whatever you can wherever you can that will be out of the way of construction, but accessable now and after, and just let it rot. Fancy piles and turning aren't really necessary to make compost.

You can get a quick - relatively speaking - assessment of the soil by putting a clump in a jar with water, shaking it andletting it settle. You can roughly tell what percentage is sand, silt or clay. Doing this from various areas will tell you what you have in those areas. If you really want to get a lab-done soil test, then you should contact your county Extension Agent/office, and get a soil-test kit from them - they'll tell you the procedure to follow. Or, you can Google for soil tests intat area/county and get other labs to send away to.

Good idea, dibbit! I have 7 acres of leaves about a foot deep right now. I certainly could lash up a quicky enclosure w/ some chicken wire and posts, and fill it w/ leaves every time I visit. With all those leaves, I'm surprised the topsoil doesn't seem to go deeper- it seems like there should be about a foot of composted matter, but there isn't. It appears as though Clemson is the local ag authority in the upstate; I'll have to try to contact them. On the county GIS sight, it says the area is 'sandy loam'. I'll try the water trick, too.