Plant,

What state/zone do you live in?

My sympathies...I previously had the type of soil you have now. I tried to amend the clay but it was like concrete, the kind of clay you can carve or make pottery with.

I ended up digging the top 12 inches out & replacing it with a combination of compost, spagnum peat moss and bagged aged cow manure. If your clay isn't as bad as I described above, just mix in LOTS of compost.

I know you said you don't have access to large quanties of compost but please check into your county/city websites. Many offer free or cheap compost to their residents as part of their recycling programs. You would, of course, have to haul it. (A pickup truck is great! We don't have one but two members of my current garden club haul for fellow members) Many also offer free woodchips which make terrific mulch.

Good luck with your new yard. You have an advantage that few have. Assuming your daughter/SIL will be in your previous home for awhile, you can take your time and do it right. You don't have to do it all in one year.

Char

Where do you live?

What is you bank account, how much will break it?

I live in SE Michigan. I would say the budget is around $100.

Is there a mushroom farm within hauling distance? I have been using spent mushroom compost to amend clay soils for 20 years. All my plants love it and it costs me only $20. per pickup truck load. I use some in every planting hole and I use it for a mulch every spring in one bed. The only down side is that it's a bit stinky for a week or so.

There are compost facilities just about everywhere and there is a mushroom farm in No Indiana.

$100 should buy enough compost even including delivery to do anything you want.

Search compost and hosta, much discussed subject here.

One of the simplest things you can do is just mulch the beds. As the mulch breaks down, it will improve your soil. If it was my yard, I'd plant, mulch and water ASAP.

with a little soil on the roots.. your hosta will live on the driveway all summer long ...

like i havent said that once or twice.. lol ...

anyway .... with that info in hand .... why would you waste your hard earned money on improving the soil to any great extent????

cheap out on soil amendments ...AND BUY MORE HOSTA ...

i am in SE MI ... defined as adrian .... where exactly are you?? i ask .. so that i might refer you someplace more specific ... for free compost from a local city .... stick a plastic bin in the trunk.. and go get a load as often as you drive by the place. .... and you should be all set ...

ken

coffee grounds from starbucks are free and will encourage worms to come.

Ken, I live in Warren which is on the northern border of Detroit. One of the reasons I wanted to make the soil better is because I also plan on landscaping the front yard and adding other shade tolerant perinneals such as bleeding hearts, astilbe and my varigated sediums. Thought if I ammend the soil now I won't have to do much but mulch later. Kim

"Thought if I amend the soil now I won't have to do much but mulch later. Kim"

Kim, what Ken is telling you is you don't have to amend period ever. Just plant, mulch then mulch every year particularly in the fall.

Search mulch, it has all been covered intensively.

Hi, I have clay soil also. When I moved to this house 13 years ago it was all grass and is now all garden and a Earthgrown plant nursery.Clay is easily ammended with straw and sand. Both are easy to locate.As much as i dislike rototilling the soil( as it brings new weed seeds to the top again) You would need to rototill both the sand and straw together. Then after planting- mulch as it will be way easier to weed the weeds.)
I use to think clay was a pain... but now I am totally thankful for it. My gardens do beautiful each season and the roots on my perennials cannot be beat. Not to mention also that hosta are very tough perennials and so are some of the others you've mentioned! They should thrive in your clay once its ammended.
Sandy
Hope this helps some and love the soil your in!

Well,I'm not from anywhere in the north,but let me tell you,I have nothing but red clay soil,and everything,including hostas grow beautifully in it. All I do is plant,water in,mulch,and walk away. Mulch breaks down every year,and all you have to do is put down more mulch. Phil

We have red clay -- not the North Carolina kind but clay nonetheless--in our yard & wherever I want to have a garden bed, DH digs down about 1-1 1/2 feet to the underlying "brown sand" which drains quite well. He sifts out the chunks of shale (which is what the clay is coming from; it breaks down) and then we add sandbox sand and organic amendments. I get sandbox sand because it is clean enough for kids to play in & consistent size, has no pebbles or what have you.

The sand improves the drainage & it is not going to decompose & melt away like the manure & other things. But we are going to continue adding those in the form of mulch for many years to come.

As far as amendments are concerned---just about anything! I bury my kitchen peelings directly into my gardens; I don't even bother to put them in the compost bin. Manure -- fresh is fine if you aren't planting there right away---but only from herbivores---fallen leaves from your trees; we bury ours directly into beds we are getting ready to use a year later (then I keep burying an armful here & there whenever I get the chance)---if your town collects leaves, do they have a compost pile you may take from?---do you know anyone who has a horse? Or chickens? --- Starbucks grounds --- grounds from friends or office coffeemakers----I even cut up toilet paper cardboard rollers. It all breaks down.

If you put your kitchen peelings in the garden you will be amazed at how much less you are putting in the trash can, ie into a landfill.

Plant..
you have not said anything about how big your yeard is. My guess is around 1/4 acre in Warren, because that will determine how far your $100 will go.
I mulch every 1 to 2 years, but comes to amending a bed, I add a bale of spagnum peat, a pile of shredded leaves, a bucket full of lime, 12-12-12 fertilizer, green sand, alfalfa meal, bone meal, rock phosphate (not all the items all of the time) and then get the rototiller and mix it all up about a foot deep. For mulching I use shredded leaves in the fall and pine mulch in the spring.
Manfred
F