I have been adding rice hulls to an extra-heavy clay bed, to help lighten the soil (black gumbo).
Where I needed to move some plants around anyway, I dug out the areas to an 18" depth.

Then backfilled with alternated layers of the hulls, compost, and the original soil, and turned it all together.

Am interested to see how long the hulls with stay intact and continue to keep the clay loose. I know of one case where they were incorporated this time last year, and are still holding up well.

Interesting. So where did you get rice hulls? Glad I won't have to go out and find some. Just remove more rocks and add the compost.

Maybe some shreaded newspaper or leaves would be good too??

MK, you must have lovely loose soil
I got some bags of it from Advantage Compost, in N.C. Texas, toll free 728-8514.
They are the folks I interviewed in the Mushroom Compost cover story last year. They have expanded to many more products since then, and are now doing bulk deliveries of bark mulch, bedding soil and more.

David with the lovely loose sandy soil,, yes, leaves from my red oaks last a nice long time too. Glad you reminded me. I'll be sure to put a lot of them in the upcoming new bed. Am also thinking I should put a good layer of rice hulls on the top of the clay base, before adding lovely imported bedding soil. For that matter, am also considering putting in a French Drain tube at the lowest end of it too... because I know the new soil will eventually revert to sticky clay again. I don't hear folks mention this much, but I know of other gardeners who see it happen in their clay pits too.

I think my soil is better than Maggie's but I do have some clay and soooooooo many rocks. I've learned new gardening tools here, just to get the rocks out. Big ones!

When we were digging boulders outta the clay, I discovered that tossing in a handful of sand would un-stick the clay from rock. Made it sooo much easier to get them out. But not wanting to suffer that again at this age, I'm building this new bed up with retainers instead ;-)

I've been thinking on this for awhile - but doesn't adding sand to clay make cement? Seems like I had read that somewhere one year, right after I added some sand to a particularly nasty section in the garden. I immediately added lots of compost hoping to avoid cement.

Yes yess, I have often written that clay plus sand becomes adobe when dried (esp sun-baked). But that requires a lot more sand than the little "handful" for each boulder. So the boulder-breaking bit of sand does not create an adobe problem, esp since I also use huge amounts of composted garden-litter humus in any new-bed making on clay.

You did just the right thing to add compost after the sand. Degrading humus added to clay, plus some sand - in healthy proportions are the components of that forever-sought "sandy loam". Its the keeping of the ratios just right that makes great growing stuff.

Plus, I use composted manures to top up the nutrition in my improved, but still shallow dirt. .. which, btw is next Saturday's column subject.
Lucky you to have your very own supply of poop for composting ;-) Lots of us have to buy it in bags and tote it home, or have very big trucks dump messy mountain of it on the driveway. Drives the family nuts (teehee)

Black Cow brand of bagged, 100% composted manure will be permanently stocked by LOWES, starting this month and other nursery outlets in the Metroplex, including Marshall Grain in Ft. Worth. Warning - a lot of other brands sold as 'cow manure' only contain a portion of cow m. They are thinned down with other filler ingredients. Three diff brands bought locally obviously contain quite a variety of additives. Tsk Tsk

Did someone say, "Sandy Loam" Oh I am sorry...I thought you were talking about my yard!!!! Oh the pain to not have any ROCKS......Gee, what will I plant with my hands today.......

I bet you don't even own a shovel.
;-)

better watch it David - we'll all be at your place with our buckets and shovels and transplanting your soil to our gardens Might even leave a rock or two in exchange.

Actually I own a strong power drill and I use a auger bit on the end.....I can plant a 4" or quart container in nothing flat.....If I plant a gallon container it takes longer.....like 30 seconds or so give or take.....I will tell you it is not easy being a gardener in this SOIL!!!

I console myself by remembering how fast nutrients wash out of sandy stuff ;-)