Hey hope its going good,
I've just been asked to break up a hard bed of clay under a rich top soil with a high content of decaying matter from the surrounding eucalyptus trees. the first 10cm or so is very loose and comes off with a spade easily but under that is an almost rock solid layer of soil that i use a steel pike to get through. i was wondering if there was any way to break up this layer of soil without having to remove the trees that are currently growing in it. the trees have been in for almost 2 years and haven't grown more than knee height. i suspect its due to the lack of root penetration through the soil.
Cheers,
Adam
Hi Adam
It sounds like the soil was not prepared properly before trees were planted. They clay sounds very compressed and the drainage poor I think you are right and guess it would be better to take the trees out, save them if you can and prepare the soil with lots of organic matter (compost and manure). It may take a while but would be worth it in long run.
Good luck Annie