Any good results with Gypsum?

[Bobby]

I'm thinking of buying a property near Geelong but
I am worried about the heavy clay soils.
Nothing much grows in it excpet a few lousy weeds.
The ground is so dry that it has massive cracks in it - an inch wide or more.
Has anyone had any luck ploughing Gypsum into such clay soil?
Do you have any tips?
Is it really expensive to fix up perhaps an acre or more?
Are there professionals who could plough it in for me plus some manure?
How long would it take to fix the soil - months or many years?

see here some Gypsum clay breaker from Bunnings:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/richgro-15k ... r_p3010181

[Bobby]

I must add that when I was a kid my father got the professionals in to make a garden bed.
It was about 10 meters long by 3 to 4 meters wide.
It was solid hard clay.
I got them to use a front end loader to remove at least 1 foot deep of clay
in the whole area & take it away in a truck.
He then got a whole truckload of rich soil to replace it & used a rotary hoe
to mix in a couple of trailer loads of chicken manure.
That was always a good garden & he added chicken manure every 3 or 4 years.
He never used Gypsum - he said it was a waste of time for a good garden -
'the only way was to remove & replace the clay.

Any thoughts?

[The Mechanic]

Geelong is near the beach...

it should be sandy soil..

[Bobby]

Geelong is near the beach...

it should be sandy soil..

No - this is well inland from Geelong - all solid hard clay.
It's too hard to dig it with a spade - it's rubbish soil.

[Black Orchid]

Clay is good, if you can build it up well enough, as it holds nutrients and water better than most other soils.

If it is hard and compacted you will need to have it rotary hoed. I would prefer to build it up with copious amounts of organic matter rather than use gypsum.

[The Mechanic]

Geelong is near the beach...

it should be sandy soil..

No - this is well inland from Geelong - all solid hard clay.
It's too hard to dig it with a spade - it's rubbish soil.

well.. the cracks will close up if and when the rain comes in...

[Black Orchid]

Then it will be like quicksand lol

[Black Orchid]

Clay is good, if you can build it up well enough, as it holds nutrients and water better than most other soils.

If it is hard and compacted you will need to have it rotary hoed. I would prefer to build it up with copious amounts of organic matter rather than use gypsum.

Oh and lots and lots of worms.

[The Mechanic]

you must be a long way out then... anything within 20 minutes of Geelong is worth a fortune!!

although I think it would be cheaper out anakie or Meredith way..

[Bobby]

Clay is good, if you can build it up well enough, as it holds nutrients and water better than most other soils.

If it is hard and compacted you will need to have it rotary hoed. I would prefer to build it up with copious amounts of organic matter rather than use gypsum.

Oh and lots and lots of worms.

So my father may have been right to just get rid of the clay for his garden bed?