He also wants peach trees. After reading and researching I didn't think getting him an apple trees was the best route. So I bought him a peach tree yesterday. The nursery had Elberta peach trees.

We live in Rockwall and wanted fruit tree's , The nurseries were happy to sell us trees that were ideal for this weather climate . The plum tree's died from excessive bugs burrowing into the bark and girdling them and the apple tree's never produce a single blossom . We also learned with this solid clay was to not dig much of a hole for the root ball and do more of a mound type planting with lots of mulch to hold the moisture . The deep holes seem to hold way to much water when its rainy and tend to promote root rot . Our soil is really dense and kinda solid clay so we had to adapt how we were planting trees .

Our clay soil sucks. I started applying humic acid every month since March. Seems like it's starting to improve my clay. I have a couple sections along my fence that don't get hit with the irrigation very well. I'm not getting the big dry cracks like in the past and my neighbor is. I've talked to a few "experts" and they all have told me to stick with it and I will see a much better improvement next year and so on. It's a slow process.

I am not familiar with humic acid so I had to read up on it a little , We mostly amend our soil with home composting . Are you using a liquid ? Do you just apply it in to the ground ? we also get the severe cracks in the ground and it really screws up the plants around the cracks . I have been filling the cracks with sand and water in hopes of stopping the roots from getting so messed up and try to keep the plants healthy .
Your saying that humic acid is changing your soil enough to stop the cracking ?
I thought the soil cracked due to moisture content and expansion and contraction .
So humic acid makes the soil hold moisture better and slow down the contraction of the clay ?
Sorry for so many questions I just don't want to overlook something that could really help me out with the struggles of gardening in this clay .
Thanks .

It's supposed to help loosen compacted clay soils and improve the soil. I still have some cracks but they are not near as large. Like it is holding onto the moisture longer and not as compacted in the past. I started out using a granular. I was using Anderson's DG Humic Acid. I buy it from AM Leonard online. You can get on their email list. At least once a year they will do a free shipping promo. That's when I buy it. I would apply 2lbs per 1000sq feet every month when I fertilized. It's best to apply Humic and Fert the same day. Fertilizer and Humic Acid are best friends. When applied together they like to party in the soil.

I have since moved to spraying. I now use a product called Humic 12. I apply 3oz per 1000sq feet every other weekend. One of the "experts" I talked to is a greenskeeper who uses it. His advice to me is Humic is a long game product. If you plan on living in your house for many years to come use it. If you plan on moving in a couple years don't. Because you start getting better and better results as the years go on. I mix it with my fertilizer and other sprays to help the foliar uptake. I leave it on the leaves for 12 hours then run the irrigation to wash it into the soil.

For no good reason I watch the farming channel a lot. They talk a lot about how farmers are now adding Humic to their spray mixes and recommend it. So I'm sure big Ag has done their research and support the use of it.

I would not fills cracks with sand. For one sand has no nutrients and number 2 sand plus clay plus water makes concrete. Also topsoil is cheaper then sand. I don't have cracks in garden but if I did I would fill with composted manure.

Clay+sand+water is a myth . I have tried to see if I could create concrete and you can not do it with just those three ingredients . I have tilled yards of sand into the clay to break it up and then tilled in compost and other amendments . I don't understand how the clay and sand equals cement belief even got started .

Derek . Thank you . Since we will be selling in a few yrs I guess I won't get to serious with it but I will use a little because I have read it help with the nutrient uptake like you said . I have read that clay soil has the nutrients but they are locked up and the trick is unlocking them . I have been experimenting with nitrogen fixing clover but the rabbits and squirrels eat it as fast as is grows .

Check your soil Ph too. Mine is 7.7 - At that high it locks up micro nutrients and they become unavailable. That's one of the reasons I moved to spraying. Macro's and Micro's are highly taken up foliar and taken up very quickly. Iron is one of the main micros locked up in a high Ph soil. Liquid iron works wonders to maintain a dark green lawn and other plants. My hydrangeas love it. I am working on correcting my Ph. I have applied 5lbs of elemental Sulphur per 1000 in April and August. I'll retest next spring. My liquid spray mix I do every other week has a Ph of 4. So that should help as well. Adjusting soil Ph is a very slow process.

I have added sulfur as well but the pellets don't seem to dissolve so I'm going to try the liquid next . My PH is around 7 also . Solid shovel clogging clay .
I am surprised how well the grass grows in the pulverized concrete driveway . Can't help but wonder what the concrete would leach that makes the Bermuda grass so hardy . I thought maybe lime ? But that would raise the PH which would be going the wrong direction .

The pellets are broken down by the soil microbes/bacteria and converted into sulfuric acid. It does take a while for them to do that and why it doesn't look like they are dissolving. Creating a slow release Sulphur during the warmer months. Only apply it in warmer months when the microbes/bacteria is active. Bermuda is a beast. It will pretty much grow anywhere.

It is funny how bermuda will grow in what seems the worst places but not where you want it to grow. We have red and yellow clay here, nasty stuff. I had an aerobic septic installed and where they dug for the tanks was some of the worse clay on the place. After they finished and tried to smooth the dirt out it was huge clumps of clay, sorry excuse for dirt. I finished the rest with my little tractor and finally got it smoothed out and started watering it hoping some grass would grow back. For some reason the bermuda thrived in that area and covered it in no time, still haven't figured out why. Adding organic materials has been the best way we have found to build clay soil, also planting rye grass in the fall is great for the soil and will keep weeds down.