Granite Grit For Compacted Clay Soils Locked wiki

I have had to garden in dreaded clay soil since I moved to this house many years ago.  Anyone who has ever had to deal with clay soil knows how compact it can become, allowing for very little drainage.  Laboriously digging in mounds of various organic materials never seemed to stop the soil from quickly reverting to compacted clay.  Then one day, I heard about something new…  granite grit.  I had read an article that someone alerted me to that made me decide to try it.  I am so glad I took the step!

Granite grit is particles of granite that look like very small pebbles.  Mixed into the soil, it allows for drainage and aeration.  The big plus with granite grit is that it will prevent soil compaction from repeatedly occurring.  Organic material decomposes quickly, allowing your soil to eventually compact again.  Granite grit will last virtually forever, keeping the clay soil loose and aerated.

I'll tell you right now that if you go to a garden centre or nursery and ask for granite grit, they probably won't have any idea what you're talking about. After some research, I was able to find mine at our local feed and seed co-op.  Farmers actually use it to add to fowl feed to aid in digestion. They had different sizes of grit (the bigger the bird, the bigger the grit). The finest was called "chick grit" or "#5 sand", the second was called "growing grit", and it went progressively up to hen, turkey and ostrich grit.  I bought the second, the growing grit, as the chick grit looked too fine. It was the perfect size! It looked like teeny pebbles.  It may have different names in your locality, sometimes generally called poultry grit in different sizes.

There are landscaping companies that make "landscape mixes" with granite grit or that sell granite in various sizes.  You do want to make sure it is granite only, as some mixes have sea shell mixed in which can aklalize your soil.

The best way to use granite grit is to till it into a new bed.  But what about existing gardens?  You can simply mix some granite grit into the soil between the plants.  That's exactly what I did, using a trowel to dig in the sections around the plants. Then the next time I divided plants, or put in new plants,  I added granite grit to those sections before replanting.