Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992                   TAG: 9203130223
SECTION: LAWN & GARDENS                    PAGE: L&G-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PLAGUED BY PUDDLING? PREPARE, DON'T PANIC

Not "piddling" but "puddling?"

It's a gardening term not often heard because it describes an affliction that, fortunately, is not widespread.

Also, it is not especially serious - except, that is, for gardens who get it in the spring.

Puddling is the term used to describe clay soils that have been cultivated while wet.

The book "10,000 Garden Questions Answered by 20 Experts" says that puddling will render soil useless for the season. What happens is that clay soils cultivated while wet will dry into hard concrete-like clods.

If you would like to get a first-hand look at what happens, try an experiment recommended by Gene Logsdon in his book, "Gardener's Guide to Better Soil."

He suggests making mud pies of wet sand, loam and clay and letting them all dry in the sun.

After they are thoroughly dry, sand will be as loose as it was in the beginning. The loam will still be in mud-pie shape but will break apart with little pressure.

But the clay will be something else, Logsdon said. It will require a hammer to break it apart.

The more clay in the soil, the harder it is likely to get.

Imagine a whole garden of puddled soil. Think of setting out tender tomato seedlings in a field of baseballs.

If a gardener gets into this situation, panic is not advised: The land is not permanently damaged. But, as Logsdon points out, it will take a winter of freezing and thawing to bring it back to normal.

There are two ways to avoid puddling.

The first and best way is to work enough loam into your soil so that it can stand some wet cultivation.

Both the garden question book and Logsdon's book say the clay content of the soil can be reduced by applications of humus, such as peat, wood ashes, manure or other organic material.

The more loamy the soil, the less chance it will puddle. Loamy soil also is a better seed bed and is likely to result in healthier plants.

A second way to avoid puddling is to know when to cultivate.

The Virginia Tech extension service says that if soil sticks to a shovel or the shoes it is too wet. This test also can be made with the hand. Pick up a hand full of soil and shape it into a ball. If it breaks apart easily the soil is dry enough for cultivation.

But if it remains a sticky ball, wait.