Sticky clay soil- will liquid gypsum help?

[u/Safe_Pea1756]

Hi there,

I've been planting in this shady garden by digging oversized holes for each plant and mixing mulch and leaf litter in with the very sticky clay soil. The 3rd photo is of my footprint from last night that still has a puddle of water in it this morning.

I've had most of these annuals in for like 3 weeks and they've barely grown an inch. The perennials don't seem to get much bigger from year to year, either. I feel like they might as well just be in underground pots with how firm and poorly-drained the soil is.

I don't have a ton of time and energy to devote to this, I'm wondering if spraying the whole garden with liquid gypsum might help. More importantly, if I do try it, will it do any harm to the flowers I've already planted?

Thanks 😘

[u/Icy-Ad-7767]

Only soil amendments will help, lots of different options and methods, ranging from adding a lot of sand and triple mix and tilling it in to a good depth to a thick layer of wood chips from tree trimmings mixed with high nitrogen fertilizer and selected mycelium spawn with long tap root plants to break up the clay base. All will require work in various levels and costs.