Regarding how much compost/manure to add, the area is approximately 10m x 1m but I'd rather not break the bank so I'm hoping we're not talking about needing to add an extra thick layer.
if it was a mulch layer you'd want 2 inches depth minimum, 4 ideally. But this isn't mulching, so add as much as you can afford and try to spread it evenly before you dig it in. Anything helps, really. If you're going for dry garden style plants, especially lavender, it actually doesn't want fertile soil - most woody herbs don't (rosemary, sage, that sort of thing). So what you're doing is getting the life into the soil - bacteria and microbes, that help the plants to form strong roots rather than actually trying to give them lots of food. You'll not be able to grow roses or peonies in it, but there are plenty of things you can
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Yes that's sort of true, but the problem with (say) really enriching a relatively small patch of low fertility soil is the roots of whatever you plant there will never spread out and establish themselves beyond that patch, so you have to 'treat' a much bigger area than just around the hole you dig to plant whatever it is. So my advice, fwiw, would be that it's better to go with the conditions you have and get really good at all the things that love those conditions than fight against it in order to grow something that really just doesn't want to be there.
Hot and sunny and free draining is by no means the worst you could have. Lots of evergreens, colourful flowers, really interesting plants will grow there. And that's just the salvias. I say this because I have cold clay on a windy hillside, of course and our two gardens will probably have barely a single plant in common.
And there's always the option of a nice big pot if you're hankering for a plant your native soil can't support
Last edited: 26 August 2017 20:14:11
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I reclaimed a border overgrown with lawn this year. I bought some tiny plug plants from thompson and morgan, think i spent about £20 and got 144 plants. I only lost two and my borders look fantastic already. Next year will be even better. Perennial cottage garden collection i think it was called. You could sign up with them and wait for them to send you special offers
Did you plant the plugs directly into your borders straight away?
The patch to the right could be used for autumn and winter bedding plants, assuming it won't affect the bulbs underneath. I'm guessing that should be fine given you can plant pansies and the like on top of a pot layered with bulbs.
No. Mine arrived about easter and were potted into cells. Thought i'd leave them a month but in less than a fortnight they were potted on again. Hardened them off and left them outside until i felt brave enough to put them in the garden. So they were cheap, easy, didn't inconvenience me by being indoors too long and they are fantastic in the garden. Couldn't recommend this method enough for the cash strapped and patient gardener
Since planting those plants in September only the Bawles Mauve seems to have kept growing and looking healthy. I only realised how much thicker it is now when I saw that photo above again.
Some of the plants literally do not look any different at all though. Given how much compost and manure I put down, could the plants themselves just not have been the greatest?
Thinking of putting in some small shrubs instead anyway as I could do with the space being filled out. Thinking along the lines of fuchsia and the compact buddelja 'buzz'.
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Suits me.
Regarding how much compost/manure to add, the area is approximately 10m x 1m but I'd rather not break the bank so I'm hoping we're not talking about needing to add an extra thick layer.
if it was a mulch layer you'd want 2 inches depth minimum, 4 ideally. But this isn't mulching, so add as much as you can afford and try to spread it evenly before you dig it in. Anything helps, really. If you're going for dry garden style plants, especially lavender, it actually doesn't want fertile soil - most woody herbs don't (rosemary, sage, that sort of thing). So what you're doing is getting the life into the soil - bacteria and microbes, that help the plants to form strong roots rather than actually trying to give them lots of food. You'll not be able to grow roses or peonies in it, but there are plenty of things you can
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Perfect thanks again.
I suppose if I ever did want to grow anything that requires more fertile soil it's easier to sort out a small patch for that than the other way about.
Yes that's sort of true, but the problem with (say) really enriching a relatively small patch of low fertility soil is the roots of whatever you plant there will never spread out and establish themselves beyond that patch, so you have to 'treat' a much bigger area than just around the hole you dig to plant whatever it is. So my advice, fwiw, would be that it's better to go with the conditions you have and get really good at all the things that love those conditions than fight against it in order to grow something that really just doesn't want to be there.
Hot and sunny and free draining is by no means the worst you could have. Lots of evergreens, colourful flowers, really interesting plants will grow there. And that's just the salvias. I say this because I have cold clay on a windy hillside, of course and our two gardens will probably have barely a single plant in common.
And there's always the option of a nice big pot if you're hankering for a plant your native soil can't support
Last edited: 26 August 2017 20:14:11
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Well that's me utterly spent, back is aching.
Got 200 litres of compost and 100 litres of manure down, might go for the same again as it wasn't too expensive.
I previously bought a tub of fish, blood and bone, worth mixing some of that in too?
Well that's a load planted now, bulbs at the far right too. Now for the waiting game.
I reclaimed a border overgrown with lawn this year. I bought some tiny plug plants from thompson and morgan, think i spent about £20 and got 144 plants. I only lost two and my borders look fantastic already. Next year will be even better. Perennial cottage garden collection i think it was called. You could sign up with them and wait for them to send you special offers
Did you plant the plugs directly into your borders straight away?
The patch to the right could be used for autumn and winter bedding plants, assuming it won't affect the bulbs underneath. I'm guessing that should be fine given you can plant pansies and the like on top of a pot layered with bulbs.
No. Mine arrived about easter and were potted into cells. Thought i'd leave them a month but in less than a fortnight they were potted on again. Hardened them off and left them outside until i felt brave enough to put them in the garden. So they were cheap, easy, didn't inconvenience me by being indoors too long and they are fantastic in the garden. Couldn't recommend this method enough for the cash strapped and patient gardener
Since planting those plants in September only the Bawles Mauve seems to have kept growing and looking healthy. I only realised how much thicker it is now when I saw that photo above again.
Some of the plants literally do not look any different at all though. Given how much compost and manure I put down, could the plants themselves just not have been the greatest?
Thinking of putting in some small shrubs instead anyway as I could do with the space being filled out. Thinking along the lines of fuchsia and the compact buddelja 'buzz'.