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Amending some rubbish soil with 'council compost'

Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,

I've got an area in the garden that needs amended before being planted up with grasses (stipa, calamagrostis), perennials and some shrubs and things (Cotinus, Amelanchier, Fargesia, Cornus).

The soil isn't sandy, and isn't clay- it's somewhere in the middle. It doesn't drain very well- I regularly see puddles when it's been raining. It's also full of rocks which is annoying. It's more or less old top/subsoil. 

I collected several hundred litres of 'council compost' the other day from the recycling place. Although it has a lot of little sticks, it's otherwise nice and black and light, and I'm assured there aren't any weed seeds. It looks like it'll really help the structure and drainage, but I'm not sure about how nutritious it is...

Would I be making a mistake by digging quite a lot of this stuff into the soil? I'm aware that perennials and grasses don't like a whole lot of soil nutrient. How much of this stuff would you suggest putting in?

Thanks!

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It’ll be composted garden waste ... not particularly nutritious but lots of organic matter to improve the condition of the soil. Around here it’s sold as ‘soil conditioner’. 

    Grasses like nitrogen. I give mine pelleted chicken manure. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    I'd agree with the chicken manure pellets as Dove says.  I tried them once because a book said my leeks did well on them and, since then, I've used them on most things.  I like your use of the word 'amended' as the old Sussex word for manure was 'amendment'.  Took me back a decade or three.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I've never fed my grasses. They might get a small amount of the B,F&B that other nearby planting gets in spring, but other than that, it's only the spent compost from the sweet peas or lettuce etc, put on in autumn. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • SydRoySydRoy Posts: 167
    Yeah.. throw it on. Probably best as a thick mulch.
    Any organic material is better than none. This rough, coarse compost is good for breaking up cohesive soils. 
    Your soil description sounds like a silty loam and probably more fertile than you think.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited October 2020
    Tbh by the sound of things I don't think you need to add this compost, but applied as a mulch it will look attractive, help reduce weeds, and as long as it's not packed with nitrogen, will not do any harm.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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