I will be adding manure etc ASAP as I have lots of plants to go back in (taken out of the raised beds plus some in pots.) How fine should the grit be? I have some this size (see pic.) The border is full of stones anyway!
I have the same type of clay here and over 4 years I have dug in manure, compost and grit. There's still a lot of clay deep down but it's much improved.
I was wondering what you plan to grow there? Some plants will do better than others but the Mediterranean plants and those that like good drainage don't like it so much. A soil with a lot of clay tends to freeze solid in the winter, even with improvement it is still more prone to becoming an ice block, which will kill plant roots fast.
I used to live in a much colder area, down to minus 15 in winter and regularly 39 in summer. But the soil was light and free draining so the plants survived, even Lavender.
In reply to Busy-Lizzie and Bijdezee, the raised beds have been demolished and the resulting rubble taken away. They were quite narrow so dried out in summer (garden gets very hot) plus the rendering was blistering/falling off. The previous house owners made the garden very modern and minimalist with fake grass, paving and Cordylines/spiky plants in the raised beds. (They weren’t keen gardeners!) I don’t think there was any connection between the clay soil and having raised beds.
I already have plants that I put in after removing all the Cordylines - Hibiscus, small bush roses, Irises, Rose Campion and Helianthemum. The borders I have created are much bigger than the raised beds and there are two more borders where the clay doesn’t seem quite so prolific.
I intend to plant a Montana, Jackmanii, Nerines, Daphne, Osmanthus, Roses, Gaura, Antirrhinum plus Aubretia, Ajuga and some annuals.
We have only had frost on a handful of occasions so far. It had rained a fair bit - in summer it’s a constant battle keeping things watered. I recorded 38 deg (in the sun) last week during the warm spell. Pic 1 is the original garden just after I moved in, then year before last. My neighbour has replaced the RH fence with a metal one, which will be covered by a slatted fence - like the grey one, far end of garden.
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How fine should the grit be? I have some this size (see pic.)
The border is full of stones anyway!
I was wondering what you plan to grow there? Some plants will do better than others but the Mediterranean plants and those that like good drainage don't like it so much. A soil with a lot of clay tends to freeze solid in the winter, even with improvement it is still more prone to becoming an ice block, which will kill plant roots fast.
I used to live in a much colder area, down to minus 15 in winter and regularly 39 in summer. But the soil was light and free draining so the plants survived, even Lavender.
I don’t think there was any connection between the clay soil and having raised beds.
The borders I have created are much bigger than the raised beds and there are two more borders where the clay doesn’t seem quite so prolific.
Pic 1 is the original garden just after I moved in, then year before last. My neighbour has replaced the RH fence with a metal one, which will be covered by a slatted fence - like the grey one, far end of garden.