Is there any water draining into the garden you could prevent?
Eg if you have a shed or out building…adding a gutter and a water butt would reduce water in the first place as well as the other benefits they would bring.
The pea gravel may be making matters worse, perversely. Hard to tell without knowing the lie of the land, but the thing with clay is if you make a hole in it, it tends to fill with water. Which is why digging more of it out - as well as being hard work and expensive - would probably be pointless.
A land drain may work if there's somewhere to discharge it - a pond is a nice idea.
But I'd say raised beds are the way to go, and plant roses and big shrubs or small trees in the rest of it. The rose family is a large one, including lots of fruit trees and that sort of thing so that's less restrictive than it sounds. Many rose relatives are happy in clay. Resist the temptation to plant them in a hole full of nice compost (refer to my first point - even trees can drown if they are permanently wet). And mulch mulch mulch so that the soil improves in the long run.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Is it possible to have a picture. There are suggested damp shade lovers on here but we don't know which way the garden faces. Clay although wet is a b****r when it dried out. We did in fact dig out one border which is in complete shade and replace with new topsoil, the rest yup improve and definitely a water butt
You can lay perforated pipe in a gravel filled trench but it needs to drain to an outlet - a low spot in the garden you can accept being waterlogged, a pond, ditch or drain. Personally, I would embrace it and grow astilbes, eupatorium, rodgersia, persicaria, darmera, filipendula, iris sibirica/ensata etc etc etc. So many wonderful plants for damp soil. It's orange clay rather than grey, which shows it's oxygenated even if it seems very claggy and wet.
I have clay soil but the grey type. I’ve added organic matter but I know it will take some time to improve. Do you think the plants you mention will also thrive in grey/poor clay soil?
Hi, new on here. My son has moved into a new build with garden which was once a pub car park. He has about 8 inches of top soil under which is a thick layer of orange clay, no idea how deep the clay goes. He's planted up two borders removing as much clay as possible (digging down a couple of feet), put down a layer of pea shingle and compost on top. Unfortunately the clay has now turned the borders into a clay pot retaining the water and turning the compost into a bog garden. The soil does eventually dry out but its been so wet his plants have started to suffer. Any suggests as to what he could do? Other than completely digging out the clay which would be too costly for him the only solution we can come up with is raised flower beds. His next-door neighbour has 4 mature trees along the border but even they don't soak up the water.
We also have clay soil that has been neglected and gets waterlogged. I’ve tried to improve it by digging and adding organic matter whilst planting things that thrive in those conditions. So far, hydrangeas, liatris spicata, red hot poker, a quince fruit tree, grape vine, bottle brush tree, all seem to be thriving/surviving.
@Mariam_86 - yes, all those plants mentioned should be fine in your soil, especially if you're adding organic matter along the way Filipendula grows in hedgerows etc, but it doesn't mind what soil as long as it stays reasonably moist. I should have added Camassias to the others I mentioned, Hostas, and Polygonatum [Solomon's Seal] - all great in shady spots particularly. The more plants you have - especially woody shrubs - the better, as they'll help soak up excess moisture.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Mariam_86 - yes, all those plants mentioned should be fine in your soil, especially if you're adding organic matter along the way Filipendula grows in hedgerows etc, but it doesn't mind what soil as long as it stays reasonably moist. I should have added Camassias to the others I mentioned, Hostas, and Polygonatum [Solomon's Seal] - all great in shady spots particularly. The more plants you have - especially woody shrubs - the better, as they'll help soak up excess moisture.
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Is there any water draining into the garden you could prevent?
A land drain may work if there's somewhere to discharge it - a pond is a nice idea.
But I'd say raised beds are the way to go, and plant roses and big shrubs or small trees in the rest of it.
The rose family is a large one, including lots of fruit trees and that sort of thing so that's less restrictive than it sounds. Many rose relatives are happy in clay. Resist the temptation to plant them in a hole full of nice compost (refer to my first point - even trees can drown if they are permanently wet). And mulch mulch mulch so that the soil improves in the long run.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I have clay soil but the grey type. I’ve added organic matter but I know it will take some time to improve. Do you think the plants you mention will also thrive in grey/poor clay soil?
Filipendula grows in hedgerows etc, but it doesn't mind what soil as long as it stays reasonably moist. I should have added Camassias to the others I mentioned, Hostas, and Polygonatum [Solomon's Seal] - all great in shady spots particularly. The more plants you have - especially woody shrubs - the better, as they'll help soak up excess moisture.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you
There's also smaller willows (salix) varieties that are worth a look