Yes - they don't survive here either @Buttercupdays, apart from that really hardy S. caradonna one. Totally different prospect putting them in the ground, especially if the ground is clay. You can't just stick them out in that without amending the soil well enough. Re potting in fresh soil will be safer just now, as @Buttercupdays says, and then you can look at getting the soil in the ground right for it next year
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think this drainage in the ground issue here is a manufactured theoretical artificial thing here that does not happen in reality that scares people off gardening very sadly. Digging a deep hole and adding John Innes or sand in is the solution for it that works. Planting into a good size hole in the ground with John Innes/sand mixed with compost right now is safe.
If you like the plant where it is, you could get a larger pot, but it is expensive and might get you 1 or 2 more years before you are back where you are now.
If you are planning to over-winter in the pot and plant in the ground next spring, you could get that mileage out of the current pot itself by mulching in a peat based compost and some farmyard manure at the top, adding in granular and/or liquid fertilizer, and watering the pot about 2/3 times a week. (It dries out faster when root logged.) You have about 2.5 months maximum to tend to it before the plant goes dormant for winter.
'' I think this drainage in the ground issue here is a manufactured theoretical artificial thing here that does not happen in reality that scares people off gardening very sadly. ''
Maybe where you are. As @Buttercupdays and myself have described - we don't all have nice light free draining conditions and mild weather all year round. It's very misleading to suggest otherwise. Just saying 'sand' is also misleading. The wrong stuff compounds the problem with wet clay soil.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Somebody made it up to make an argument. It exists nowhere where there are human houses or trees. There is nowhere where there is clay a significant way down deep without any drainage because it is illegal to build human houses or gardens in any place with that kind of non-drainage.
My father is an architect, surveyor, and a draftsman. My mother is a geology and a geography major. I asked them and my own surveyor and conveyancing solicitors.
Geologically it does not exist if there are any trees in the area. Trees cannot exist with that kind of non-drainage.
Even if it existed, it is illegal to build human habitats -- houses or gardens -- in any area without drainage -- in the West at least. There is a water drainage test that must be carried out and passed within the whole of the property, complying to drainage regulations to build or sell a human house. A drainage report mush be filed complying with minimal drainage requirements to sell any house.
So, it is very safe to dig a hole, put in John Innes/sand mixed with peat compost, and plant it out.
Clearly none of us know anything about our gardening conditions then, because what falls out of the sky has a major effect on plants, as well as all sorts of other factors, not just the ground and how it behaves.
I'll leave you to it though, as you clearly know far more than I do about my conditions, and @Buttercupdays'.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
> The best solution is to take cuttings, there is still time as they root quickly, for me at least.
Yes, I used to do that when I only had a balcony. In the 4th year, I'd take a young cutting, give the rest of the plant away, and re-plant the cutting in the same pot with new compost to enjoy it for another 3.5 years.
All I am saying, FairyGirl, is that there is no garden in the west where soil drainage makes it dangerous to dig a hole and put a plant in good draining compost into the ground. Because it is regulation that the site must have a minimum level drainage to build or sell a house. A drainage report is included with every conveyancing pack in a house sale.
FairyGirl, I also agree different plants like different conditions. My Salvia "African Skies", or Bog Sage, does not like drainage. She likes her feet wet all the time.
I found out by experience that my various Lavenders hated that and some died of root rot. So, I had to replant them in not very rich, sandy compost.
Then the heavy clay soils of High Suffolk are obviously a figment of my imagination and that of the generations of farmers who have improved it with manure to produce some of the best wheat yields per acre in the country. The many towns, villages and farmsteads built on (and in many cases out of) that heavy clay obviously don’t exist either. Nor do the ancient woodlands still to be found there.
And then of course there’s The Potteries … towns built on, out of and because of the massive clay deposits there. To say nothing of the vast china clay works of Cornwall and the people whose homes are built on the clays there … all figments of our imagination
Its good to know that none of our posters will be living in old houses which might have been built before such building regulations were introduced … Heaven knows what it was I was living in for a big part of my life … we all thought it was a 17th century working farmhouse made partly of clay lump and wattle and daub … built on clay, and surrounded by thick yellow and blue Suffolk clay. We must’ve been mistaken.
Take it from me …there’s folk who are pretty sure they’re living and gardening on clay in villages and long-standing towns all over the UK. Not everyone lives in houses and flats built since Building Regs and Planning Authorities were introduced. Not everyone’s experience is the same as yours.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
Totally different prospect putting them in the ground, especially if the ground is clay. You can't just stick them out in that without amending the soil well enough.
Re potting in fresh soil will be safer just now, as @Buttercupdays says, and then you can look at getting the soil in the ground right for it next year
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you like the plant where it is, you could get a larger pot, but it is expensive and might get you 1 or 2 more years before you are back where you are now.
If you are planning to over-winter in the pot and plant in the ground next spring, you could get that mileage out of the current pot itself by mulching in a peat based compost and some farmyard manure at the top, adding in granular and/or liquid fertilizer, and watering the pot about 2/3 times a week. (It dries out faster when root logged.) You have about 2.5 months maximum to tend to it before the plant goes dormant for winter.
Maybe where you are. As @Buttercupdays and myself have described - we don't all have nice light free draining conditions and mild weather all year round. It's very misleading to suggest otherwise.
Just saying 'sand' is also misleading. The wrong stuff compounds the problem with wet clay soil.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
My father is an architect, surveyor, and a draftsman. My mother is a geology and a geography major. I asked them and my own surveyor and conveyancing solicitors.
Geologically it does not exist if there are any trees in the area. Trees cannot exist with that kind of non-drainage.
Even if it existed, it is illegal to build human habitats -- houses or gardens -- in any area without drainage -- in the West at least. There is a water drainage test that must be carried out and passed within the whole of the property, complying to drainage regulations to build or sell a human house. A drainage report mush be filed complying with minimal drainage requirements to sell any house.
So, it is very safe to dig a hole, put in John Innes/sand mixed with peat compost, and plant it out.
I'll leave you to it though, as you clearly know far more than I do about my conditions, and @Buttercupdays'.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Yes, I used to do that when I only had a balcony. In the 4th year, I'd take a young cutting, give the rest of the plant away, and re-plant the cutting in the same pot with new compost to enjoy it for another 3.5 years.
I found out by experience that my various Lavenders hated that and some died of root rot. So, I had to replant them in not very rich, sandy compost.
Its good to know that none of our posters will be living in old houses which might have been built before such building regulations were introduced … Heaven knows what it was I was living in for a big part of my life … we all thought it was a 17th century working farmhouse made partly of clay lump and wattle and daub … built on clay, and surrounded by thick yellow and blue Suffolk clay. We must’ve been mistaken.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.