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Dry, exposed, clay heavy garden
jonathannhsYUowIilW
Posts: 6
Hi All
I bought a house in January and started a bit of gardening in March. I am trying to find out what plants will do well in my soil/ position.
I bought a house in January and started a bit of gardening in March. I am trying to find out what plants will do well in my soil/ position.
I am new to gardening having previously lived in a flat.
I got some plants from my parents gave me from their garden and put them in my garden but most of them are not doing well, even though I’ve watered them daily in the heat etc.
I am thinking this may be to do with the difference between the 2 locations. My parents have a secluded garden with good, almost black looking soil in Birmingham. It has lots of big trees and shrubs and is shady.
I am thinking this may be to do with the difference between the 2 locations. My parents have a secluded garden with good, almost black looking soil in Birmingham. It has lots of big trees and shrubs and is shady.
My garden is in Ruislip, north west London, with a westerly facing garden that backs onto a park. There are no trees in the garden and only a low fence surrounding it so it is very light and exposed to full sunlight. In the recent heatwave it has become scorched and the leaves of some of my shrubs have turned brown round the edges. The bamboo that I had brought from Birmingham has completely died. The only thing that seems to be thriving is a bay tree I have in a pot.
The soil has a very heavy London clay content and when I first dug it in March was like trying to dig concrete (hadn’t been dug for years). It is light in colour and If I get a bit of soil dust on my patio it turns orange when it rains.
I want to put more large shrubs in to give it a bit more shade, plus other types of plants.
Does anyone have any ideas what sort of plants will do well in this environment? Assuming we continue to have hotter summers and milder winters also
many thanks,
jonathan
many thanks,
jonathan
0
Posts
I think the first thing you need to do is to improve your clay soil.
If what you have is London clay (much the same as I have) then it needs to be opened up before plants will thrive in it.
You'll be able to grow a wide variety of plants once the soil is good.
Bear in mind that to get good plants you need good soil - then the soil will look after your plants.
Clay is full of nutrients etc that plants need, but it's all locked up in the fine particles, so you need to free it up.
Some info from the RHS here-
https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/clay-soils
In order to do that you're going to need lots of organic matter. Stuff like compost or manure of some sort to dig in. Not multipurpose compost like you find in B&Q etc - that won't work.
The best stuff to turn clay into good soil is composted bark fines as recommended in the RHS article.
I had an area of almost solid orange/grey clay after building works.
I bought a load of composted bark fines and it has worked wonders and quite fast. I spread the fines in winter and dug them in a bit, put more on a few weeks later and dug them in and by June it was good enough to plant up. Two years on the plants are doing well - despite the heatwaves.
I got bark fines from CPA Horticulture
I also buy manure and mushroom compost from them - it's all good.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
https://www.downtownstores.co.uk/products/vitax-clay-breaker-soil-additives-25kg-p43559?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkIT6pLa--QIVgY9oCR0pUApQEAQYBSABEgLT9fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Jonathan, Pete is quite right, preparation is always the key to successful gardening. With luck we will get some rain in the near future which will help you with that.
Autumn is usually considered the best time for planting, but unless you want to wear yourself out ,
l would concentrate on getting the soil sorted, and maybe planting in Spring.
Hopefully we will get less excessive temperatures next year, even though the long term prognosis is for more of the same.
If you can, it might be worth investing in one or two water butts as well
The ingredients are - Organic matter and Gypsum - and they're charging a lot of money for it!
Gypsum does work from what I've read, but I'd just buy some gypsum and use that in combination with bought organic matter - way cheaper.
From the RHS article I referred to -
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Roses do well in heavy clay. I think apple trees do too. Our house was built on an orchard in the 30s and we have heavy clay.
It will take years to improve the soil but you will see the benefits.
To find out what will grow then take a walk down your street and see what thrives in neighbouring gardens.
Gardening is something you learn by doing. Much trial and error. Few hard and fast rules. Have fun.
It struck me as an expensive way of doing things
I agree with B3, roses and rose family all do well in clay, so apple and plum trees, as well as their wild counterparts. Amelanchier also are happy. They'll all get you started and when you've done some work to improve your soil, you can move on to herbaceous plants that will cope with your conditions
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
- Gypsum is a waste of money. Use as much rotted manure as possible, and keep adding every year. Dig in for a few years, and then just mulch after that.
- Given increasingly hot/dry Spring/Summers in London, you would be better planting a few trees and lots of shrubs. Don't plant them until the Autumn, water well until established. Only pick varieties that can truly cope with very hot/dry weather.
- I would resist planting too many perennials, most of ours are currently dying, or require too much water to keep alive.
- Beware plants that say drought tolerant. We have lots, and they are in a pitiful condition.
- Look for plants which will survive a Mediterranean Summer, and our Winters.
- If you do make your garden shrub heavy, try to use different foliage colour and texture as possible, to give more interest.
You have the advantage of just starting gardening during one of the worst Summer's ever, in terms of heat/water. If you get your planning and research correct, you will hopefully minimise any loss of plants in future, and have a great looking garden.