We were given ours as garden fillers from friend of OH into non clay garden. In front , part are in rubble/hoggin bark clay side , sun from lunch til sunset, others are in heavy clay topped with bark , shade most of day til evening under beech trees (40ft high) ...spread ! Neighbour has them now too(she is a play thief) and hers will be clay /soil 20+yr old garden. Pinch some you have seen and try those otherwise I shall dig mine up and bring them
As Bob and others have said, clay soil is very fertile and will grow many plants very well but you do need to be patient and very generous adding layers of well rotted manure and/or garden compost every autumn. The worms will work it in for you over the winter and the prodding with a garden fork will help aerate as well as improve drainage.
Friends of mine have just such a one hectare garden they started 9 years ago. They make their own compost and also buy in tonnes of council compost every autumn. He then spends December and January barrowing it around the beds. Even after a few years it's making a huge difference and they grow a wide variety of trees, shrubs, roses, climbers and bulbs and hardy perennials so there's something to look at or smell all year round.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I have dry soil in part of my flower beds, no amount of watering helps, the water just "sits" on top of the soil. Can anybody help with ideas/suggestios.
hi can anyone help last year we put in some raised beds & filled with loam soil after the really hot weather it is now rock solid even though it was well watered & hoed
I have waterlogged clay soil from about 8" under my top soil
Have dug it out to 15" deep and am going to try adding Dendrobaena Worms, covering them with (onion and Citrus Free) compost, adding more at regular intervals.
What I hope to create is an open wormery
Worms will aerate the clay, I hope
Only problem that I see is the water logging may drown the worms, so I will break up the base and add some coarse sand.
Posts
As Bob and others have said, clay soil is very fertile and will grow many plants very well but you do need to be patient and very generous adding layers of well rotted manure and/or garden compost every autumn. The worms will work it in for you over the winter and the prodding with a garden fork will help aerate as well as improve drainage.
Friends of mine have just such a one hectare garden they started 9 years ago. They make their own compost and also buy in tonnes of council compost every autumn. He then spends December and January barrowing it around the beds. Even after a few years it's making a huge difference and they grow a wide variety of trees, shrubs, roses, climbers and bulbs and hardy perennials so there's something to look at or smell all year round.
Mabs
I have dry soil in part of my flower beds, no amount of watering helps, the water just "sits" on top of the soil. Can anybody help with ideas/suggestios.
Lots of well rotted farm yard manure or spent mushroom compost
It sounds as if the soil is compacted - as Fidgetbones says, dig in lots of manure and/or compost - you need to attract lots of earthworms.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Good advice there Mabs- the soil just needs breaking up with some nourishment and elbow grease!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
bump
hi can anyone help last year we put in some raised beds & filled with loam soil after the really hot weather it is now rock solid even though it was well watered & hoed
I have waterlogged clay soil from about 8" under my top soil
Have dug it out to 15" deep and am going to try adding Dendrobaena Worms, covering them with (onion and Citrus Free) compost, adding more at regular intervals.
What I hope to create is an open wormery
Worms will aerate the clay, I hope
Only problem that I see is the water logging may drown the worms, so I will break up the base and add some coarse sand.
Any comments
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