I am also on poorly drained clay and had a lot of disappointments when I first moved here, most bulbs died [ snowdrops and daffodils and native fritillary succeeded]. I have found Magnolias like clay [it is acid clay] so long as it is not too swampy. A lot of Primulas are successful on my clay soil, also hellebores, Trollius and Aquilegia.If you like fruit growing I have found that black currants flourish on clay. Don't grow Montbretia, it is a weed I am still trying to eradicate, a gift left by the previous owner..
Whilst it can be hard work to improve your soil structure at the beginning (take it slowly) in future years you can simply spread a layer of compost around your plants on the surface of the soil and let the worms do the hard work of working it down into the soil for you. The good news is that clay is better than sandy soils which are easy to dig but have little goodness in them. Improve your soils structure and your plants will repay you ten fold by romping away.
Scott's right - clay's very fertile so it has huge benefits. It's just getting it workable and friable that takes a bit of time and effort. As Daisy says - if you have pots of annuals etc put all the spent compost into the beds. My local nursery sells spent compost cheaply at the end of the summer. It all helps to improve the texture. Do you have a compost bin? If you recycle all your household peelings etc that can be composted and then added to the border.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Thanks scott. I will try and put a picture on here if I can.
Hi
I am also on poorly drained clay and had a lot of disappointments when I first moved here, most bulbs died [ snowdrops and daffodils and native fritillary succeeded]. I have found Magnolias like clay [it is acid clay] so long as it is not too swampy. A lot of Primulas are successful on my clay soil, also hellebores, Trollius and Aquilegia.If you like fruit growing I have found that black currants flourish on clay. Don't grow Montbretia, it is a weed I am still trying to eradicate, a gift left by the previous owner..
Whilst it can be hard work to improve your soil structure at the beginning (take it slowly) in future years you can simply spread a layer of compost around your plants on the surface of the soil and let the worms do the hard work of working it down into the soil for you. The good news is that clay is better than sandy soils which are easy to dig but have little goodness in them. Improve your soils structure and your plants will repay you ten fold by romping away.
Scott's right - clay's very fertile so it has huge benefits. It's just getting it workable and friable that takes a bit of time and effort. As Daisy says - if you have pots of annuals etc put all the spent compost into the beds. My local nursery sells spent compost cheaply at the end of the summer. It all helps to improve the texture. Do you have a compost bin? If you recycle all your household peelings etc that can be composted and then added to the border.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...