Forum home Tools and techniques
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

hard earth

afternoon

pottering in my garden, as you do, I discovered that the earth in one of our borders is very hard. It gets quite a lot of direct sun I think.

Does it matter, and it is anything to do with why our lilies did so appallingly badly this year? I had blamed that on the twin cannons of slug and lily beetle. Actually, it's only one type of lily that's done badly, which makes me think it's more likely to be sensitivity to pests.

Should one dig over a border? I can't really, cos it's full of bulbs...

thanks 

Posts

  • ginagibbsginagibbs Posts: 756

    Hi jackthecat, add some horse manure in the autumn as a thick mulch, the worms in it will do the digging for you and your bulbs will not be disturbed, plus it will hold moisture better.image

  • Mrs GMrs G Posts: 336

    Lilies like lots of water and food but not poor drainage, are you on clay soil?  I always do mine in pots, when I  had some in the border they were much smaller and more difficult to check for pests.  You could mulch the border each year to keep moisture in and improve soil structure over time and if you get a dry spell water them.  We've had 3 weeks of sun and I've had to water my wet, shady border because it had dried solid.

  • jackthecatjackthecat Posts: 29

    ok mulching. I like it

    thanks

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,444

    The mulch goes on top, see what gina and Mrs G said



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • allium2allium2 Posts: 413

    Hi Pauline. You can leave it as a mulch. The worms will do the rest. Just make sure its well rotted else it burns the foliage of plants. image

  • SupernoodleSupernoodle Posts: 954

    Yeah, I put it on top and leave it to the worms. Life's too busy to digimage

  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923

    An old gardeners saying "If in doubt.....Mulch!"

Sign In or Register to comment.