Ok - I got some on Amazon that is just like ordinary compost but dark and rich looking. I tried yesterday to dig it in and there's no chance! the soil in my garden is like talcum powder, so dry and powdery - and with all the plants just growing plus roots just under the surface, it isn't possible to dig it in. I ended up just putting some round each of my big nice plants, on the surface. Will this do any good at all? I ended up really frustrated and having bad ME isn't helping as I was knackered. i don't know what else to do now.
If you are on the edge of a grouse moor you are probably trying to garden on almost pure peat - grouse feed on the young shoots of heather. This means your soil will be very acidic, low in nutrients, and like the peat composts in pots, will dry to an almost impervious outer layer so heavy rainfall will run off instead of soaking in. Plus you are at 1000 feet and this makes it colder than surrounding lowlands. My garden is at the same height, but in the Pennines, and the grouse moors are on the opposite hillside not mine, so my soil is more varied, but I know where you are coming from!
Two things: you can't fight it, so grow plants that like those conditions, but ameliorate it where you can. Terraces is definitely the way to go - just heard on the radio late last night , how one valley in Ethiopia has been changed from from barren desert with lethal flash floods to green fertile farmland with three harvests a year (dream on!) and ground water, by a determined terracing project. Different climate but essentially the same problem!
Obviously heather will be one of the plants that will grow well , though you might have an issue with grouse predation! There are quite a variety of different colours of flower and foliage and winter/spring or summer flowering types. Rhododendrons and azaleas, Scots pine, birches, camellias, magnolias, andromeda ('bog rosemary', but you will probably have to give up on the edible kind or bring it in for the winter, it is a Medterranean plant and not really hardy, I keep losing mine) are all plants that won't mind the acidity, but they may need better nutrient levels and shelter from the wind to flourish. Use pots or raised beds with different soil for things like your pansies and other plants special to you. Look up plants for acid soil and you will find many more treasures that you will be able to grow in time.
Now for the terraces. Start at the bottom and work upwards, that way you only have to shovel soil downhill. Use what ever you can to form the first barrier. It could even be peat if you could cut blocks of it from somewhere, logs, or brushwood woven between short stakes. Timber would cost more and perhaps be difficult for you to transport and handle but is an option, either sleepers or scaffold planks. The terraces don't need to be very high, lower is easier and safer, but you do need more of them to cover the slopes: think of those lovely Balinese hillsides. Then cut away into the slope behind and throw the soil down, adding manure at the same time. Build the next barrier for protection, to catch any soil from higher up and slow the water run off. Repeat till you get to the top of the slope.
They don't have to be made all at once and you can plant as you go. None of these barriers will last for ever so it is helpful to grow plants that will grow into and stabilise them, so that when they rot away there is still a sound edge. I find alchemilla mollis and hardy geraniums useful for this as they form very solid root mats and cascade over the edges, plus they increase readily so you don't have to keep buying new ones. Heather will work too, or anything with a running rootstock - I even let rosebay willow herb have free rein on a very steeply sloping bank because it stabilises the soil and prevents collapse. On a larger scale, cotoneaster horizontalis does the same and provides useful shelter, and the bees love it. Use wind break netting to establish hedging for a solution to wind damage and to enable you to grow a wider range of plants. Happy gardening!
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Ok - I got some on Amazon that is just like ordinary compost but dark and rich looking. I tried yesterday to dig it in and there's no chance! the soil in my garden is like talcum powder, so dry and powdery - and with all the plants just growing plus roots just under the surface, it isn't possible to dig it in. I ended up just putting some round each of my big nice plants, on the surface. Will this do any good at all? I ended up really frustrated and having bad ME isn't helping as I was knackered. i don't know what else to do now.
If you are on the edge of a grouse moor you are probably trying to garden on almost pure peat - grouse feed on the young shoots of heather. This means your soil will be very acidic, low in nutrients, and like the peat composts in pots, will dry to an almost impervious outer layer so heavy rainfall will run off instead of soaking in. Plus you are at 1000 feet and this makes it colder than surrounding lowlands. My garden is at the same height, but in the Pennines, and the grouse moors are on the opposite hillside not mine, so my soil is more varied, but I know where you are coming from!
Two things: you can't fight it, so grow plants that like those conditions, but ameliorate it where you can. Terraces is definitely the way to go - just heard on the radio late last night , how one valley in Ethiopia has been changed from from barren desert with lethal flash floods to green fertile farmland with three harvests a year (dream on!) and ground water, by a determined terracing project. Different climate but essentially the same problem!
Obviously heather will be one of the plants that will grow well , though you might have an issue with grouse predation! There are quite a variety of different colours of flower and foliage and winter/spring or summer flowering types. Rhododendrons and azaleas, Scots pine, birches, camellias, magnolias, andromeda ('bog rosemary', but you will probably have to give up on the edible kind or bring it in for the winter, it is a Medterranean plant and not really hardy, I keep losing mine) are all plants that won't mind the acidity, but they may need better nutrient levels and shelter from the wind to flourish. Use pots or raised beds with different soil for things like your pansies and other plants special to you. Look up plants for acid soil and you will find many more treasures that you will be able to grow in time.
Now for the terraces. Start at the bottom and work upwards, that way you only have to shovel soil downhill. Use what ever you can to form the first barrier. It could even be peat if you could cut blocks of it from somewhere, logs, or brushwood woven between short stakes. Timber would cost more and perhaps be difficult for you to transport and handle but is an option, either sleepers or scaffold planks. The terraces don't need to be very high, lower is easier and safer, but you do need more of them to cover the slopes: think of those lovely Balinese hillsides. Then cut away into the slope behind and throw the soil down, adding manure at the same time. Build the next barrier for protection, to catch any soil from higher up and slow the water run off. Repeat till you get to the top of the slope.
They don't have to be made all at once and you can plant as you go. None of these barriers will last for ever so it is helpful to grow plants that will grow into and stabilise them, so that when they rot away there is still a sound edge. I find alchemilla mollis and hardy geraniums useful for this as they form very solid root mats and cascade over the edges, plus they increase readily so you don't have to keep buying new ones. Heather will work too, or anything with a running rootstock - I even let rosebay willow herb have free rein on a very steeply sloping bank because it stabilises the soil and prevents collapse. On a larger scale, cotoneaster horizontalis does the same and provides useful shelter, and the bees love it. Use wind break netting to establish hedging for a solution to wind damage and to enable you to grow a wider range of plants. Happy gardening!
You know I never ever thought I had acidic soil? LOL - I will go away and google and plan. Thank you