Advice on a good start
zogirlsmith
Posts: 3
Hi there,
We have just had our (south-easterly) garden landscaped. It is lawn and patio areas so far with a reasonably large empty flower bed. We are now ready to add some plants.
I have a planting plan before I spend a fortune on plants should I do anything to my soil? We are in Sussex and the bed soil has chunks of flint and chalk in it. It also seems quite clayey but isn't having drainage problems so far (as opposed to the lawn where we're having some issues). The gardeners covered a part of the bed in about 15cm of topsoil but didn't break the chunks of soil underneath this.
Should we continue adding topsoil? Does the area with topsoil to need to have more added? Should we dig it up and break the big chunks up underneath it? Should I add anything else before we put anything in?
Many thanks!
Posts
With such a variety of soil conditions the application of just topsoil isn't really the answer. I'd consider adding as much well rotted manure as you can as a first step. I'd wait on planting anything till this has rotted down then see if it's all combined into a suitable condition. You will need to break up the clumps of clay and combine them with the other soil and manure. You'll more than likely find waiting will give you a better soil to plant into. I know it's tempting to plant straight away but patience will provide better results.
I agree with Dave, dig in plenty of well rotted manure. With chalk being present, your soil may well be alkaline so avoid any acid-loving plants until you can get it tested.
Thanks very much for the advice!
Would you guys advise putting anything in to improve drainage i.e. sand? I would like lots of herbs and lavenders that I know like it very dry.
Many thanks