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Heavy Clay Soil
eselcuk
Posts: 1
Hi Everyone,
we have restored our 200 year old cottage we have bought recently and now we come down to the rainwater and soggy clay garden. We have to put in soakaways and everywhere we have read states they will not work in heavy London clay which is what we have...we have no mains drainage to go to as we have a cess pool. Has anyone found a solution to this problem yet ? I have dug down with a mini digger in various locations us to 2m and still thick clay.
thanks
engin
0
Posts
clay soils are really rich because the plants can't access the nutrients because of the texture, you can dig any organic material in, manure, compost, bark chips or anything else to break up the structure, sharp sand, gravel, horticultural grit, perlite etc.
once the soil is broken up a bit not only with the drainage be better the plants growing on there will enjoy it too!
Hi,
If you think London clay is bad, you should check out Wealden clay (Kent) . I have stopped battling because I have more than 2m of the stuff.
Its not correct to say that plants can't access nutrients otherwise I would have nothing much growing at all. I have Camellias, roses, various herbaceous perennials and I am only a small way through planting my garden up. I also have a small orchard too. I have just got a couple of superb magnolias that can cope in heavy clay as well as a copper beech hedge and Laburnum does well too. Granted that when you are planting into heavy clay, you do have to dig a much bigger hole than you would otherwise do and you have to pack will organic matter to give those plants a chance.
You alsohave to have patience whether you go down the quick route such as liming it. However, the caveat is that this is not quick. You will need another season to correct the Ph of the soil, otherwise it will be on the alkaline side. It would be better to take it slower an incorporate as much organic matter and continue to do so. It will take many years but this is preferable to dumping lime all over your garden and the wild-life will thank you for it.
Research plants that can cope in clay but if you want beds with a sweeping range of herbaceous plants in them, the build raised beds. My garden is fortunate that it slopes so I do get run off but equally when it dries out it can be just a big a problem. Based on this I am planing on building layered or terraced style beds which will have their own soil but regularly topped up with organic matter and lots of it. Any cracks that appear in drought then I fill with manure irrespective of the time of year.
Paul
Go with what you've got.
I'm not overly keen on rhododendrons so I don't mind nor been able to grow them . It would be a waste of effort anyway.
I quite like lupins and salvia, but they are slug food so I don't grow them. I like camelias, but a bit of rain anes they look like Miss Haversham' s wedding bouquet.
Embrace what you have and go with nature rather than fight it. You will enjoy your garden more.
Another gardener on Wealden clay here.......35 years gardening on this tough soil. Batwood is right; incorporate as much organic matter as possible as often as possible that you can get hold of. The more manure by the trailer load the better, £40 or so for a trailer load is money well spent. Don't say no to mushroom compost or the council compost mix either. Sharp sand will help too. Anything to open it out. Clay is actually quite fertile once it is opened up and there are plenty of plants that like clay. Work with it not against it.