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Plant suggestions needed
Hi I have a small front garden which is south facing. Soil is heavy clay and is like a brick in summer, for the past two years I have concentrated on improving the soil with lots of manure and compost.
So far I have planted lavender munstead as a small border on the edge (dug in lots of gravel first) but now I am stuck on what to plant. I was thinking annuals this year such as Phlox Popstars to give a bit of colour and ground cover. I have ordered 66 plug plants but Im not sure if this will be enough to cover it all.
Any advice on a type of annual and how many would be wonderful
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I've bumped this up. Can't help as I don't have clay soil but someone out there must have.
Apart from manure, you'd have to add a good amount of coarse grit to the soil. First, you have to be sure the soil does not get waterlogged when it rains; if it does, it needs extra draining (like pipes, or large holes in the bottom covered with sand). Don't try to plant anything before the soil is perfectly tilled, or it will kill the roots of the plants. Popstars looks great (I've grown twinkle phlox for long), but in my experience they do not bloom as long as regular phloxes (maybe this F1 is different). I've seen pot marigolds (Calendula) doing nicely with phlox as well as small-flowered caryophyllaceae (like Gypsophila, Viscaria, Silene). You can complete the picture with some low heleniums for end of season.
Not annual, but Roses are supposed to like clay soil. I am not a fan of roses, but I did a little scheme for my last workplace's office garden, with lots of Rosa 'The Fairy'. It flowered over such a long period, and was so neat and cushion-like, it really won me over! If your lavender struggles, consider that one as a low hedge. There are also some good groundcover roses bred for continuous flowering and low maintenance, like Rosa 'Kent'.