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very heavy clay /shale/ large rocks

gizmo17514gizmo17514 Posts: 7
in Problem solving

I moved into a new house Jan 2016 and because it was so wet the garden was completly under water for nearly 5 months. Now we are hoping to do something with it. We dug a pit to see what the builders had done, there was adout 8 inch of what they said was top soil but infact its sub soil and below is solid blue black clay with lots of shale and large very heavy and dense rock, the estate has been built on an filled in open cast coal mine ( closed in the 1990,s) and have been told the clay is the sort associated with coal. Can anybody give any advice what we can do to have a normal garden or must we go for a hard landscape and only potted plants . Oh in case nobody has noticed we are not gatdeners ,we know the difference between grass and trees thats our total knowlege .

Frazzled new gardener

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    Does the soil need to be checked for toxicity?

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • gizmo17514gizmo17514 Posts: 7

    That has not crossed my mind, as far as we can ascertain  what we have is what was dug out of the pit and was dumped where our houses was built they scraped it aside built the houses and used what they had moved as our top soil . We know the hole was 500 feet deep and all of the spoils was used to create baffles to stop noise and that what has been spread over the estate gardens and of course to back fill the hole.

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093

    First thing to do would be a pH test (buy the little kits in a garden centre). 

    Clay soil is great for roses, apples, plums. Many plants will grow in it if you add either grit and organic stuff like compost, rotted manure, composted bark chips (all of which you can buy in gardens centres).

    If you can get a digger into your garden, you can use the big rocks to make a big scale rockery which will improve drainage. If it's a sunny bank, euphorbias, irises, erigeron, aliums, oriental poppies will all grow well in that sort of situation. Or  build fairly shallow raised beds (say, one scaffold board high) with as much top soil as you can find to fill them if you want to make a vegetable garden.

    Our soil is very similar to the coal areas in South Wales (as the seagull flies, it's not far away). It's acidic, so I can grow in open ground azaleas, blueberries and various other things that most people have to grow in pots. Clay makes good soil in time - it just needs some work and a year or two of patience.

    Last edited: 26 May 2017 17:18:38

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • gizmo17514gizmo17514 Posts: 7

    Have'nt thought of fracking , but dynamite came to mind image 

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    'If you can get a digger into your garden,...'

    Wouldn't go the digger route - it will compact even more what you have. 

    What have the other neighbours done with their gardens? May be worthwhile to chat with them and see what their plans are. Unless this is a forever home, I wouldn't spend too much time or effort in dealing with it. And from what you say, it sounds an expensive job. How big is your garden? Could you turn it into a courtyard style garden with raised beds for plants? Do you have children or pets that require grass? 


    Last edited: 26 May 2017 22:45:46

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • mushermusher Posts: 389

    That's good advise, pop your head over the Garden fence to see what's thriving. If the composition of your soil nothing to worry about. Either fork in well rotted farmhouse manure or composted wood chippings annually. This will help to break down the composition and you'll end up with beautiful soil. 

  • gizmo17514gizmo17514 Posts: 7

    One neighbour has brought in tons of top soil and raised his garden by about 8"-10" and layed a lawn which is so far okay, the others are in the same boat and the last of the houses in out road has put down astro turf. We dug a hole just to look what was there on Thursdayabout 1.2 M square and  at the deapest about .5M we poured in  about 2 gallons of water its still there ,any water that pools on it only goes by evaporation. WE are thinking what has been sugested raised beds and a courtyard garden it a reasonable size 19M X 15M so there is a resonable amount of scope but there is no access other than through a normal size back gate so what ever is brought in has to be barrowed in. Oh well should be fit by the end of the year.Why oh why dont the builders ever think what they putting on or leaving behind for the unwary house owner.

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    Although astroturf has had a bad press the more expensive stuff is really quite good.

    Perhaps build a generous patio at the back of the house with some deep raised beds along the fences and then astro turf the middle?  That way if you get a really wet winter and the garden floods again, your planting will be safe. If you put some thought into your raised beds - like having different heights and different widths etc, they can be very attractive. Don't think I would plant anything too deep rooted like a tree in them but you could put climbers on the fences and medium sized shrubs and  perennials  etc.

    I think you may need to cultivate some barrow owning husky friends!

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • gizmo17514gizmo17514 Posts: 7

    Husky friends and raised beds is the way forward I think been looking on line for ideas and there is plenty around now to win the lottery.!

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