what plants can i grow in my clay soil garden

[Deleted User]

What a pretty garden, islandman!

mumoftwins ~ my garden is clay, but have no trouble growing what I want. Just make sure you add compost to it every year to improve drainage.

mikeyboy

Hello,

After 18 months in my first home (first time buyer!) I am in the process of sorting our rear garden, as a complete gardener newbie I am hoping for some advice.

When we bought the property we got the garden turfed as part of the deal, it looked ok but to be honest I dont think they did a very good job, uneven and low quality turf, also I want something low maintanence.

I have taken the turf up and rotavatored the soil and levelled it all out, removing any remnents of bricks etc which the builders kindly buried under the soil :rolleyes: for me.

I have made a large circular area which will be gravelled in decorative 20mm pink staff with a membrance beneath. The areas around the circle will be borders with shrubs in. The total garden size is 6m x 8m, quite shady.

Here is the issue! the soil is very heavy, clay type and wet in parts. I have mixed in lots of good quality top soil in an effort to looosen it all.
I want to plant some low maintence shrubs which are thirsty and will 'drink' a lot!! any ideas?

Also, any recommendations on where to buy such shrubs cheaply?

Many thanks in advance

alanobrien

take a look here ;

http://www.complete-gardens.co.uk/online/online-gardening-plant-solutions-category.php?cat=16

I tend to buy this time of year as all the local nurseries are selling of stock very cheaply the only downside being you may need to store then for spring planting.

Other than that look at the mail order companies and ebay, i have had some great buys on there over the years.

An dont forget the option of buying seed and growing your own, its cheap, very easy to do an a lot of fun.

torbrex

I have heavy clay soil in my garden and have the following plants/shrubs/bushes:
Red Robin
Lavateria
Spirea
Wigeila
Rhodedendrum
Azeilia
Hebe
Cotoniaster
Laurel
Sundance
Eonymus (3 varieties)
Hosta
Rhubarb
Blackcurrant
Mahonia
Phlox
and about 10 others that I do not have names for as well as various bulbs and perenials that seem to thrive here but not in sandy soil.
I have never been able to get Tulips to grow and Dailiahs take more work than I am willing to give them, I do however sow a mixed handfull or five of hardy annual seeds around various bare patches in the Spring that saves me a lot of weeding and gives loads of extra colour.

ndh_uk

Hi,

It only just caught my eye whilst in tesco, but if I remember rightly there is an feature on this subject in this months gardeners world magazine.

No doubt someone will correct me if i'm wrong.

There you go first post out of the way!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neil

ndh_uk

Also if you looking for cheaper plants, most garden centres now have rootballed plants in stock at this time of year. These tend to be slightly bigger plants than those in pots and at a cheaper price.

Regards

Neil

nanokitten

the rhs has a plant selector tool for choosing plants for a certain spot, It should give you an idea of what will do well.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/default.aspx

I find the best thing is to look what plants do well in you neighbours gardens and local parks as they will share your conditions closely.

mikeyboy

Thanks for everyones ideas and advice, much appreciated.

I am in the process of drawing up a list of plants and shrubs for planting over the next few weeks and months.

I have another question for you all... the soil patches inbetween the plants and shrubs will look rather unattractive, I like the look of chipped bark, but would this make the wet clay soil any worse? are there any other alternatives?

Many thanks yet again
Mikeyboy

amcluesent

I have clay soil, what's done well for me -

Ash tree
Yew tree (grows much quicker than you'd expect)
Box
Cotinus
Ceanothus
Phormium (grew to a giant!)
Japanese Laurel
Roses
Day lillies
Ferns
Japanese anemone (became a weed!)
Phlox
Clematis Montana
Verbascum
Grasses
Hebe

artha

mikeyboy wrote: »

I have another question for you all... the soil patches inbetween the plants and shrubs will look rather unattractive, I like the look of chipped bark, but would this make the wet clay soil any worse? are there any other alternatives?

Many thanks yet again
Mikeyboy

Chipped bark is put down for several reasons. For decorative effect, keeping down annualweeds and also to retain moisture around the base of plants that don't like dry conditions. If you choose plants that don't mind wet clay or even thrive in it then moisture retention isn't a problem. In fact it may be beneficial as clay soils can bake dry and hard in the summer at the surface. The use of bark chippings may therefore keep a more even level of moisture which is beneficial for new plantings whilst they get used to the conditions. The bark chippings will also rot down slowly over time and improve the soil.

I've used bark extensively but the one problem I have is keeping it on the borders as grubs,worms,insects etc seem to thrive under it and the birds know this. Blackbirds in particular seem to throw the chippings all over the place to get at the food store underneath and I regularly have to sweep up the chippings and put them back on the border to keep the place tidy.

Decorative gravel will also do the job and won't be thrown about by the birds but to my mind doesn't look that good and won't improve the soil.

One other thing to bear in mind is that clay soils are very fertile and with plenty of sharp sand dug in can be an ideal medium for a wide variety of plants/shrubs