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Post by Cheerypeabrain on Apr 20, 2007 16:34:18 GMT
What's your garden soil like then? It's supposed to influence what grows well isn't it? Ours is lovely  ...concrete/dust bowl on top and 6" down wet & claggy  . Years of digging in good compost has given us quite good stuff on the flower bed...altho it tends to set like rock if not watered and hoed regularly...the pH is mostly pretty neutral. My sister lives just 2 miles away and the soil in her garden is beautiful! ...my Dad lives round the corner and his is worse than mine!! full of stones and very hard (ew) |
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Post by andy on Apr 20, 2007 16:43:21 GMT
Our house was apparently built on the site of some old allotments ;D
As we're in the middle of the south downs here in Sussex, we are very chalky/flinty but with some super rich loam added to it.
Good, free draining alkaline soil.
But....3 miles away at my parents house, they have thick clay soil and can grow all the lime hating plants.
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Post by Dr Bill on Apr 20, 2007 16:57:22 GMT
Slightly acid sandy soil full of stones. Drains well but soon dries out and needs some feeding.
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Post by Susie Snowdrop on Apr 20, 2007 17:09:12 GMT
Perfect imported neutral top soil ;D ;D  |
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Post by MamIDdau on Apr 20, 2007 18:07:36 GMT
dunno about the acidity (suppose I should test it really...) but found out today it's heavy clay type stuff that doesn't drain very well.
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Post by andy on Apr 20, 2007 18:11:05 GMT
dunno about the acidity (suppose I should test it really...) but found out today it's heavy clay type stuff that doesn't drain very well. Generally speaking April, clay soils are neutral to acidic and are usually very fertile as the clay molecule has the ability to hold on to plant nutrients. |
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Post by MamIDdau on Apr 20, 2007 18:31:07 GMT
ooooooh that's good then. Still needs to drain better though. I tried to water the trees in well and it just sat there in a puddle on top of the soil. Took ages to drain down.
I dunno what's been in that bit of soil before though because I've the feeling it was used as a veggie patch before and I've found a bit of rhubarb and there are blackcurrant bushes at the back of it.
Can I get some of that soil improver stuff and dig that in to improve drainage and nutrients? I'm going to put carrots, onions and beetroot in there. Hopefully anyway.
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Post by madonplants on Apr 20, 2007 19:05:37 GMT
Thick clay, that has hardly been worked before I came here last year with a pH on average of 5.8.
Keith
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Post by jean on Apr 20, 2007 20:29:43 GMT
Garden is clay with lots of big stones, approx 5 miles inland from the N Cornish cliffs, Lottie is clay on top of slate and in some places the top soil only goes down 12 " - how much manure have I shifted? and its still not enough |
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Post by Juliet on Apr 20, 2007 22:05:52 GMT
dunno about the acidity (suppose I should test it really...) but found out today it's heavy clay type stuff that doesn't drain very well. Generally speaking April, clay soils are neutral to acidic and are usually very fertile as the clay molecule has the ability to hold on to plant nutrients. Mine is alkaline heavy clay (always have to be different, don't I ) Some bits of it aren't too bad, where it's had compost & stuff added over the years. Some bits of it are like a quagmire. And other bits of it have a kind of Uri Gellar effect on my trowels & forks  |
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Post by fozzie on Apr 21, 2007 10:57:34 GMT
Mine is neutral clay and as is normal with clay, concrete in summer bog in autumn and spring frozen solid in winter. Been here coming up 5 years still digging out roof tiles, bricks and rain water pipes/guttering! Increase in house prices only just keeping up with money spent trying to improve soil.
Foz
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TeeGee
Assistant Gardener
Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.
Posts: 218
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Post by TeeGee on Apr 21, 2007 11:18:48 GMT
My garden soil is quite light and a bit shallow and was lacking a bit of humus last year so put a 3"-4" farmyard manure mulch over it last November so hopefully that will prove beneficial in watering terms (I hate watering!!) Couldn't dig it in because of the thousands of spring & summer bulbs and perennials I have in so I left it upto the worms to improve the quality of it. My allotment is very good 'loamy' soil due to me putting a tractor trailer load of farmyard manure every year. I can now push my spade in a full spit without using my foot for additional pressure. Oddly enough although it is quite a light soil I can still grow good solid sprouts and caulis which some people advocate need heavy/ dense soil. as you can see here;  |
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Post by MamIDdau on Apr 21, 2007 12:11:01 GMT
Found out more about mine today. It's like modelling clay! I made a little ball and some arms and legs and a little head. Then bashed it back into the border.
It doesn't seem very deep either and is full of useless bits of concrete and other stuff the builders left behind.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2007 15:34:13 GMT
Sandy loam which is acid. It's full of stones but is in good heart. Grows nice crops and really improves further by adding manure and compost.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2007 11:38:59 GMT
Despite the garden being so small - 30 foot at longest - soil-wise it is divided into two distinct haves: towards the back the soil is very dark, lots of organic matter (partly from old broken sewage pipes), extremely fertile, easy to work, only very slightly alkaline.
Towards the front (near house) loads of old rubble which we are still digging out, quite sandy, heavily lime, badly drained in patches due to a few unremovable granite slabs a way down. We've enriched it with loads of compost, horse poo, leaf mould etc. and will probably be doing so for year .... but, at least we have a garden, and it's south-facing ;D ... cheers ...
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Post by Mr Grinch on Apr 23, 2007 16:05:01 GMT
My gardens been well used and is about 80 years old. Top 8 inches is good stuff then get into the heavy clay. Top of the garden is boggy during spring,winter and autumn and moist in summer. Had an experiment last year when preparing my new borders. The west facing side i skimmed the grass then just dug it over. Planted my plants then top dressed with compost lightly forking it in. This side gets most sun and during summer dry's very quickly baking rock hard. The plants seem to love it though. My east facing border gets less sun. As well as skimming the grass, i dug in loads of organic matter. This soil is now a dream to work with, stays a bit damp during summer BUT the plants dont seem to be romping away as much !!
Mr G
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...concrete/dust bowl on top and 6" down wet & claggy 
. Years of digging in good compost has given us quite good stuff on the flower bed...altho it tends to set like rock if not watered and hoed regularly...the pH is mostly pretty neutral.
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