On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 09:24:00 +0000, Victoria Clare
wrote:

I think the type of soil you are on makes a big difference. My Cheshire
clay responded eagerly to manuring, and seemed to hold the nutrients
well for a couple of years.

For the OP, let me remark that clay soils are widely considered
to be very good because they retain nutrients and moisture so
well. It's just that they're damnably hard to work with: often
sticky when wet, brick-hard when dry.


Down here in arsenic-rich gravelly Cornwall,
I seem to be endlessly feeding and mulching, and the stuff just washes
away. (it is *so* much easier to dig and weed though.)

Next time you prepare a border, put a *thick* layer of newspapers
at the bottom of the excavation. A friend here had a gravelly
soil and used to use newspapers to keep soil admendments from
disappearing so quickly. Once the plants are well-rooted, the
roots alone will help keep things in place.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada