(Rodger Whitlock) wrote in
:

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.

I do, but even that doesn't hold the nutrients from manure in the way that
clay would (not that I am complaining! Would much rather *not* have the
clay!)

A lot of my garden is planted into layers of newspapers and compost on the
top of the underlying gravel bed, 'cos digging into it is a curiously
unrewarding experience.

Victoria