Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheralynne
Hey there guys,
I am hoping someone can give me a bit of advice on very dry soil. We have just moved into a rented accomodation with a garden, which I've always wanted.
When we moved in, it was overgrown with shrubs and weeds and have taken most of them out now leaving just a few tall shrubs and trailing roses.
Now, the problem is, before I plant any new shrubs and border plants, I want to make sure the soil is okay to plant in. As it was so neglected, there are many hard roots left in the soil from, what I call 'cauliflour shrubs' - the leaves looked like cauliflour leaves, it also has glass and stones in it like all other neglected gardens.
The soil is very dry and clumpy and I'm unsure how to rectify it.
I was thinking about just throwing compost on top of it and throwing in the plant food pellets, but I wanted most of the stones/glass out before I did that, or would it just be easier to take off the top layer (with all the rubbish on it) THEN put compost down... any cheap fixes out there? As the title says, I'm new to gardening but really want the beds to be the best they can before I spend loads of money on plants.
Any advice would be absolutely wonderful 
Thanks in advance,
Sheralynne |
Hi Sheralynne, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no, there are no quick fixes, gardening, like most things worth doing, gives back in direct proportion to the effort put in. No effort = poor results ?
Obviously as its a rented property you wont want to be spending a fortune but heres your biggest problem ! As its been neglected and overgrown, the soil will be very dirty (full of weed seeds) and as soon as you get a shower of rain, up they will come in thier thousands ? so heres what to do, try where possible to dig over as much of the ground as possible, this will bury most of this 'dirty soil', most weed seeds germinate only in the very top layer of soil ! While digging, take out any roots you see and any perennial weeds. Now you can plant, using compost around each plant and if you really want to do a first class job, when planted, mulch with any organic matter, this will do two things, firstly, conserve moisture in your stony soil but equally as important, it will prevent alot of these weeds germinating. It also in my opinion, makes the plants look nicer !
Im not sure what your thinking of planting but try to think in groups, using shrubs with evergreen different coloured foliage (which you will have year round) and treat flowers as a bonus. Add small groups of perennials like Heuchera, Salvia, Argyranthemum etc to give a blast of summer colour. Personally I like to use 3/4 of the area in shrubs and only 1/4 perennials, that way you get maximum effect for minimum effort.
Best of luck, Lannerman