On 3/1/12 4:58 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
JoStar37 wrote:
Hi

I was wondering if any friendly gardeners out there might be able to
offer me some advice please.

I am a complete novice and bought my very first house 2 years ago. The
first year I spent doing all the decorating indoors, and in spring
2011 I couldn’t wait to get started on sorting out the back garden. I
am lucky enough to have a decent sized back garden, 15metres long by
about 7 metres wide and at the time it was a completely grassed area
with no plants at all. I saw this as a blank canvas and was so
excited by the prospect of designing something beautiful.

The first thing I did was to cut away the turf to make borders which
was absolutely back breaking as the soil was a heavy clay. Once the
turf was removed, I hired a rotavator and nipped down to my local
farm who had lots of manure to give away – it wasn’t rotted but it
was my only option at the time as I just didn’t have much money to
spend on compost. I then spent a good weekend rotavating the borders
and throwing in as much organic matter as I could get my hands on.

I also tried to note where the sun was rising and falling so that I
could buy the right types of plant. I then spent alot of money buying
many plants from the local garden centre as I thought that I would be
able to enjoy them for many years to come.

I take a look out of my window now and see that only a few plants have
survived – sorry if I get these wrong - afew hebes, black sambuca,
forsinthya, buddleia and a twisted willow and a couple of roses.

On such a beautiful day, I was determined to start again with the
garden. I decided just to work over a small area each week, buy some
compost each week and try to work my way around the borders. I have
just dug a small hole approx 50cm by 50cm and the soil is horrible –
all claggy, sticky and lumpy. However what is worse is that past a
spades depth, I am hitting a lighter brown layer of soil which seems
to be solid clay/sandy? I am trying my very best to loosen it and dig
through it with my garden fork but I just don’t have the strength. I
have no idea what to do now. It seems to be present around half of my
garden when testing areas with my spade.

I know its stupid but I so wanted a beautiful garden as it took my
ages to save for my first house and instead I am sat here with tears
in my eyes not knowing what to do or where to start. Should I hire
another rotavator and start from square one? I live on my own and
don’t have much spare cash so I don’t know if there is anything I can
do.

Thank you in advance for any words of advice. They will be greatly
appreciated - Jo

You would remove some of the guesswork if you said where you are and what
your climate is like. Nurseries and plant shops will sell you anything that
they can not just those suitable for your climate and soil. So far we don't
know if you picked the right plants or not, so that may be part of the
problem. Find out from locals what actually does grow well in your area,
they have solved these problems before you arrived, don't re-invent the
wheel.

It would seem that the clay is at least part of the problem, even if not the
whole problem. Solid clay is a very difficult base soil to work with. As
you have discovered it is very hard to work but this is not the biggest
problem.

The fact that it is nearly waterproof is a big issue because it effects
drainage. If you have a shallow layer of topsoil (often imported) once you
get through that water doesn't drain but tends to run along the top of the
clay. If you dig a hole in it and plant a shrub there the shrub will be
effectively in a waterproof tub with no drain holes. Next time it rains the
hole fills up and may stay full of water for days, this is worse if the plot
is level. Unless the shrub is adapted to immersion the roots will be
damaged and may die, then the shrub dies.

There are several ways around this and none of them are easy or cheap. One
of the simplest ideas is to not plant your shrubs in holes. That is you
build up the soil above the clay and plant them into a mound. It is
possible to install drainage. It is possible to slowly convert clay to soil
with much effort and soil amendments and time. It is possible to import
soil to go on top. Try getting a professional or the members of the local
garden club to give you an assessment on the spot, doing it from half a
world away is very chancy.

I have found that a generous amount of gypsum broadcast on top of the
soil and slowly rinsed into the soil will cause clay to be more
"friendly". Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which reacts chemically with
clay to make the clay porous and granular. The problem is that it
eventually leaches away and thus must be applied every year or two.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary