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#1
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Advice about planting on previously covered land
Hi everyone,
Glad to have found this forum with lots of helpful advice. We have just moved into a place with a back garden which is paved and covered in gravel. Beneath the gravel is a liner, placed there to prevent protrusion of weeds. Are there any precautions of special preparations we should take before planting this area (as lawn, or for vegetable) once we've removed the gravel and lining? Many thanks, Pike. |
#2
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Advice about planting on previously covered land
"StupidBoyPike" wrote... Hi everyone, Glad to have found this forum with lots of helpful advice. Forum? FORUM? How dare you! It's a Newsgroup on Usenet. Look those up on Wiki. :-) We have just moved into a place with a back garden which is paved and covered in gravel. Beneath the gravel is a liner, placed there to prevent protrusion of weeds. Are there any precautions of special preparations we should take before planting this area (as lawn, or for vegetable) once we've removed the gravel and lining? You need to ensure the soil has not compacted over time before you lay a lawn especially if it contains any clay or you will have constant problems with mud and moss. Time spent now getting it right will be repaid 100 fold. You might be able to use some of the gravel, dug in to improve drainage, if that is the case. With veg you need to check the pH of the soil as it often turns acid under fabric, easily remedied with Garden Lime, aim for a pH of just under pH7. -- Regards Bob Hobden |
#3
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Advice about planting on previously covered land
On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:56:10 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
wrote: "StupidBoyPike" wrote... Hi everyone, Glad to have found this forum with lots of helpful advice. Forum? FORUM? How dare you! It's a Newsgroup on Usenet. Look those up on Wiki. :-) We have just moved into a place with a back garden which is paved and covered in gravel. Beneath the gravel is a liner, placed there to prevent protrusion of weeds. Are there any precautions of special preparations we should take before planting this area (as lawn, or for vegetable) once we've removed the gravel and lining? You need to ensure the soil has not compacted over time before you lay a lawn especially if it contains any clay or you will have constant problems with mud and moss. Time spent now getting it right will be repaid 100 fold. You might be able to use some of the gravel, dug in to improve drainage, if that is the case. With veg you need to check the pH of the soil as it often turns acid under fabric, easily remedied with Garden Lime, aim for a pH of just under pH7. If I may tweak Bob's advice just a bit - if the underlying soil is heavy clay, digging the gravel in will probably not really help as the gravel will be too big. You need to intriduce something much smaller, such as coarse grit, to provide drainage, particularly if you're going to lay a lawn. It's a fair bet that the soil will have compacted so hiring (and *using* before some clever spark chips in!) a rotavator for a day will pay dividends whether for lawn or veg. |
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#5
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Advice about planting on previously covered land
In article ,
says... Hi everyone, Glad to have found this forum with lots of helpful advice. We have just moved into a place with a back garden which is paved and covered in gravel. Beneath the gravel is a liner, placed there to prevent protrusion of weeds. Are there any precautions of special preparations we should take before planting this area (as lawn, or for vegetable) once we've removed the gravel and lining? Many thanks, Pike. -- StupidBoyPike The two main problems with ground covered like this are compaction and lack of humus (organic matter) I would include plenty of bulky organic matter when rotatavating as others have suggested -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
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