Buried soak-away cover: planting suggestions please
 

I'm turning a patch of lawn into a shrub bed. At one point I've
unearthed (literally) the concrete cover of a soak-away. I think it
takes the run-off from the house roof. It's about 4 ft square and
buried say 4 - 6 inches down. During the summer, this area of grass
always dried out and went brown long before the rest. Now I know why.
I imagine that in winter it probably becomes waterlogged fairly
quickly due to the lack of drainage.

I'm after suggestions for lowish-growing evergreen flowering shrubs
(say 2 - 3 ft in height) to plant over it, that will tolerate a
root-run restricted in depth, likely to be wet to waterlogged in
winter but which dries out completely in summer. As if that wasn't
enough, it also has to withstand salt-laden gales, although
frost-hardiness is not an issue as we're on the coast and seldom get
frosts below -2 or -3C, and then only overnight. The soil is mildly
acid.

The current plan is to put a layer of fine gravel directly onto the
concrete cover to help the drainage in winter, before re-covering with
soil and then to plant either low-growing rosemaries and/or lavenders
to cope with the summer dryness.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Chris Hogg wrote in message . ..
I'm turning a patch of lawn into a shrub bed. At one point I've
unearthed (literally) the concrete cover of a soak-away. I think it
takes the run-off from the house roof. It's about 4 ft square and
buried say 4 - 6 inches down. During the summer, this area of grass
always dried out and went brown long before the rest. Now I know why.
I imagine that in winter it probably becomes waterlogged fairly
quickly due to the lack of drainage.

I'm after suggestions for lowish-growing evergreen flowering shrubs
(say 2 - 3 ft in height) to plant over it, that will tolerate a
root-run restricted in depth, likely to be wet to waterlogged in
winter but which dries out completely in summer. As if that wasn't
enough, it also has to withstand salt-laden gales, although
frost-hardiness is not an issue as we're on the coast and seldom get
frosts below -2 or -3C, and then only overnight. The soil is mildly
acid.

The current plan is to put a layer of fine gravel directly onto the
concrete cover to help the drainage in winter, before re-covering with
soil and then to plant either low-growing rosemaries and/or lavenders
to cope with the summer dryness

How is your liking for Ericas. I think they fit most of the
requirements, Acidity, dryness, gales, lowish habit.

On 23 Sep 2004 02:38:13 -0700, (Philip)
wrote:




How is your liking for Ericas. I think they fit most of the
requirements, Acidity, dryness, gales, lowish habit.


Thanks Philip, a brilliant suggestion.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
I'm turning a patch of lawn into a shrub bed. At one point I've
unearthed (literally) the concrete cover of a soak-away. I think it
takes the run-off from the house roof. It's about 4 ft square and
buried say 4 - 6 inches down. During the summer, this area of grass
always dried out and went brown long before the rest. Now I know why.
I imagine that in winter it probably becomes waterlogged fairly
quickly due to the lack of drainage.

I'm after suggestions for lowish-growing evergreen flowering shrubs
(say 2 - 3 ft in height) to plant over it, that will tolerate a
root-run restricted in depth, likely to be wet to waterlogged in
winter but which dries out completely in summer. As if that wasn't
enough, it also has to withstand salt-laden gales, although
frost-hardiness is not an issue as we're on the coast and seldom get
frosts below -2 or -3C, and then only overnight. The soil is mildly
acid.

The current plan is to put a layer of fine gravel directly onto the
concrete cover to help the drainage in winter, before re-covering with
soil and then to plant either low-growing rosemaries and/or lavenders
to cope with the summer dryness.



Or you could forget planting directly over the concrete. Plant something at
the edges that will happily grow a few feet sideways- the low cotoneasters,
f'rinstance.

--
Anton