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Turning concrete and clay into green things!
Until recently I had an area at the back of my garden which used to be
a patio but which I would prefer to be vegetables. So I have duly removed the concrete and hardcore and am now left with a compacted clay subsoil which I want to get back to life. This is a serious clay so it it very compacted and very effective at getting waterlogged but from what I have read clay although hard to work should be fertile. So far I have double dug the ground and added sharp sand (about 50 - 100 Kg / sq.m) and composted manure (about 200 l / sq.m). What else should I do to get this to something that I can grow on JB |
someone else wrote:
Until recently I had an area at the back of my garden which used to be a patio but which I would prefer to be vegetables. So I have duly removed the concrete and hardcore and am now left with a compacted clay subsoil which I want to get back to life. This is a serious clay so it it very compacted and very effective at getting waterlogged but from what I have read clay although hard to work should be fertile. So far I have double dug the ground and added sharp sand (about 50 - 100 Kg / sq.m) and composted manure (about 200 l / sq.m). What else should I do to get this to something that I can grow on Wow! that's quite a lot of sharp sand! As long as it gets sunlight, and isn't a "sink" for surface water, it sounds to me as though it'll now go like a bomb. The composted muck probably won't have much actual plant-food in it, though, so you could prick in some balanced fertiliser, organic or not according to taste. You may also need lime, but I'd wait to see how it goes first. If, after all your impressively devoted attention, it's still a bit cloddy, you may need to make strips of finer structure for sowing seeds direct. Shouldn't be a problem for transplants, though. It's a great thrill doing a new patch, isn't it? Mike. |
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In article ,
(someone else) wrote: I wasn't planning broad beans but rather french and runner which I presume will have the same effect? Generally, large seeds are more tolerant of lumpy inhomogeneous soil, so yes. A particular advantage of Broad Beans is that you can sow them now and be eating by June. The other beans involve having the soil bare until May/June and not eating until July/August. Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ |
Steve Harris wrote:
In article , (someone else) wrote: I wasn't planning broad beans but rather french and runner which I presume will have the same effect? Generally, large seeds are more tolerant of lumpy inhomogeneous soil, so yes. A particular advantage of Broad Beans is that you can sow them now and be eating by June. The other beans involve having the soil bare until May/June and not eating until July/August. Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ Also they taste different, though I love them all. |
"someone else" wrote in message ... Until recently I had an area at the back of my garden which used to be a patio but which I would prefer to be vegetables. So I have duly removed the concrete and hardcore and am now left with a compacted clay subsoil which I want to get back to life. This is a serious clay so it it very compacted and very effective at getting waterlogged but from what I have read clay although hard to work should be fertile. So far I have double dug the ground and added sharp sand (about 50 - 100 Kg / sq.m) and composted manure (about 200 l / sq.m). What else should I do to get this to something that I can grow on Insert some seeds or plants in the spring. Franz |
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