What to do with this soil?

I'm new to all this so my Dad helped to cut a boarder in our lawn.

The soil seemed really bad with lots of clay.

What's the best thing to do to turn this into soil good enough for planting??

We thought about either getting a skip and putting top soil back OR some stuff to break it down. Thoughts??




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Looks pretty good to me. Needs the grass removed from it and broken down into a fine mix - not so lumpy. A bag of Compost or Horse poo , if you can get it, will help.
You've done the hardest bit,
well done,
Jenny Namaste
think how grand it will look this Summer planted up with things chosen by YOU

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

Should I be worried that there seems to be a lot of clay in there?


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Plenty of goodness( nutrients ) in clay but it needs humus and grit to break it up and make it workable. Roses love it,
Jenny

 

If you're worried about the clay you could always do it as a raised bed

 

I gardened on heavy clay and it can be both a blessing and a curse: gets wet and sticky in the winter and dries out and cracks in the summer. But, as said above, full of nutrients.

On thing I do notice about the area you have chosen, the border is straddled by two brick wall so, it is likely to be a pretty dry area. So, do bear that in mind when choosing what to plant there.

You can improve the soil texture (and it will take some time) by mixing in compost (homemade is good) and then, once planted up add a good couple of inches of bark chippings (or other mulch) to keep the moisture in. I keep chickens so I used to add the chicken compost to mine (including the straw ) and it really helped improve the soil structure. Failing that, well rotted manure.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

I'm turning it over bit by bit taking off the grass. I'll then add compost.

God knows what to plant there!


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Just as here ,