Bad soil - what are the options?

The soil is terrible in our garden. I don't know what our neighbours have experienced, but when I dug up an area in ours I found old transparent plastic bags (the tough type used by builders, I suspect they previously contained sand or similar), various pieces of metal and some bricks. The soil is also awful. Very clay-like.

I dug our this area in 2006 so we (my girlfriend and I) could grow some vegetables and herbs. I put down some compost and things seemed to go well. In 2007, I put down some more compost (maybe not as much this time) and things didn't grow too well, except for the mint. At this point we decided to leave it.

We don't want to grow vegetables again. I'll probably need to do some soil replacement to get anything to grow well, but as I rent I don't fancy a large investment. I feel that the two best options are:

• Seed the area with grass and reclaim it to the lawn.
• Grow some flowers and shrubs.

I'd rather go with the second one. Does anyone have any recommendations on the type of flowers/shrubs that will grow well in this type of environment? Aside from weeds...

The area does not get a lot of sun light during the day, but a few hours I think (I'm going to monitor that tomorrow).

This is how it currently looks:




(As you can see the lawn is in need of some TLC too although we've purchased a few things for that and I've now taken a few days off so I can get to work on it.)

 

What is it you want to grow, Ryan UK.
Roses are happy in a clay soil and will get up those fences and provide leaves and flowers.
If the area doesn't get sun all day Zepherin Drouhin is a rose which will provide beautiful pink flowers which are highly scented and thornless.
What size is your garden ?
I started an acre of clay which could be cut in blocks and made a beautiful garden.
You just do it square foot by square foot - and keep going.
It's all down to what you want.

 

Hi Alice,

The area I want to plant in is approximately 1.7m x 2.8m (4.76m sq). In feet: about 5.6' x 5.9' (33.04' sq). Assuming my maths is correct. The size of the whole garden... not too sure. I'll check that tomorrow. I suppose about 6m (19.7') 8m (26.2') length, so 48m sq (516.14' sq).

I'm not overly fussed about what types of flowers or shrubs as long as they will grow OK. The GF bought a mixed set of seeds to plant in that area (the box has on it "Shake n' rake - seed shake" and also "The yellow garden"). It allegedly contains 25 different types of flowers, e.g. anethum graveolens, zinnia elegans and nigella orientalis. She also got some Cornflower ("double blue"). They all look quite nice, but I'm not sure how they'll do after a year when the soil goes bad again

Thank you for the tip of the roses. We both like the idea of them, so perhaps a mix of that and the above stuff she bought.

Ryan

 

Hi RyanUK

I can understand that if you're renting you won't want to invest huge amounts of money in your garden. One option, particularly if you have difficult soil, might be just to tidy things up and then grow some nice things in pots. That way, you not only control the soil, but can take your plants with you when you move.

 

Hi ClaraLou,

I have started removing weeds and stones from the soil (very nice weather today ), so soon it will be somewhat improved.

I like the idea of growing some things in pots. We have a few flowers growing in pots outdoors (in another part of the garden) and that has worked out well.

Thank you.

Ryan

 

Love the cat peering out of the grass

 

What about dividing the garden up into sections with gravel paths, (which shouldn't cost the earth) and then plant whatever recommendations you receive in the sections?
Or keep part of the lawn as paths, just the width of a mower so it's easy to tend and wide enough to walk on and put gravel in the other sections , fill with pots or large shrubs. Fairly low maintenance and You can use pots as recommended which look good and you can take them with you.

 

Thanks. I got him a few years back and he has been keeping watch on the garden ever since.

Alice, I looked up Zepherin Drouhin and it looks great. It will be ideal. Many thanks!

 

Hi all,

Thanks for the suggestions. Plenty of flowers for thought. I've decided to not be so cheap and invest in some compost, bark, flowers and shrubs as we'll be living here for about three years more. I'll be getting back to the garden - with the help of my gf - in a couple of weeks after we've both finished with our exams.

Many thanks again.

Ryan

 

What about herbs and salad veg in pots? Tomatoes in grow-bags and hanging baskets, strawberries in planters, potatoes in sacks..... any root crops in sacks. There's alot of veg that can do well in containers. I think there's a Dr Hessalyon (probably spelt wrong) book about it.

Container gardening is the buzz word I think.

Susanna