dry as dust!

Good morning all,
Just de-turfed an area 50ft x 7ft that I'm hoping to plant with shrubs,grasses,lavender and a bamboo. Being coastal and windy I knew the soil would be dry but it's just dust!! Help!!! I've tried to choose plants that should be okay with a bit of dryness when established. But what should I add to the soil to make sure I'm not wasting my time constantly watering. It's a big area and I'm on a really small budget. Having a serious crisis of confidence :(

 

5.30 am - middle of the night your post, actually I was walking round the garden at 3.15am and it was just light.

Anyway back to question, I would try to get loads of farm yard muck, if its an accessible area you may get a tractor load quite cheap.

As to planting, Hebes usually do quite well on the coast, and may be a funny thing to consider but think about Sea Kale, it can be quite sculptural.

 

Waco is right, you need to get as much humus into the soil as you can. If you are near the beach and there is lots of seaweed then collect that and dig it in.
As for plants, have a look at the gardens around you to see what grows in them. BUT Cistus is a good dry area plant, Lavenders even the French ones will survive, Thymes for low ground cover. Teucrium of various kinds and perhaps some of the better forms of Nepeta.
Then when you have planted and watered in, get as thick a layer of multch on the soil round the plants as you can. It is best if it is some sort of plant material, but even 2 inches of gravel would be a help.

 

Being on the coast and being in Cornwall means that you are going to be fairly frost free. As well as getting as much organic manure into the soil as you can, think about windproof hedges. Buy local plants and look at what is doing well in other gardens nearby.

 

Hi all,
Thanks for all that great advice everyone, very much appreciated. Have been planning this garden for ages and when I saw the soil I felt like I'd been kicked in the teeth! Only had sheltered postage stamps and annuals before.
Waco - as I was typing this, the young lad who does the heavy stuff came round and told me he's got a load of manure for me!!! That coupled with everyones advice has boosted my morale no end
Palustris - seaweed! Wow, plenty of that around here. Kids get your buckets and spades
Hornbeam - have been doing a lot of fence peering and googling and have a few things already. Cordylines, Phormium, Dodonea viscosa, Tamarix, Hebe,loads of grasses and lavenders and a few wildcards thrown in for a challenge!
This gardening lark is better than drugs! Feel really good now! I think I can actually make this happen :D
P.S Can I plant straight on top of the manure or do I let it rot in?

 

Depends on how well rotted the manure is. If you can tell where it came from and still see the straw in it then it is still a bit raw for planting on. Just make sure there is a layer of soil between it and the roots of any plants you put in. It does not have to be a thick layer, just enough to stop the roots of the plants coming into direct immediate contact with it.
Seaweed, if you do collect then the stuff from above the highwater mark is best as any salt has been washed out of it. Really good stuff though. When you stack your removed turf for future use, put a good layer of seaweed in between the turfs.

 

Great advice thank you Palustris! Not sure what the manure will be like until it gets here, but as it's free I'm not going to be too picky;so your planting advice is just what I need.
The seaweed idea is really good, will dispense of a few of the kids beach-toys and replace them with heavy duty sacks. Think I'll turn it into 'a prize for the one who collects the most' type thing Should get plenty!

 

what about fuchias? I remember in Cornwall seeing fuchia hedges which were amazing, and that other stuff - phygelius??? just worked a treat in that area.

 

I have no experience of raw seaweed, but am frightened at the idea of all that sodium going into the soil from it. Might this not reduce the range of plants to just drought resistant and coastal?

Is the soil actually sandy, or is it clayey, or what composition and texture? There are other additives that you might want to consider.

If the compost is really fresh you could stack it somewhere and let it rot for a while, then whilst you are deciding what to do you could sow a green manure on the plot to help give life to the soil.

 

We dug tons of seaweed into my fathers garden in Somerset and into one in West wales. Everything we planted grew in either garden with no problems whatsoever. Potatoes especially absolutely thrived on it, both straight off the beach and after composting. Think of Jersey potatoes, they used to be grown on it.

 

another plant that does well in those circumstances, and will help defend other more tender plants is sea buckthorn (hippophae rhamnoides, I think) - worth a try? http://www.meconopsis.st/pic/Hippophae%20rhamnoides3.jpg

 

I could go with seaweed Idea, I once contravted my field out to a farme who did it with some organic seaweed stuff and grass grew like crazy! You could stick it in with ordinary compost too.

 

Wow! Thanks all!
Trying to take it all in!
Jazid, only had a little dig of it so far. It's been lawn for years so is rather compacted but as soon as you dig it it turns to dust. Doesn't look 'sandy' as such but the fields at the end of my garden are daffodil farms, so not sure it's clay either(?) :confused:
Dendrobium, that sea buckthorn looks interesting. I'm going to have a google of it. Thank you.
Waco, yes fuschias grow really well here, almost weeds. But unfortunately they're not really my 'thing'. Might slip one in later if I find I need some flowers in there though
Thanks again for all your help. I'm off to shovel s**t :D :D :D

 

Quickest thing to check soil composition is to look/feel. Take a bit, moisten it a little. Will it stick together? If not there's a lot of sand in it. If it does, roll it into a small sausage, does it stick together, and can you bend it? If the former but not the latter there's probably a fair bit of loam in it (good for daffodil growing) if the latter then there's a significant clay component. Does it feel sticky in the hand? If so that's the clay. Rub it between your fingers. Does it feel gritty? That's the co**** sands and grits. Drop it in some water in a glass jar and mix it till it breaks up. The sands will precipitate out immediately, the silt will fall out of suspension in a day or so. The clay will take an age to precipitate. You can check the relative components and make your own mind up. Also check the weeds growing on the ground. What are they? This will indicate soil salinity, and pH; both of which you will need to be aware of before choosing plants.

Bear in mind any combination of these three components can occur, and the soil may vary across the site. You don't have to go overboard, but without knowing the general soil type you may spend many hours of backbreaking labour not improving your soil! Organic matter is usually but not always good news, and seaweed soil conditioners can be positively detrimental to clay soil structure. Thats why I say try to figure out what you would like from your garden first, then configure it to help you achieve that.

A quick gander in the local library of books on seaside gardens, and local garden stuff, will give you heaps of ideas for planting. The world is full of great plants to try out! Don't rush.

 

er I've been censored for foul language. Word required in starred position is 'corse' with an 'a' between the 'o' and the 'r' :rolleyes: