Hi everyone Although I have always taken a keen interest in my parents garden. I am a relatively new gardener and hope you don't mind sharing your experiences and advice for me. I have been lucky enough to move to a new house recently with a brand new garden which has been a completely blank canvas for me. Because the house is on a new estate, i spent most of this spring sieving soil to make it usable as there were a lot of nails and builder debris in it. I have dug in some compost and soil conditioner however it is a very heavy clay soil. Any advice on anything i could add to it to make it more fertile? So far i have only dug out very basic borders which have had pansies, lobelia and alyssum in. I don't have a lot of ground to work with but would be grateful for any advice on anything i could put in the ground for next year which would suit the soil. I got a little adventurous in that i mixed in some pepper plants and broccoli into the flower patches.
Good evening Lolly and welcome. Apart from the blue stuff, clay is the most fertile soil you can get. Just add plenty of humus to it to open it up. Plant what you like, it will be fine.:gnthb:
Glad you've got the soil sorted. On new estates there's often enough stuff buried in the gardens to build another house!
Time for planning methinks.:thmb: It should be a very interesting and exciting project watching your new garden develop! Look at other nice gardens and in your minds eye try and imagine yours looking the same. Remember though that everything takes time and some plants take a few years to mature. Do you have time to tender your garden say for long periods in the growing season? or just the minimum amount of time? Have you got a lawn planned? Keep your area for sun loving plants clear so plant taller trees/shrubs northside. If it's a new house then you must consider buying in bulk topsoil. BTW clay soils tend to be furtile opposed to sandy soils so don't despare there. Fertilezers of various kinds are cheap enough and often free anyhow and you can make your own compost from grass cuttings, leaves and food waste. Think what will look nice through the seasons and choose accordingly. As we are coming to the autumn period, think about next spring. Spring bulbs are on the market now so you'll get a good varity to choose from. Now in some dark corner of a Garden centre you could find some cheap offers for Rhodedendroms and Azaleas (A personal garden favourite) but whatever there are lots of plants and themes you can choose from. Good luck :thmb:
