My new garden project - work in progress

Hi all.

I thought I'd document my new ongoing garden project. No pics just now but I'll get some on when I can.

In spring last year (2010) I moved into our new house. A nice semi with a small front and fairly large back garden. The gardens were sadly in a shocking state, but on the plus side I got a blank canvass, lots of enthusiasm, and I'm not afraid of hard work.

I haven't touched the front garden yet, other than trimming the existing hedge, so I'll leave that til later.

The back garden.
What a nightmare. About half the garden was, at one time, lawn. However most of the grass was either dead or dying, and it didn't take long to figure out why. The gardens in this area are largely clay, and we all know what happens to clay if we don't keep an eye on it. The ground was as hard as concrete. The roots simply couldn't penetrate into it.

The other half of the garden looks like a builder's dumping ground. Old bricks and rubble and various other bits and pieces everywhere.

I haven't made as much progress up to now as I would have liked, but this is what I've done so far (pics to follow when I get chance).

All the rubble, old bricks, big stones etc have been sorted and stacked up down the bottom. I will find a use for them as my garden takes shape but for now they're just out of the way.

An old flagstone path that ran straight down the middle of the garden has been lifted, and the flagstones stacked up down the bottom. All by me, on my own. Have you ever felt the weight of a full sized paving stone? By the time I'd finished, every part of me hurt lol.

Then for the seemingly easy job of digging the whole lot over in preparation for getting loads of rotted manure and grass clippings etc in. Easy? Should have been. Wasn't. The ground was so hard that when I tried to push the spade in, nothing happened. Even with my entire 14 stone jumping up and down on it. It was like concrete so I took a drastic decision. Out came my mate Mr Pick. I like Mr Pick but he is a bit brutal. I don't like to call upon him too close to the house because he doesn't differentiate between mud and underground pipes etc, but I had to risk it. Mr Pick by the way is, as his name suggests, a pick axe.

I've used spades and picks in many locations and thought I was fairly good at it. With my best belt on the hardest ground, I usually get the satisfaction of seeing the ground erupt on impact and the axe bed in down to the shaft. Not in my new back garden. Until I got a starter hole in, my best whack was taking the tip of the axe head to a depth of an inch or so at most. However over several days, and many Mars Bars, choccy biscuits, and cups of tea, I finally got it all smashed up. A few more days with a spade had it all turned over nice.

And that's where I'm at so far. Not very exciting yet I know, but watch this space.

Just to end on a cliff hanger, as is the custom...

Will the ground simply compact again before spring?
Will my wife finally lose her rag at me for forgetting to take my muddy boots off before coming in?
Tune in soon for another enthralling installment.

 

Smashing episode Dave,

I'm on clay too, very sticky stuff. Trying to bury it with horse poo & compost, but it still sticks to everything.

You've probably missed a bit being away for a year, i'm a relatively new member but have found this the best forum ever.

I didn't have a garden till about may last year on account of building a house.All the stuff i've done has been since then, apart from my shared plot at West Bay.

Keep us posted about your plot, see how you're getting on

 

We need pics! :D :D

If you could get sand as well, that'll help with softening the clay.

 

We need picks ... No! I mean "pics"

"Will the ground simply compact again before spring?"

Not with the weather as cold as it has been, your clay will be beautifully broken down by Spring. And once you've got the manure in you'll be away.

If you are growing veg I recommend "lazy raised beds" (well, proper ones would be better if you can afford the timber). Dig the spit out from the paths (18" wide say) and lay on the bed (max 4' wide) and then only EVER walk on the paths.

After just two years here the soil was "Bootiful".

And you can then redo the shapes etc if you want to later

 

P.S. People swear by a Mattock (in particular an Azada) for digging hard ground. I think it feels daft working by standing on the ground you have just dug ... but here's a link (now that you have finished!)

http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm

 

kindredspirit, I'd thought about buying a tonne of sand. There is a builder's merchant locally that sells to the public too, and they do tonne bags of sharp sand for about £30, but I've heard that sharp sand might not be right. Someone told me that if I get the wrong grade of sand I could make matters worse. Does that sound right?

wiseoldowl, Mars bars are a funny thing. They're like fuel when you're grafting. Normally I don't like them at all, but strangely when I'm doing hard work my taste buds change and there is nothing more divine than a Marsey. It must be all that sugar and glucose

Marley Farleyot sure where I'd get mushroom compost from, but I have about 5 cubic metres of rotting grass and bracken, and horse manure on my heap up the land. I've also found an endless supply of free manure. My sisters have bought a horse and keep him at a livery place. There are more stables than staff, and when I went up recently to collect some poo the two ladies that run the place were surprisingly pleased and told me to come back often because it saves them having to muck out the stables and find somewhere to put it all. Obviously it will take a while to rot but its good to know that the amount I can get in one go is limited only by the capacity of my dad's trailer.

[email protected]and feedback. I will get pics up as soon as I find my bluetooth dongle which is probably still in the bottom of a cardboard box somewhere following the house move. Alas, I'm not the most organised of individuals

 

I'm not sure about the type of sand (in fact, I don't know ! ) but for one section of my garden I mixed in 1 part of old horse manure, 1 part of sand (used for plastering) and 1 part of heavy yellow clay subsoil.

The plants in that section are whizzing up and the combined soil is very soft and friable.

Whatever you do, don't use limestone chippings or dust. It'll set like concrete.

 

You need sharp sand or sharp grit to help break up clay.
Dont use soft sand, the kind used in bricklaying.

Sand or grit will help it drain and make it less sticky but for the plants you will need organic matter as well.

 

Thanks for the tips folks. I'll order a tonne of sharp sand from the builder's merchants in a month or so, and then get it dug in along with my compost heap.

 

Well you wouldn't believe it. I know for a fact that I took some pics of the garden before I started work on it, back in May or June, but when I went to download them off my phone, they're not there. I hate modern technology (I'm a computer programmer in my day job so I'm not supposed to say that).

I guess it is lucky that I haven't got very far with it yet, so I can take more pics at the weekend. Just a shame I don't have any 'before' pics dating back to the very start:(