Which soil improver?

I have gardened for over 50 years on mostly clay soil in the UK and France and I have found that if you want a bed of perennials fairly quickly no dig doesn't work. When I make a new bed I dig in loads of compost, mostly bought as I never have enough home made. I plant the perennials then mulch. After that I don't dig and the soil is improved enough to be able to split and divide old plants and add new ones. I mulch every winter, just cheap compost, my own leaf mould and compost as well. That helps stop weeds and stops crusts and cracks in dry weather.

Using cardboard and mulch without digging the whole bed for a shrub bed does work as the shrubs aren't moved about afterwards. I dig a big wide hole for each shrub and dig in compost. Then I cover the ground with cardboard and top with loads of mulch. I add mulch every couple of years. Like that there are very few weeds but watch out for brambles and ivy as the birds sit in the shrubs eating blackberries and seeds and dropping seeds from either end!

I use cheap compost and bark chips for the shrubs.

 

Do you know what @fairygirl , just this morning I stood in front of my bed where 3 shrubs and several wild geraniums are planted and I thought that I may have to plant a shrub or two in the sunny bed and simply go for planting that covers much of the soil over winter.
I will think about that.

 

@Busy-Lizzie I think my biggest mistake was that I didn’t mulch since 2021 because I had added tons of manure to clay and that was okay. It’s just this Spring that I see a problem with the soil so extreme clayish.

 

It's often a combination of planting types that works best @simone_in_wiltshire , when you have clay soil, especially if you're finding that your local climate is changing a bit. That's when it can highlight some problems.
I have very little bare ground, for other reasons, but it also helps mitigate the persistent rainfall, and cooler temps we have here, which is why soil doesn't dry out so readily, but you learn very early on what works and what doesn't when you garden in this part of the country.

 

@fairygirl and @Busy-Lizzie I bought yesterday a Deutzia and 2 Geranium plants for the sunny border. I decided to change the planting to something, I know it works in our soil and conditions, like in my old bed, which looks now nicer than the sunny bed.
Plenty of rain this weekend, which will allow the X6 to soak in and I expect the new compost next week. I will apply the soil next weekend but do the planting tomorrow, when I will have a day off.

 

Deutzias are nice shrubs @simone_in_wiltshire . Hope those all do well for you.

 

@fairygirl That New Leaf company didn’t manage to deliver, poor customer service, and I asked for a refund. Hopefully they are honest and pay back also the not happed delivery cost.

 

You have my sympathy for a broken collarbone. I fell off my bike 30+ years ago and broke my right one and couldn't do anything for myself. My husband had to wash my hair!. The nurse said they sometimes kept people in hospital if they didn't have anyone to help them (I bet they wouldn't now!)

 

Many thanks @Baalmaiden
It was indeed a tough time. Thanks goodness, it was the left side in my case.
After having to wait for many months, I was surprised how weak I was in February when I cycled for the first time, but quickly regained strength.
I was allowed to to more in May and I have to say that Fairygirl’s tip with applying X6 was really helpful and working.

 

That's great that it [6X] seems to be working well for you @simone_in_wiltshire . It's such a long time since I used it that I wasn't sure just how quickly it had worked, but I knew it had made a difference.
Did you get a refund on the other stuff?

Hope you're properly on the mend now. I tore my rotator cuff coming off an icy hill, face first, and it was tricky at times to do basic things, although the cracked ribs caused me more problems initially. It was difficult to sleep, as they were the opposite side.

 

Yes I got the full refund including delivery costs @fairygirl.
The garden was looking great. Let’s see what it looks like when we are back from Cornwall.