🌾 Soil & Compost4 min read
Written by Tom Huber
Working with clay, without fighting it
A great many gardens around Stowmarket, Debenham and Eye sit on heavy clay. It sets like concrete in July and turns to porridge in February. It is also, quietly, some of the best soil in the country.
The first thing to say is that clay is not a problem to be solved. It holds nutrients that sandier soils simply lose, and once plants are established it keeps them going through dry weeks that would finish off a garden on lighter ground.
What actually helps
Digging clay when it is wet compacts it further. Digging it when it is bone-dry is nearly impossible. The honest answer is to dig it as little as you can — and to keep adding organic matter on top. Compost, well-rotted manure, leaf mould: spread two or three inches over the surface each autumn and let the worms take it down.
Plants that seem to enjoy it
- Roses — old varieties in particular.
- Hardy geraniums, astrantia, phlox.
- Viburnums, philadelphus, hydrangeas.
- Fruit trees, once through their first two years.
None of this is quick. Improving a heavy clay border is a job measured in seasons rather than weekends. But the gardens that get there tend to stay well with very little intervention afterwards.
Bon Gardening Thought
“Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the garden. Almost everything else follows from that.”
Every garden is unique. The ideas shared in The Bon Blog are based on my experience working in Suffolk gardens. Your own garden may behave differently depending on its soil, aspect and local conditions.
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