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Clay soil


Case

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http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1002/clay_soils.asp

 

Plants for clay

 

There are a great many more plants that will grow on clay soil, but these are consistent performers.

 

Flowers and ornamentals

 

Roses, grow really well in clay soils, they have strong roots that get through it, the clay then provides plenty of nutrients a good anchor against wind rock and a ready supply of water that the rose roots can go and find. Rosa rugosa

 

 

Phormiums, big trendy grass-like plants with broad sword-like leaves from New-Zealand. Similar reasons to roses, above.

 

 

Shrubs

 

Amelanchier, June Berry / Shadbush, white spring flowers and bronze new foliage

 

 

Aucuba, Cuban laurel, yellow spotted green leaves.

 

 

Berberis darwinii, thunbergii. Versatile and varied group of shrubs.

 

Chaenomeles - Ornamental or Japanese quince. Masses of beautiful red to pale pink flowers depending on variety borne on bare stems when much of the rest of the garden is still dormant.

 

 

Choisya ternata, Mexican orange blossom, Glossy evergreen shrubs that comes in two main types grown either for wonderfully fragrant white flowers in summer (and often again in autumn) with green leaves, or for vibrant yellow leaves in the variety "Sundance" which unfortunately rarely flowers.

 

 

Cornus varieties - Dogwoods One of the best shrubs for waterlogged areas for most gardens. Dogwoods are often grown for their winter stem colour which is red or yellow. There are also varieties with attractive variegated leaves.

 

Cotoneaster, varied group of shrubs from small to tree like, white flowers, berries in autumn of various colours.

 

 

Lonicera nitida, golden leaved evergreen, good for hedging too.

 

Mahonia, especially x media)

 

Pyracantha, spiky white spring flowered autumn berried extremely versatile shrub

 

Taxus baccata, English Yew, for a very formal hedge or as a specimen.

 

Climbers

 

Vitis coignetiae - Crimson glory vine One of my favourite climbers this one, large bright green heavily textured leaves up to 12" across whose autumn colours earn it its common name.

 

 

Other plants for clay soils

 

 

Fruit and Veg

 

Potatoes, the traditional crop to break up clay, they don't need a fine tilth, they can push their large strong roots and tubers through the soil and the act of earthing up helps break the soil up and suppress weeds. Main crop or late rather than early varieties as clay soils are slow to warm up in spring.

 

Legumes, Runner / French / Broad beans, Peas. When the crop is over cut the plants off at soil level, leave the roots to rot under ground so adding organic material and nitrogen from the root nodules that the plants form.

 

Brassicas, cabbages, brussels, kale (not cauliflowers though). Main crop or late rather than early varieties as clay soils are slow to warm up in spring.

 

Soft fruits, most types do well as long the soil is not waterlogged at any time.

 

Fruit trees, Apples, Pears and Plums in particular.

 

Not

 

Root crops such as carrots and parsnips, they have difficulty in growing through the heavy soil and often end up with forked roots (unless you like the idea of growing "rude" carrots).

 

Any kind of early crops including salads, unless the soil has been warmed in advance by using a cloche, cold-frame or plastic tunnel.

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Heather, azalea and Rhododendron like acid soil. Clay isn't. So thems out.

 

The trouble with clay is drainage. Either the soil is waterlogged or bone hard if dry. Adding sand (lots of it) will help drainage but a dry period will set the soil as hard as concrete.... If you are low lying or have wet area, you really want things that will tolerate poor drainage/wet soil or they will simply rot in the ground over winter

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make bricks.

 

..... I'd only clunk myself over my big hapless head with 'em.....

 

Thanks everyone ( especially dd ). We're thinking of leaving the rat race of the south of England within the next three years - our youngest is 21 months and we'd like to move before he gets settled in school down here. We've spotted a small plot where we could grow veg/plants ... But it's very clay-ey - was thinking that adding sand or maybe small- core gravel might help - maybe raised beds too for carrots etc....

 

Waterlogging is probably more of a risk - not too many chances of Skye having long dry summers I don't think..!

 

Sea/Loch salt is probably a factor too, for those plants that grow above the soil....

 

Dreams, eh?

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Thanks everyone ( especially dd ). We're thinking of leaving the rat race of the south of England within the next three years - our youngest is 21 months and we'd like to move before he gets settled in school down here. We've spotted a small plot where we could grow veg/plants ... But it's very clay-ey - was thinking that adding sand or maybe small- core gravel might help - maybe raised beds too for carrots etc....

 

Waterlogging is probably more of a risk - not too many chances of Skye having long dry summers I don't think..!

 

Sea/Loch salt is probably a factor too, for those plants that grow above the soil....

 

Dreams, eh?

Yer very welcome.

 

It all sounds idyllic, I'd love to do the same sort of thing and move to the west of Ireland, Donegal or Galway, and just drop off the map.

 

Hope it definitely works out for you?

 

21 months is a great wee age, but if that's yer youngest, what age is the eldest?

Edited by Duncan Disorderly
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Yer very welcome.

 

It all sounds idyllic, I'd love to do the same sort of thing and move to the west of Ireland, Donegal or Galway, and just drop off the map.

 

Hope it definitely works out for you?

 

21 months is a great wee age, but if that's yer youngest, what age is the eldest?

 

16 YEARS.

 

We have a 16 year old, a 15 year old ..... and the wee one. The eldest two are my stepkids, and I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have a 'birth' child. He is one of the reason's we're thinking of moving away. I want something different for myself and my wife, and I don't want to commute to and from London with the hours I'm doing (I leave before 6am most days, and get back at 8pm) - On a good day.... and I have a normal job - nothing special. And one of these days, I'll walk in from work and the boy will ask me who I am.....

 

My background is semi-rural (a small town in Ireland) and I'd happilly return to this or something close to it - as I'm done with big, unhappy crowds of people. Having said that, I haven't been to Goodison in a while, so it's all relative, eh?

 

We've been to Skye a couple of times and are going back again in June. To shoot some midges, probably. We've seen a small plot up there, and we're thinking seriously of going for it - we've gone as far as hiring a solicitor having made an offer. And yes, we thought of this before all the Martin Clunes / Monty Halls programmes yada yada stuff.

 

BUT ... the reason I asked the first question was becasue while we've grown veg, flowers etc.. down here, the soil where we're going IS different ...

 

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

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Whereabouts in Ireland are you from?

 

Got something against vertically challenged Scottish people?

 

I'm from Carlow - about 50 miles south of Dublin. When I left in the early eighties it was a fairly depressed place, economically - the rail and bus links to Dublin weren't really there. Up to the last 12 months or so it had been doing well - 5 of my 6 brothers who lived there were all working in the area, but the economy has basically died on it's a*** I believe, so they're looking over their shoulders again in case things go very badly wrong.

 

 

And while vertically challenged Scots probably aren't top of my list at Christmas (Strachan, Nevin, Ralph Milne), the 'wee b******s' as MidGES are known are getting a dose of Case Pepper spray (not prison slang) this summer....

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16 YEARS.

 

We have a 16 year old, a 15 year old ..... and the wee one. The eldest two are my stepkids, and I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have a 'birth' child. He is one of the reason's we're thinking of moving away. I want something different for myself and my wife, and I don't want to commute to and from London with the hours I'm doing (I leave before 6am most days, and get back at 8pm) - On a good day.... and I have a normal job - nothing special. And one of these days, I'll walk in from work and the boy will ask me who I am.....

 

My background is semi-rural (a small town in Ireland) and I'd happilly return to this or something close to it - as I'm done with big, unhappy crowds of people. Having said that, I haven't been to Goodison in a while, so it's all relative, eh?

 

We've been to Skye a couple of times and are going back again in June. To shoot some midges, probably. We've seen a small plot up there, and we're thinking seriously of going for it - we've gone as far as hiring a solicitor having made an offer. And yes, we thought of this before all the Martin Clunes / Monty Halls programmes yada yada stuff.

 

BUT ... the reason I asked the first question was becasue while we've grown veg, flowers etc.. down here, the soil where we're going IS different ...

 

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

I don't have the commute you have (I'm guessing that's whay you were getting up so early and coming home so late) although I have been doing similar hours to that since the turn of the year. It's now over but I can't imagine how you kept that up for any sustained period. It's a complete killer and leaves no time at all for yourself or family.

 

Out of interest how are you going to earn in such a rural place. I take it you're not retiring.

 

I'd love to move out of London but I simply can't do what I do anywhere else so it's a bit of a catch 22

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I don't have the commute you have (I'm guessing that's whay you were getting up so early and coming home so late) although I have been doing similar hours to that since the turn of the year. It's now over but I can't imagine how you kept that up for any sustained period. It's a complete killer and leaves no time at all for yourself or family.

 

Out of interest how are you going to earn in such a rural place. I take it you're not retiring.

 

I'd love to move out of London but I simply can't do what I do anywhere else so it's a bit of a catch 22

 

I still AM keeping it up, I'm afraid ... Our plan is to pay off our credit card debt with a redundancy payment I'm nearly due (I have another job, slightly less paid lined up) save like buggers over the next three years, then move. Hopefully we'll also make a profit on our house sale (we bought 5 years ago, so it won't be massive I don't think, but 'just enough')....

 

As for earning when we're up there? - I'm not sure, yet - but I'm also not proud in terms of whatever jobs we'll pick up - I'd do pretty much anything - and it's not as if I'll be spending 100's a quids on CD's.

 

Can't wait.

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..... I'd only clunk myself over my big hapless head with 'em.....

 

Thanks everyone ( especially dd ). We're thinking of leaving the rat race of the south of England within the next three years - our youngest is 21 months and we'd like to move before he gets settled in school down here. We've spotted a small plot where we could grow veg/plants ... But it's very clay-ey - was thinking that adding sand or maybe small- core gravel might help - maybe raised beds too for carrots etc....

 

Waterlogging is probably more of a risk - not too many chances of Skye having long dry summers I don't think..!

 

Sea/Loch salt is probably a factor too, for those plants that grow above the soil....

 

Dreams, eh?

 

 

Biggest problem you'll find on Skye is the wind. Anything you try to grow will need lots of protection.

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Not trying to put a dampener on it, but think carefully about moving to the islands. The cost of living is high, theres a lack of shops, jobs are hard to come by. Might be an idea to get a B&B to run.

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No, you're absolutely right. Portree is 30 mind away from the area we're looking at, and even then it's not manhattan, but for now that's what we want rather than what we fear. I'm serious about the veg growing on a large enough scale to not have to buy those crops in the co-op. We have ideas about seasonal work which should increase our coffers throughout the rest of the year. With luck, we'll have a small or no mortgage.

 

It's naive to say we've thought it ALL through - hell, most of the population of Skye between the ages of 21 and 31 leave the islands ... But we've lied for hours and hours about these challenges and think we can meet them. The thought of our boy walking to school 300 yards away every morning with the sea visible to his left and hills to his right, where everyone knows him and us and vice versa, and he can practice his Scots Gaelic on my (dormant) Irish Gaelic ... Awwww I could go on and on....

 

In the south of England, we're surrounded by shops and business and enough money. You know what I mean by 'enough'? Not plenty, but sufficient to not have to fret. So, the result is we spend it and more - we spend money we don't have as much as money we do. I guess all we're doing is try to only spend money we have.

 

Idealistic, difficult even.... But if the alternative is a 14 hour day, every day - what exactly am I going to lose...?

 

In terms of wind - you're spot on, here - again, we have ideas!!! Wait to see us on dragons den one day...!

 

Thanks, everyone for your input.

 

Case

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I still AM keeping it up, I'm afraid ... Our plan is to pay off our credit card debt with a redundancy payment I'm nearly due (I have another job, slightly less paid lined up) save like buggers over the next three years, then move. Hopefully we'll also make a profit on our house sale (we bought 5 years ago, so it won't be massive I don't think, but 'just enough')....

 

As for earning when we're up there? - I'm not sure, yet - but I'm also not proud in terms of whatever jobs we'll pick up - I'd do pretty much anything - and it's not as if I'll be spending 100's a quids on CD's.

 

Can't wait.

Fair play to you man. I hope it all works out. Gotta have a dream like. : )

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No, you're absolutely right. Portree is 30 mind away from the area we're looking at, and even then it's not manhattan, but for now that's what we want rather than what we fear. I'm serious about the veg growing on a large enough scale to not have to buy those crops in the co-op. We have ideas about seasonal work which should increase our coffers throughout the rest of the year. With luck, we'll have a small or no mortgage.

 

It's naive to say we've thought it ALL through - hell, most of the population of Skye between the ages of 21 and 31 leave the islands ... But we've lied for hours and hours about these challenges and think we can meet them. The thought of our boy walking to school 300 yards away every morning with the sea visible to his left and hills to his right, where everyone knows him and us and vice versa, and he can practice his Scots Gaelic on my (dormant) Irish Gaelic ... Awwww I could go on and on....

 

In the south of England, we're surrounded by shops and business and enough money. You know what I mean by 'enough'? Not plenty, but sufficient to not have to fret. So, the result is we spend it and more - we spend money we don't have as much as money we do. I guess all we're doing is try to only spend money we have.

 

Idealistic, difficult even.... But if the alternative is a 14 hour day, every day - what exactly am I going to lose...?

 

In terms of wind - you're spot on, here - again, we have ideas!!! Wait to see us on dragons den one day...!

 

Thanks, everyone for your input.

 

Case

 

I do know what you mean about your boy. My youngest 2 were brought up on the islands and they could roam and be free. I wouldn't live down south for anything, I'm in Moray now and its a nice blend of rural and town.

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I do know what you mean about your boy. My youngest 2 were brought up on the islands and they could roam and be free. I wouldn't live down south for anything, I'm in Moray now and its a nice blend of rural and town.

 

Ah! excellent!

 

I think you posted a reply to me a good couple of years ago about Scotland - we were thinking of visiting Skye for the first time then - so you're partly responsible!!!

 

We got some news through from the solicitors this morning about the plot we're trying to buy, which was pretty good news except for the sellers solicitors referring to a position of a sceptic tank - as if it's unsure whether it wants to be there or not...

 

We're a good three years from being up there permanently, but are visiting again next Month for the fourth time.

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