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My new garden is a bit of a blank canvas and now I know why. Half of it has very poor drainage judging by the moss and it produces lots of fungi in the autumn. I think there may be some pretty solid red sandstone just beneath the surface because it's not long before a fork hits something solid. There are a few things in there but round the edges, the buddleia (sp?) is weedy and rather sad but the other shrubs are ok. The rest of the garden does seem to have more soil but this is heavy red clay - so obviously I'll have to open it out with organic matter but while I'm producing that (I can't afford to buy too much in) any suggestions as to what does well in such conditions? I've ordered bog plants like ragged robin, meadowsweet and so on. Dog roses, rosa rugosa are also in plus native shrub plants. I should add that to add to the general joys, we're in a serious frost pocket. I can't check surrounding gardens as nobody seems to trouble much, opting for large areas of grass, apple trees sometimes but not much else. There are two 'veg' men and I shall take advice from them - but they've been at it for decades and have had a good long time to improve their soils. Raised beds are one option, I know, and I've got plans in hand for them to go in asap. I want plants good for birds and insects, don't mind if their native wildflowers or cottage garden types as long as they can stand heavy clay and the waterlogging and baking clays suffers from and frost, lots of frost. Any suggestionjs greatly appreciated. Oh, the thin soiled area is shady and the rest gets good sun in summer I think.
Have given the poor buddleia a hefty prune, that may perk it up too - it has two choices, poor thing. It's in the thin soiled, mossy area which as it happens makes a nice little glade with the addition of my two potted acers, two potted witchazels and a large potted pieris, the unknown willow and the shrubs that make up the hedge (not sure what they are - our predecessor was really keen on pruning, regardless of the right moment - so time will tell). All that moss makes it all look a bit Japanese and it's a lovely place to sit. I did manage to find enough soil for a small clump of viola odorata which looks as if it's doing well and I've popp3ed in a few snowdrops. Sadly, it doesn't look as if the little cyclamens I put in survived the winter, despite being the hardy sort - but then it was brutal.
Thanks for all the advice and if anything else occurs...
Hi Kezsmum
Here in Teesside our garden soil is clay, my partner had the level raised & partially landscaped as it used to get waterlogged, but now he's lumbered with me, I've made my mark on it! The scabious love the spot I put them in, sun for most of the day, & I have found different shades of blue, so they look so pretty. Keep deadheading & they last all summer. I've put loads of lavender in too, back & front ( dryer than the back). Its in a small border along the path across to the front door. Last summer it was covered in bees & it stopped cats using border as a loo!
As the sun is on the front all day the rosemary bush there is getting so big, it just flowers & flowers & I have a constant source for cooking. I seem to have inadvertantly picked a lot of blue & purple flowering plants, & get a lot more bird & insect life in the garden. The hostas survive in the clay soil, they are in a shady place in the back...although the snails like them! We also have a creeping thyme that has grown across the pathway & smells gorgeous when you brush past it.
Hope that helps
Kim
Hi Kim, I am glad the scabious do well, ditto lavender, rosemary and time (sounds as if I ought to burst into song) all of them are supposed to love good drainage. Hmmmm! Food for thought.
Just a thought which I should have mentioned before is something that I am currently doing in my garden....
As sated above we have clay and running through the middle of the garden we have an old filled in drain which has left a natural dip which is dry in summer but quite wet in winter...long story short I am planting Irises which give good structure with their sword like leaves and these days you can get any colour you want. There are also several different types for varying aspect and I have managed to find types which will flower at different times of the year which I have planted together in the hope that I will get blooms from about April through to October! Might be worth considering for a difficult heavy area?
The other thing with Irises is that they are relatively cheap to buy and once esatablished will thrive from being divided.....meaning lots more free plants to either keep or give away/sale...
Look at these for some ideas of different types...
http://www.claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk/buy-peonies-irises-perennials.php?b=1
http://www.irises.co.uk/index.php?page=cat/species
http://www.irisesonline.co.uk/catalogue.html
I know Clevedon extremely well (small world isn't it)
Cheers
Thanks for the info Higgy, I love irises and have had a few in the past but I think they deserve some more investigation.
Yes, I liked Clevedon, especially Wain's Hill and Hill Road and the zigzag, sometimes walking the dog that channel and the sky was a syphony of greys, doesn't sound charming but it was. Loved the peregrines that nested there too. But began to loathe that motorway which was very close to our house and curled round so it was on two sidesof our garden. That constant noise, especially when wet and the wind in the 'wrong' direction was irritating not to mention the fumes. Lovely and quiet here though, birds, sheep sometimes cattle. Occasionally (on Sats) we hear the sound of footie fans shout for their local teams or children playing in the little play area at the end of our lane-nice. Occasionally ALL I can hear is natural sounds, the wind soughing the trees, birds twittering. So peaceful
Kezsmum said: Thanks for the info Higgy, I love irises and have had a few in the past but I think they deserve some more investigation. Yes, I liked Clevedon, especially Wain's Hill and Hill Road and the zigzag, sometimes walking the dog that channel and the sky was a syphony of greys, doesn't sound charming but it was. Loved the peregrines that nested there too. But began to loathe that motorway which was very close to our house and curled round so it was on two sidesof our garden. That constant noise, especially when wet and the wind in the 'wrong' direction was irritating not to mention the fumes. Lovely and quiet here though, birds, sheep sometimes cattle. Occasionally (on Sats) we hear the sound of footie fans shout for their local teams or children playing in the little play area at the end of our lane-nice. Occasionally ALL I can hear is natural sounds, the wind soughing the trees, birds twittering. So peaceful
Sorry not sure what part of the country you are currently living in?
The M5 is very busy but I'm lucky I live away from it and like you have the sound of the birds etc. I actually back onto open (but a bit wet) countryside which has a wealth of wildlife so I am very lucky!
Like you I do enjoy my peace and quiet!!
Yes the irises are good and so easy to grow, when I looked into them I was amazed by the different varieties and colours which you can now buy! Definitely worth looking into...
I'm living in Mid Devon now, not far from Crdeiton. I live at the end of a small lane that has a stream, a nature walk across the road at the ned of the lane, a country park to one side of my house and a bit of scrubby woodland behind - perfect for wildlife and birds. I love it - because the lane's a dead end, very little traffic passes.
Kezsmum said: I'm living in Mid Devon now, not far from Crdeiton. I live at the end of a small lane that has a stream, a nature walk across the road at the ned of the lane, a country park to one side of my house and a bit of scrubby woodland behind - perfect for wildlife and birds. I love it - because the lane's a dead end, very little traffic passes.
Sounds like a dream place, and I like that area a lot.....in fact anywhere South from us just gets better and better...
What wildlife/birds do you typically get there then? Anything unusual?
higgy50 said:What wildlife/birds do you typically get there then? Anything unusual?
Well, I'm not sure how unusual it all is, but some of it is new to me, especially on my doorstep:-) I've seen a brown hare from my bedroom window, twice, once running across the parkland and another time with 2 roe deer, for all the world as if they were playing but I expect they just got tangled up together. Roe deer are fairly common spots, I also saw an enormous dog fox once. I expect to see more as time goes on, I am hoping for more hare spots in March when they're more likely to be visible. I heard tawny owls for months, but they've gone quiet at present. In the birds I've never had before, brambling, briefly when it was very cold, a treecreeper, nuthatches and the biggy, a cirl bunting, seen just once, took me ages to find out what it was. It had obviously strayed from South Devon! That was also in the cold weather. Apart from them, there's the rookery on the hill up the hill and again, visible from the bedroom. I also love the treeline at the top of the hill, the deciduous trees look just lovely in the winter, with skeletal trees looking fab agains the sky and with the rooks flying in and out, lovely. Apart from that, the usual suspects, but funnily enough, no starlings, no collared doves so far and we're short on sparrows at the moment, although they were here when we moved in in August. I am delighted we have a male bullfinch, we had a pair when when we moved here. I only saw a bullfinch once in Somerset, pecking out our bedroom window.
Fantastic a hare is an amazing sight I have seen only one in the fields at the back of our house since we moved here a year ago. My dog spooked it when we out walking, it shot off at break neck speed across the field and clean jumped a fairly wide drain before disappearing! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me!!
I've never seen a Cirl Bunting but have a regular pair of Reed Buntings and I have to say starlings, pigeons and magpies like they are going out of fashion! I'm surprised you never saw a Bull Finch when you lived this way as I have had quite a lot in the garden here and one day recently I counted six different ones in the garden at the same time....this time of year they're as big as tennis balls when thier feathers are all 'pumped' up!
it does sound like you have a good variety and it is nice to open the curtains in the morning and have all this on view isn't it?....when I look out the back window all I have is fields for as far as I can see. During all the snow recently we had a full moon and you could clearly see foxes out hunting at night and they appeared to be working in pairs which I presume gives a better chance of a successful kill? Not sure if this is common practice for foxes but certainly something I will be watching for again...not sure if I will be able to get photos of them but that will be one of my challenges this year I think!!