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Clay plants list. > List Here you wail find our list of clay plants.
By clay we mean heavy dense soil that dry's out or is poorly drained and boggy.
Clay soils can be fertile. It retains nutrients and water. It is rich in ingredients needed for plant growth and will benefit from a variety of techniques.
If your soil has a crumbly texture when dry, the crumb structure can be improved by applying lime or use gypsum if you don't want to raise the alkalinity (pH)of soil.
Don't work the soil when wet or sticky and try not to compact the soil by walking on it.
Coarse light gritty sand will help to improve aeration and texture, Lime will help if the soil seems to be hungry as nutrients can get locked up in soil.
Leaf mould will break down and provide worm food witch in turn will aerate and turn the soil, the worms can even pull the sand though. Over time you can have an amazing rich soil and luscious garden.Some people have had great success growing, manure or compost crops in marl clay sites and then rotovating them back in.
Trying to choose plants that thrive in or at least tolerate heavy clay is a sensible starting point. this will help over time to condition the area to allow a wider planting range.
Always delay planting until spring to reduce the damaging effects of cold, wet soil which cause fragile new roots to rot.
There are many ways to plant such sites often there is a cross over such as windy boggy gardens. This is not a comprehensive list but a guide. A more detailed list can be tailored suit your absolute environment by contacting us.
All Clay is generally fertile and ok to work with if you do some preparatory work and help improve the soil and the landscape.
Before you can have a garden you must do some basics with any location. You can put up shelter wind screen ground cover. Work in mulch and manure, some good compost sand, top soil all these things help to condition the soil and will generally make life easier in the long term. You will have a lower cost over the years in time, money, and energy if you set up the garden like this from the start.
It can be hard work and you might considered hiring in some help but for an average garden in most place in Ireland and UK it will take about 4 days over a month or so to get the ground ready.
You need not factor in all areas of the garden at once but maybe flower beds and vegetable gardens can be completed first. The worst and most damaging thing in a clay garden is poor drainage. Poor drainage can be magnified by compression of the soil when building, or the actual weight of your home on the ground can pack the soil down. When then soil is this packed no air can get into the roots water cant drain and will eventually stagnate and will produce toxins that will kill most plants. If your soil stinks then this is often the problem. You can water in a peroxide mix to re originate the soil and kill off the toxins. about 1 teaspoon in 10 liters of 20% volume H2o2 is enough to help.
Drainage can be rectified by adding in sand to the soil and the lawn. More serious cases will need to have trenches dug and filled with gravel and porous pipes. it is then back filled with soil. We should have an article on this soon Click here Articles.
A short list of plants that can be used in Clay.
Pyracantha
Syringa vulgaris
Cornus alba
Solidago
Gunnera manicata
Weigela florida foliis purpureis
Salix matsudana tortuosa
Vitis coignetiae
Viburnum opulus
Cotoneaster
Rodgersia aesculifolia
Hemerocallis
Hosta
Persicaria campanulata
Ligularia
lobelia.
