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Home > Archive > Gardening in England > August 2006 > Sour soil?
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| Alistair Macdonald 2006-08-03, 1:25 pm |
| Three of my flower beds, two of them borders, have failed to produce healthy
salvias, geraniums and busy lizzies this year. In previous years I have had
an excellent show. I plan to deep dig (heavy south London clay) these plots
in the autumn. What should I add to the soil to re-invigorate it?
Alistair
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| Bob Hobden 2006-08-03, 1:25 pm |
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"Alistair Macdonald" wrote
> Three of my flower beds, two of them borders, have failed to produce
> healthy salvias, geraniums and busy lizzies this year. In previous years I
> have had an excellent show. I plan to deep dig (heavy south London clay)
> these plots in the autumn. What should I add to the soil to re-invigorate
> it?
Did you water enough this year|? Its been a daily job on our allotment and I
can't be too far away. Our garden is dreadful this year, I'm just about
keeping stuff alive.
Usually clay needs plenty of organic stuff, well rotted horse manure,
mushroom compost, Council recycled compost etc. and you could use some
Gypsum to break up the clay too (Builders plaster if you can't find the real
stuff) or after testing the pH, if it's well below 7, some lime. Clay is
usually a very fertile soil as it holds on to nutrients and doesn't let them
wash through like a sandy soil would.
Might be worth having your soil tested to check what is wrong, I believe the
RHS do it for a price.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK
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| bapeyton@gmail.com 2006-08-07, 3:25 am |
| I recomend adding coke and human dung that has to the clay. Human dung
that has been processed by sunlght and dung beatles.
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| bapeyton@gmail.com 2006-08-07, 3:25 am |
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I recomend adding coke which is chunks of burnt wood all the way
through.
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| bapeyton@gmail.com 2006-08-07, 3:25 am |
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might try adding a seventy five precent coke and a twenty five precent
sand mixture to the existing soil. Get sand with small peables in it.
The coke should make the soil more alkine. Expeaarmint to make sure it
will work out. Human dung will propbly make the soil more acidic
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