[lowermeadow]

We have recently moved to a new house in North Wales. I am loving the garden but simply do not know where to start.

I decided to plant some plants I had brought from my old house yesterday and found the soil to be very heavy clumpy and water logged. The soil was also not very deep, about a forks depth to rocks / stones. I wondered what I should add to the soil, if anything given that the existing shrubs seems to be growing well,  before planting out my other plants? The soil in my pots was very dark in contrast to the soil in the new garden.

Turning to the raised beds, they have been covered with a black fabric. I have not peeped under yet! I am thinking of forking the beds over and adding manure from a local farmer. I have lots of leaf mold around the garden and wondered if I should add this instead of the manure or in combination. I have ordered a PH test kit and will update you about the results!

Greenhouse, the greenhouse is glass with a central tiled path, soil to either side on the floor and raised shelves for potting on three sides. I plan to give it a good clean (not sure what to use for the clean) and then to place fabric on the two soil bases and cover with gravel. I felt this would give me a clean base to work from. Any other preparation suggestions or views on my proposed covering of the soil would help?

Any guidance about how to start the raised beds and greenhouse would be helpful. I am intending to have 4 raised veg plots and one large cut flower plot.  A little over zealous I guess.

[John]

Leafmould is a great soil conditioner but lacks nutrients whereas manure has loads of nutrients so a mix of the two is brilliant.

Like you we have stony ground, all I can suggest is picking out rocks as you can and building up on top of the soil by layering as much composts, manures etc as you can get hold of. Permanent plants, like shrubs, will send their roots around the stones so they're not really a problem - it's the veggies that give you the most problem. Root crops like carrots, parsnips etc. - only answer I have is raised beds for them.

Never thought I'd look back on heavy clay with fondness until I was growing on rocks!

[lowermeadow]

Many thanks for your guidance I will add both!

[sunshineband]

Just to give you some hope... our lot was solid clay with stones when we took it over, and the regular addition of home made compost and leaf mould, with occasional manure, has worked wonders and we have beautiful soil now. We tackled it bed by bed as there was never enough for an "all over" approach

And plenty of stones which we use to line the areas alongside our fences, inside and out, to deter rabbits from digging their way in

[lowermeadow]

that is reassuring... I just need to work out how to make compost now 

[John]

that is reassuring... I just need to work out how to make compost now 

Composts, Composting & Making Compost
easy peasy

[lowermeadow]

Having read the compost information I think I may already have some compost areas. Our garden has two large compost areas of old garden cuttings such as grass cuttings, plants, leaves, branches. I describe these as leaf mold because the top layer looks as if it is made of leaves. How can I check if the compost is suitable to use to improve the raised beds and other area of our garden? Will the PH tester I have ordered assist with this? 

many thanks for the guidance thus far.

[John]

Basically if it is rotted down then it's ready to use. Ideally compost should be earth like and sweet smelling. If it's only looking partially rotted with the constituents easily recognisable then just fork it from one bin / pile to another, mixing it up as you go. This will restart the process of decomposition and in a month or so it should be fine.
There's a lot of fuss over making compost but for use in the garden it's really easy. When you start growing it seems a bit daunting and people tend to over worry.  Nature wants to rot dead material down, we can help it but left to its own devices it will get there eventually.