[awen]

I have taken on a new garden. It was originally decking, which I don't like, when I took up the decking the soil underneath is serious clay. you could probably sculpt with it.
In August ....I  dug in clay breaker to about 12 inches deep , added 5 ton of topsoil and 8 bags of humous.I made some raised beds to about 9inches high.  It looked ok so I added some astilbe, crocosmia and roses, bergina and sedum. garden looked fine till october . Then it rained and rained and it started looking like serious clay again and the plants look rotted and black , except for a few roses.

I am not a fan of roses.

Any ideas on what to do with the soil and what I can grow. The garden is part shade too as there is a wood over the lane from our house and it is only a small garden.

I was hoping to grow some strawberries and tomatoes as well as plants.

I would like a cottage garden look. And although I like pots I don't want a garden full of them.

[Bradste]

The best plants to grow are perennials. There are plenty to chose from.
Astilbe , Ajuga , Goat's beard,  Astilbe ,  Cohosh,  Cimicifuga , Foxgloves
Heurecha , Cyclamen , primulas,
______
Sweet Flag, Carex ,

When buying , ask for advice at the garden centre.

[muntjac]

you have a damp garden in that it holds water and no wind or real sun is able to get into the area , you can take heart from the fact you can have a lot of moisture loving and shade plants. build your raised beds with a 6 inch hardcore base and sand and a weed membrane over this then add the soil and other stuff .you have a problem in that the raised beds become waterlogged  allow the excess water to drain away across the area , the clay breaker is about as much use as a plaster on a gunshot hole.. it probably goes down about 3 mtres .so its a pan of clay / try a the above and maybe you will see some advance in your gardening dream    

[noshed]

Maybe dig some grit in as well. Perhaps try one bed at a time. The weather now seems like downpour and drought so good drainage is important, although clay soil should be fertile.

[shaun]

dead right there matey,if you have clay soil then it will always be clay soil its mother natures way,you need to separate the clay from your raised beds use teram as a membrame and higher the beds the better,
you can add whatever you want to clay but over time it will vanish.

[Annie]

Try different plants,the good thing about clay is that any plant that is suited to your garden will put  down long roots and thrive,y joust have to try things that you like and see what works.I have heavy clay where ai grow flowers and astilbe,geranium,lavender,rosemary,penstemon ,dafodils,grape hiocynths,helebores,japanese anenomies,chives,astrantia,indian mint,.Honey suckle,clemetis and jasmine up a wall.With a few annual you can grow so much and most of these are not munched by slugs.If you want veg.then more drainage will help but for flowers it`s a matter of finding what suits
Wait until things stick there heads up inapril before you decide what is working,some plants may suprise you.

[Ann]

Our old garden was clay and I grew most of the plants Annie has mentioned.  I found the lavender, rosemary and penstemons were extremely good. I was also lucky with bluebells and primroses.

[Annie]

Primroses love clay soil and will seed and spread even if weeds cann`t!

[awen]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll print them off and try them out.

I have made a plan of where I planted everything last year incase.... a) I had to move them to do more digging ....or b) they didn't come up this year and vanished forever.
Looks like the plan will come in handy to do a bit more digging and raising the beds. :roll:

 :?: Is it a certain type of Lavender that will grow in clay? I thought lavender didn't like a soaking ?( I love lavender looks good , smells nice and handy for healing )

[Ann]

Our lavender were two pots (from B&Q I think), plonked in and left at the edge of a raised area, they soon grew and tumbled down over the side.  I aways look for plants that have been reduced and then pick out the best of the bunch that way if they fail I haven't wasted too much money and if they do well I consider them a bargin.