Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: Beansprout on May 31, 2017, 08:23
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I am creating a new dry bed for my garden ready to plant a collection of lavender, thyme, grasses, osteospernum and alpine plants. The bed currently has a lot of builder’s rubble and gravel in it, particularly the front section where a new wall has been put in and backfilled with rubble – should I add toptoil to build up the bed rather than compost or would you suggest another medium? We are on clay but as I say there is already a lot of gravel in the soil.
Thanks
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All the plants you mention will thrive in a well drained bed and don't really need compost or any other kind of soil enrichment. I would go for top soil and just make sure you keep them watered until they establish :)
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Would it help to mix sharp sand and pea shingle in with the topsoil do you think? I've also got things like sea holly to add to the mix of plants and I know they're supposed to prefer poorer soil but how to get the right balance?
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I think you need to establish which topsoil you are going to buy and go from there.
It may cost a little more, but if you order from a decent supplier, they usually have a range of types including free draining mixes for seeding lawns and the like.
The cheapest topsoil can be pretty dreadful - usually stuff scraped off sites before they build houses and very variable in quality. If you are spending out on plants, it can be a false economy.
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Topsoil if the plants are going to be permanent, Beansprout.
Nothing wrong with some sharp sand either, and you already have a free-draining sub-base, so go for it, but expect to pay a few quid for decent stuff.
Try Blackbrooks, as they may know a bigger bulk supplier than just bags, but you may have to ask nicely. Wealden Ad sometimes show suppliers too...;0)
(Just for the record, when we were first married, we lived in a flat in Priory Rd, and the builder had just chucked all the horrible rubbish out in the back garden. We just gave up in the end, and moved a few miles away, but I wish we'd had the time and cash to do it up, as it was a super garden - or had been once)!
(And didn't H&B RFC do well on Saturday..;0)
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Topsoil if the plants are going to be permanent, Beansprout.
Nothing wrong with some sharp sand either, and you already have a free-draining sub-base, so go for it, but expect to pay a few quid for decent stuff.
Try Blackbrooks, as they may know a bigger bulk supplier than just bags, but you may have to ask nicely. Wealden Ad sometimes show suppliers too...;0)
(Just for the record, when we were first married, we lived in a flat in Priory Rd, and the builder had just chucked all the horrible rubbish out in the back garden. We just gave up in the end, and moved a few miles away, but I wish we'd had the time and cash to do it up, as it was a super garden - or had been once)!
(And didn't H&B RFC do well on Saturday..;0)
Thanks, Growster. We're in St Helens Road near the reservoir! I ended up going to Wickes this morning cos it opens at 7 so handy before work, and getting topsoil and sharp sand. I've used their topsoil before and my plants have been fine. Not looking forward to lugging it up all those steps later though!! ;-)