Planting in builders soil

[palm789]

I got a new build garden in the uk I want to plant out my fortunei at end of feb if it’s safe to do so,any tips for planting in builders soil that is compacted clay with rocks etc thanks

[Palms Brisbane]

That is my natural soil here.

I create raise beds with a height of about 10cm using exisiting soil, adding cow manuare and mushroom compost.  Edge raised beds with granite rock edging. Then add mulch to the top.
Raising bed helps with drainage.

Sure others will have ideas but above is what I do.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Palms Brisbane

[Ben in Norcal]

Trachycarpus aren't really going to mind what you plant them in, IMO.  I'd perhaps do a little amending around the planting site - if that.

[palm789]

24 minutes ago, Ben in Norcal said:

Trachycarpus aren't really going to mind what you plant them in, IMO.  I'd perhaps do a little amending around the planting site - if that.

What's the best way to amend that soil? Thanks

[Patrick]

If you overwork soggy, waterlogged clay it binds nutrients that plants cant utilize. I'm not a guru on this, but I was told by a farmer relative of mine when the city put a drainage pipe through our family's field that was clay. The heavy equipment used churns the mud and causes the condition. It was noticeable in plant growth the next year when the field was planted out. I don't know if hand tools would create a condition like this, but it's just a consideration I wanted to add. I noticed you were in the UK and there's kind of a reputation for rain/ wet over there.

If the soil is super wet, you may want to wait until it dries out a bit.  I WOULD add some amendments so that it allows the clay to be broken down a bit. It depends on what's available to you, but basically you're just adding organic matter to mix in with your soil to loosen it up for the roots/ root ball. There's gypsum amendments that you can add too that break the clay down a bit as well.

[DoomsDave]

@palm789 I think the end of February might be a bit early where you are, though you're welcome to prove me wrong. (Even here I usually try to wait till the middle or end of March if I can, so the weather will be warm.) But, Trachies are tough.

But, if it's at all rainy, I'd wait so the soil dries out a bit. I concur with all that @Patrick says, and strongly recommend adding a lot of organic material like dead leaves, etc., that will rot down and break up the clay. If this is a brand-new house I'd expect the soil to be nasty and hard packed. The sad paradox is that the harder it is for you to dig, to more important it is that you (or someone) do so.

Also, unless you go totally crazy, I wouldn't worry about adding too much organics. If the soil mounds up like a grave, it will settle again.

How big is your area?

 

[palm789]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

@palm789 I think the end of February might be a bit early where you are, though you're welcome to prove me wrong. (Even here I usually try to wait till the middle or end of March if I can, so the weather will be warm.) But, Trachies are tough.

But, if it's at all rainy, I'd wait so the soil dries out a bit. I concur with all that @Patrick says, and strongly recommend adding a lot of organic material like dead leaves, etc., that will rot down and break up the clay. If this is a brand-new house I'd expect the soil to be nasty and hard packed. The sad paradox is that the harder it is for you to dig, to more important it is that you (or someone) do so.

Also, unless you go totally crazy, I wouldn't worry about adding too much organics. If the soil mounds up like a grave, it will settle again.

How big is your area?

 

At the moment my garden is waterlogged it never used to be until builders that corrected my boundaries used boards to stand on and compacted soil even further. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Can you borrow or rent a rototiller? Then you can break up the soil and amend it too.

[palm789]

I can buy one cheap how do they work it looks like a grass trimmer but blades. 

[Palms Brisbane]

In addition you can go to YouTube they have lots of gardening videos and how to improve clay soils

 

[Patrick]

5 hours ago, palm789 said:

I can buy one cheap how do they work it looks like a grass trimmer but blades. 

I think Meg was talking about one of these. The blades spin and dig into the soil and basically churn everything up/ together. They're several hundred dollars here in the states. Rental is the way I usually go because I seldom need one; and I only really needed it to (1) dig out my pond and to (2) work in the initial topsoil into the clay in my yard.  They sell some cute little ones but you don't want to use that size, there is not enough weight of the motor for it to dig down into the clay. I believe the "larger" ones have a 5-6 hp engine, and that heavy engine does all of the downward pushing that makes the tines dig into the soil. All you do is basically hang on for dear life and try to steer the thing. It's sort of an organized chaos situation lol.

Edit: The walk behind tillers work OK, but you can't get very deep into the clay like you can with a forward tine model

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Patrick
added information

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

I think Meg was talking about one of these. The blades spin and dig into the soil and basically churn everything up/ together. They're several hundred dollars here in the states. Rental is the way I usually go because I seldom need one; and I only really needed it to (1) dig out my pond and to (2) work in the initial topsoil into the clay in my yard.  They sell some cute little ones but you don't want to use that size, there is not enough weight of the motor for it to dig down into the clay. I believe the "larger" ones have a 5-6 hp engine, and that heavy engine does all of the downward pushing that makes the tines dig into the soil. All you do is basically hang on for dear life and try to steer the thing. It's sort of an organized chaos situation lol.

Edit: The walk behind tillers work OK, but you can't get very deep into the clay like you can with a forward tine model

 

 

 

That's what I'm talking about. Or go out and hire a yard man to do it for you. But wait till spring.

[Patrick]

4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

That's what I'm talking about. Or go out and hire a yard man to do it for you. But wait till spring.

Yeah, otherwise your clay will look like something of a horizontal potters wheel. Yuk!

[DoomsDave]

@palm789 I respectfully suggest not using a tiller. Those are great for lawns but you want to go deeper.

I know where of I speak. I managed a garden shop in a place called Moreno Valley California in the 1980s and I’m convinced the guys had contests to see who could pack the soil worse. A guy told me and I didn’t believe him and yeah it was nasty. You could hardly dent the dirt or so it seemed till you leaned in hard. Still tough.

What we did was excavate to about 60 cm deep, toss the dirt to the side in a pile, then fill up the resulting pit with organics; dead leaves, grass clippings, budgie cage and kitty box cleanings, twigs, etc then threw about a third of the dirt mounded nearby on top and added more organics, and repeated.

Ended up with what looked like a cartoon grave mounded dirt, which, watered, sank a lot.

What I planted grew like bad morals.

I have a trachy fortunei that’s gorgeous I call her Good Queen Bess.

I’ll show a picture when it’s light out.

[richnorm]

Gypsum is cheap if you find a bulk supplier.  That combined with attention to drainage and regular mulching and clay is a great growing medium.  I suspect it will remain damp in South Wales.