Planting a new border
Last post 20-11-2008 6:57 PM by bogweevil. 4 replies.
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15/11/2008 07:56 AM
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- wedge
- stansfield
- 15 Nov 2008
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I am new to gardening and am currently planning a new border - north facing, along a 2m high brick wall, soil is neutral and a bit claggy (is that a gardening term?).
My problem is that I can find lots of advice on what to plant, how to improve soil, maintenance, etc - but very little advice on when to plant. Plants will be a mix of shrubs and perennials (I think)
Can anyone give me some advice?
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15/11/2008 10:32 AM
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- Digger
- Northern UK
- 18 Jul 2005
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4,740
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When you say the soil is claggy, do you mean it's very wet and sticky? if so delay planting until the soil dries out a little, if plants are container grown they can be planted at any time of the year weather permitting, of course tender perennials and annuals should only be planted out once all danger of frost has passed. At this time of year you will be able to buy bare root shrubs and fruit bushes/trees etc.. they will be a little cheaper than container grown or containerised plants and can be planted now.
digger 
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15/11/2008 10:48 AM
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When to plant is very, very simple and so authors rather assume they don't have to spell it out - Dr Hessayon books do spell stuff out and are great for beginners and cost about £2 secondhand. Planting from autumn until spring is best whenever the soil is dry enough to work. Planting between spring and autumn is chancier as things dry out very quickly and often fail to root even if you water night and day.
Naturally only pot grown things can be planted in summer!
Boggy
Beware the bat-eared bogweevil
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17/11/2008 08:06 AM
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- wedge
- stansfield
- 15 Nov 2008
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Thank you digger and bogweevil - some very useful advice. My soil is quite heavy clay and never seems to dry out - particularly in this weather! (Am sometimes persuaded that there is an underground spring somewhere). Sadly this weekend did not prove good for planting - rained pretty much all day yesterday - hope for better weather next weekend.
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20/11/2008 06:57 PM
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My sympathy. Clay is tricky - some say wait for spring and plant when the soil has dried out, but this may take until May, when it will be too dry. On balance I think autumn before it is absolutely glue-like would be best, perhaps cultivating the soil in late summer to loosen it and improve drainage.
In you do have a drainage problem you might have to think about raised beds or planting individual plants on a mound or even installing drains. Gardening is very hard, even impossible, when the soil does not properly dry out.
Boggy
Beware the bat-eared bogweevil
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