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Improving soil for wildflowers

17 years ago

I will soon be planting a site with purchased wildflower plants. My gardening habit is to put a generous scoop of purchased compost in each planting hole, but I think wildflowers like to live on the lean side. I think the soil is not great but not pure clay or anything awful like that. Should I add the compost?

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Comments (7)

greenthumbannie
17 years ago
I normally add compost, but if I were to do it right, I would have reworked the soil weeks ahead of planting. Trouble is, I'm rebuilding a forested area after removing invasive plants. So, I need to replenish the soil and replant without a lot of fuss.

I've planted red flowering currant, yellow flowering current, serviceberry, huckleberry, elderberry, Solomon's seal, Oregon Grape, Lupine, mock orange, nootka roses, and columbine. I lost one mock orange and one huckleberry that could easily have been caused by lack of water in winter, planting in the fall, or my planting technique.

Frankly, I think you'd have to look at each plant type and get the best recommendations. I don't think it's one size fits all.
joepyeweed
17 years ago
I would not amend the soil, dig it or till it. When I am planting just about anything, including wildflowers - I make the smallest hole as possible so the roots will get right into the native soil as soon as possible. (I do water them - but that is all)

I have really icky clay soil. I do mulch new plantings to keep weeds out.
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I don't do orchids, but the mix they're grown in is always plenty airy. I try to limit my mixes for things like veggies & display containers to no more than 15% peat (most of my soils for woody plants have no peat and only 1/3 is pine or fir bark - the rest is inorganic particles), but soils are about compromise. By that, I mean if you can't or don't want to water every day, it's a given you'll have to grow in something that holds more water & less air. That's for you to decide. ;o) All I do is try to relay the relative importance of the physical characteristics of the soil proper, and the choice or combination of ingredients that goes into it. All soils have inadequacies; none are perfect. Some growers can adapt to them because they have enough info/knowledge to recognize the shortcomings. That you have concerns and are aware of what constitutes a good container soil is half the battle in heading off potential problems. My bet is you'll do just fine. Al
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Thanks for the helpful responses everyone; it's good to know that the methods I mentioned above wouldnÂt be very useful for the cultivation of good clay soil. The problem with the soil is that it breaks easily, and the potters are not able to pull it "up" when throwing on the wheel. The plasticity of the clay is the issue-- the soil is not strong enough on its own. Here they just use the soil itself from the mountainside rather than combining different types of soil to make quality clay. Figuring out if there are any locally existing elements to mix to their soil in order to increase its strength and plasticity is a possibility. I'm hoping to locate and bring in an expert to give a workshop on improving the production of their clay. To answer a few of your questions borderbarb, I don't know how to judge exactly how big the land is. Perhaps and acre or two? What I mean by "designated" is that the land is set aside specifically for the potters to use, rather than the farmland and private property of others from which they often steal earth. They bring their shovels and donkeys, dig and sift the rocks and unwanted materials from the dry, dusty earth they collect, which they then take back and process into useable clay. The artisans make many products a day, around 150-200 per individual potter (there are approx 35 potters in the area), which they then sell for cash in bulk to middlemen who come once a week to transport the products via large trucks to other places for resale.
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Once the area is graded, monitor the area this summer by controlling any weeds that appear. It's important to go slowly in the establishment of a prairie garden in the beginning stages. Control those weeds up front and it will pay in dividends in the long run. Depending on the type of weeds that appear, you may be ready to seed the area with a quality mixture of wildflowers and grasses come late fall/early winter which is an ideal time to seed a prairie. If you have some really tough weeds you may need to wait until next spring or fall before planting your meadow. In the meantime, read as much as you can about establishing prairies. It's really not that hard, but does require patience in the beginning. You can go ahead and get your lawn area established this year, but leave the prairie area naked for now.
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I completely agree that it is a lot easier to select plants that will tolerate the conditions than it is to change the conditions on the hillside. However, some cut banks have newly exposed clay that might not support much vegetation for a number of years while natural processes slowly change a clay subsoil into a clay soil that can support plants. If this is the case, then you might need to do something to the soil to make planting wildflowers - even wildflowers adapted to clay - feasible. I would consider planting a cover crop. This would be a fast growing ANNUAL crop that will create lots of organic matter, break up the soil with its roots, then die. Oats are popular for this. Annual rye grass is too, but make sure you plant only annual rye, not perennial rye. You might need to break up or at least scratch the surface of the soil before you sow the seeds. I would plant the oats really thickly. For color you could add a few sunflowers to the oats - just use sunflower seed sold for feeding wild birds. Don't plant any perennial plants. If you ask around, you'll get lots of recommendations for perennial plants to cover slopes, and some of these would probably grow, but they would keep growing ifor years and prevent you from eventually planting wildlfowers. If the oats grow well this summer, next spring you can plant wildflower seeds into the dead oats. I'd select species that are native, tolerate clay, and you like. I would not plant any "wildflower" seed mix. Most of the seeds in mixes are not native, and many won't be well adapted for your hill. I think picking out species is the best part of the process and will entertain you over the winter. There are lots of websites that describe wildflowers and how to grow them. I usually try to compare several websites or books decribing each plant to make sure I know a little about each plant before I try to grow it. You can expect despite careful planning that some of the plants you select will thrive, while others won't grow well, This can't be avoided. Eventually you'll know what grows well and looks good on your hillside, but it will take a few years. If there are similar slopes in the area, check out what grows on them this summer for ideas. Expect that most of the plants along a road or behind a building will be non-n ative weeds you wouldn't want to plant, but a few will be natives.
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greenthumbannie
17 years ago
If the soil is compacted (and not soggy), digging can increase aeration and benefit microbial activity. However, if you have wet, sticky soil, additional digging can lead to soil compression. So, you see, the approach taken depends on the soil that you have and the results that you want.

The soil, that I have recently cleared of invasives, hasn't seen sun in easily...25 years. ThereÂs compaction due to the lack of plant activity. There is no humus. ItÂs bare ground with a few sickly, native plants struggling to grow. ThereÂs limited biodiversity. My interest, therefore, is in leverage for restoration of this depleted area. I have already been digging and pulling up root balls the size of a VW bus, but thatÂs another story. ;-)

If you get beautiful flowers on robust plants with a minimum of effort, that's very good. The conditions must be appropriate for the plants you have chosen. There must be plants already growing nearby.

Also, if I plant seeds, and some donÂt grow, itÂs not a big deal. If I buy native plants and have invested a sum of money, I would prefer not to lose any. Then, of course, a four-legged critter shows up and chews the plant to twigs. And so it goesÂ

Good luck on your garden, and may you discover what works best for your area.
rsmallen
17 years ago
My soil is pretty lousy...compacted, dry, full of shale with shoulders of slate beneath. I amended soil ahead of planting. I used composted mushroom soil and some natural humus, dug it all in and let it sit a bit before planting. On the side...where I should have been more diligent, I dug in really only peat. So far (1 month of the new plants) I do see a huge difference in the growth of the plants. In front they seem to have established more quickly, are putting on new growth and blossoming. On the side, they are doing ok...growing, establishing, some blooming. Not nearly as well as the amended beds out front.
Robin
ahughes798
17 years ago
rsmallen...there are probably native plants that love your rocky soil! Yes, you can amend your soil and grow lots of stuff that wouldn't naturally grow in your area...but see what you can do with your native soil. Check out a native plant society in your area, if possible.
terryr
17 years ago
I agree. I go with plants that like my kind of soil. To me, it's then being a true native...if that makes sense to anyone else but me....
rsmallen
17 years ago
ahughes...So far what I have found that LOVES my shaley soil is sumac. Groves and groves of it. Oh, and the non-native noxious honesuckle. Those thrive. It keeps wantin to reforest itself with them.

I should clarify though. The plants in my front and back yards are selected specifically for my soil...however, my native landscape designer/horticulturist STILL recommended amendments. It is really pretty lousy soil. The difference in growth COULD BE that the front is exclusively natives. Whereas the side (which should have probably gotten the most amendements) is a lot of perennials with some native hybrids and landscape/shrub/rugosa roses. (My indulgence garden to make up for the fact it is the dogs potty. I needed some other overwhelming fragrance there...!) Anyway, perennials really LOVE the amended stuff...and I just added some peat and plunked them in. So I suppose that this could explain the growth difference.

Robin

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