Clay Soil and Wet Feet for planting of new trees

15 years ago

I have clay soil in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

I have a garden bed 600mm by about 40m along a picket fence on a corner block.

This weekend I have dug down about 400mm with a mattock and added 2-3kg of Gypsum (Brunnings brand from bunnings) every 1m2. Some of the really large clods of clay i removed to be thrown away. The rest i metal raked to break up the clods and threw the 3kg per m2 in stages during the mattocking and metal raking. Should have hired a rotary hoe.

I will be putting in either silver birches or the Bradford ornamental pear maybe Robina Frisias.

I am concerned about Wet Feet killing these trees. Before planting them, whilst I intend in addition to above ground preparation to mound them up about 10-20cm above current grass/garden bed level. I also want to add some additional soil improver to the clay parent&gypsum.

The obvious addition would be an organic type product like mushroom compost or Garden Blend ( 70% screened soil, 20% Compost, 10% Chicken manure) in a 50/50 or 80/20 mix with the existing parent soil.

http://www.baag.com.au/yard_products.html

Many gardening forums recommended this.

These people

http://www.hellohello.com.au/wetfeet/wetfeet.html

Have seem to researched it well and write

"PREVENTION OF WET FEET

Don't ever use 3 way, 4 way or organic soil mixes that contain a mixture of fine sand and animal manures. You can get wet feet even if your garden beds are well drained using these products"

Within a few weeks these soils become waterlogged and the organic matter decomposes causing the soil to compact into a very heavy wet anaerobic soil.

The soil additive should not contain animal manure or fast decomposing organic matter,

So based on this are most of the soils on the

http://www.baag.com.au/yard_products.html

site not good for wet feet prevention? whether the organic compost or the premium soil mix (this is one of those 3ways!?)

Shoud i be buying the bags of

http://www.hellohello.com.au/devotion/clay.html

and using one @$12.50 per tree plant. ( I will be planting about 15 trees)

DevotionÂ Planting Mix for Wet Feet, Heavy & Clay Soils contains mineral gypsum to help break down the clay, coarse propagation sand to aerate the soil and to improve drainage and composted pine bark to add slow decomposing organic matter to your soil

I was told at the bulleen nursery specifically not to use pine bark.

So my questions?

1. Have I preapred the heavy soil correctly so far?

2. Is mounding the trees worth it and is 15cm too high?

3. What is the correct soil additive (not talking mulch) to go into the garden bed and hole with the new trees? Can you recommend a product ie. name, components and maybe even Melbourne retailer?

4. 50/50 or 80/20 parent/additive mix? with the above

5. what mulch product - name,components,retailer should i then throw over all of this?

Sort by:Oldest

Comment (1)

gardenlen
15 years ago
g'day daleblack,

better late than never maybe hey? but here goes.

first questions (as i have never used brunning gypsum), was the gypsum of a moist talcum powder type consistancy?

second if yor soil is like it sounds why fight it? use raised beds for all gardens, if you wanted to you could do a raised bed first where the trees are going then plant the trees in to rasied bed, the main thing with trees is their feeder roots need to be well drained the tap root will pretty much find its own way.

so for trees that need good feeder root drainage you need to plant them into a raised position that is you dig a slight hole into your original soil throw some good quality gypsum in (usually the best stuff is bought at a produce agency) then create a mound to what ever height you need over and above that to plant the trees into (might be anywher up to 1/2 the heith of the current root ball?), this is necessary with citrus in those heavy soils so you may get some clues from researching planting citrus trees.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page
Related Discussions
flowering shrub not mind wet feet or clay soil?
Q
Comments (4)
Amending the soil just in the planting hole isn't recommended. In clay soils in particular, it creates a pot-like or bath-tub effect because when water perks into the amended soil it has no way to drain. Even if the soil isn't clay, the roots of a shrub are less likely to grow from the amended soil into the native soil. If I want to amend soil I usually do the entire bed. You can layer amendments on top of the soil and mix them in with the soil to make a somewhat raised bed which will drain more normally or at least allow a root run raised above the worst of the water. Or you can build a real raised bed large enough for shrubs. I couldn't think of any shrubs that fit all of your requirements, and when I plugged all your requirements into the Missouri Botanical Garden plant finder no plants came back. Either you will want to compromise on some of your wishes, or perhaps you can combine shrubs and perennials to get evergreen and red flowers, just not all on the same plant. There are some short forms of white cedar, Thuja occidentalis, which is evergreen and is fine in wet to average moisture, but has no flowers. Some have gold or bluish foliage. Some flowering plants that are happy in damp soil to standing water that have blooms in the pink range (not really red-fushia) include Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' or a pink form of Rhododendron viscosum, swamp azalea. The azalea blooms in spring and has nice fall color, and the Clethra blooms in late summer or fall and has clear gold fall color. Neither have a particularly long bloom period or are evergreen. Both will probably need pruning to keep in bounds. You may find some smaller pink forms of the Clethra. Ilex verticillata, winterberry holly, is deciduous but has red berries all fall into early winter and like the Thuja grows naturally in swamps. Rosa palustris, swamp rose, has pink flowers. Red-twigged dogwoods are deciduous, but will have red branches all winter. Younger twigs have brighter bark, so you can prune some branches to the ground every year to keep it smaller and redder. Some forms have gold bark or leaves that are variegated with white or gold. Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis is red-flowered and likes wetlands. It flowers in late summer. Louisiana iris thrives in wet conditions, and has several forms with various reddish tones, though no really true reds. Both these are perennials.
...See More
New Maple Tree in Clay Soil: Is it dying????
Q
Comments (2)
Here is a link to a very informative U of FL article. This is about planting a balled and burlaped tree but much of the info applies to a container grown tree also. Here is a link that might be useful: Planting and Establishing Trees
...See More
Crape myrtles and super-wet clay soil?
Q
Comments (7)
I planted a 10 gallon yaupon holly when I was about 6 months pregnant. I talked my husband into getting it for me for Valentine's and he was probably kidding, but he told me to dig the hole. So, I dug the hole and also planted the stupid thing. My back was so sore for days even though I was very careful about only rolling it into place, not lifting, etc. But, I just had to have that holly! Now back to the subject discussed here . . . I know that most trees, including crape myrtles appreciate well drained soil. Crape myrtles probably will not survive in the same water logged conditions. See if you (well not you since you're 6 months pregnant) but rather someone else (maybe your husband?) can correct the drainage problem so the water runs away from your house and doesn't pool in those locations. This might mean bringing in top soil or even hiring someone to put in some sort of draining system (French drains, sub-pumps, etc.) depending on how bad it is. It also sounds like they tried amending the soil where the trees were planted instead of planting them in the native soil - a big no, no that most here will tell you because it will cause the roots to grow only in the area where the nutrients are located and will girdle the tree, killing it. Definitely correct the drainage problem before trying to plant anything else. If you don't correct the drainage, it will only be a waste of money trying to plant another tree in the same spot.
...See More
Planting a tree in clay rocky soil
Q
Comments (10)
the good news is north of Philly, generally speaking, your "rocky clay" is not as bad as it might be it isn't clear what you want the tree for, shade? general ornament? flowers? You can't go wrong with a Metasequoia or Taxodium if you just want "a tree". They are drought and flood tolerant once established. (what the NE US would call a drought, anyhow) And people like that their fall foliage is so small it doesn't have to be raked up. In a good year Metasequoia 'Ogon' is as showy as some flowering trees when it leafs out. (mine is greener than usual this year because of the odd weather) btw my thought on "too big" would be a trash tree like a silver maple that would eventually cover this backyard and prevent anything from growing at all underneath it. A Dawn Redwood or Cypress will give you a small shady area in a few years, but not take up too much square-footage space.
...See More

Clay Soil and Wet Feet for planting of new trees

Comment (1)

gardenlen

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US