Plants for heavy clay soil in the shade
snookum96
9 years ago
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Help! Great nursery plant in heavy clay soil.
Comments (2)I get plants like that all the time at trades. I'm amazed at what other peoples soil looks like-ours is pure sand. A strong blast from the water hose will break up the clay. You'll get some root damage but the plant should recover with no problem. Congrats on the new material. Tally HO!...See MoreBest choices for alkaline, heavy clay soil and dry climate?
Comments (8)I have the same conditions only a little further north than you. I would never let the Hoopsii be the only blue spruce. Scatter some others around and tie the color theme together. I have 9 different cultivars of P. pungens in my yard and it isn't much bigger than yours. I have a 1/2 acre lot but that includes the horse barn and corral out back. Use one or two globes and perhaps a columnar blue spruce. I love 'St. Mary's Broom'. I have Picea pungens 'The Blues' and love it's weeping form. It will never get too big. I have a pendula out front and a little P. pungens 'Blue Pearl' in the same bed echoing the color theme as an accent. There are also a number of cultivars of P. omorika that won't get too big for your yard. Check out Coenosium Gardens web site for a wealth of ideas for the smaller yard. Much of what you find there will not be found locally though. You should be able to find what I mentioned above except perhaps 'Blue Pearl' or 'The Blues' Picea abies has an almost endless range of sizes and forms. I too covet the Skylands but have been afraid to give it a try with our dry heat in the summer and burning sun. If you try it I would certainly put it in an area where it isn't going to get full sun at least while getting established. I have put a P. abies 'Gold Drift' under a globe willow that will eventually come out -in hopes that it can get established in the shade and then show off it's gold color after the willow comes out. There are also some golden junipers that would work for you. The northern Utah nursery that I have found to have the best selection of the less common conifers is Alpine Gardens in Perry (south of Brigham City) but that is also a little hit and miss....See MoreSmall Area/Clay Heavy Soil Help
Comments (7)I have very heavy soil too, have found that the first year will be different as you adjust the soil. I would add sand along with the compost to help drainage (especially if you get some shade), and start off with unfussy crops. Avoid carrots this year, unless you want to double-dig. How about...things with roots "partly ready-made," like potatoes, garlic, onion sets (not onion seeds), or small-rooted things like beans and peas (their vines help do some of the stabilizing work of a root, plus their root nodules fix soil nitrogen). Be sure to remove all of the potatoes at the end of the season so that they don't pop up all the next year. You could even try a few strawberries if you feel ready for a perennial, they don't need deep roots either and have pretty foliage. If that is a sunny wall, you could also try a cherry tomato vine against a trellis on the wall, if you provide compost and keep it away from the peas and beans, as the extra nitrogen could make it too leafy. This is a more fussy crop but the hot stones would keep it warm at night, and it's very tasty so it might be worth it. Put in a fast cover crop like buckwheat when not actively gardening, and till it under prior to its forming seeds, to boost soil aeriation and nutrients. Have fun! :)...See MoreShrubs for heavy clay soil
Comments (18)Leftwood, Thanks for explaining the low oxygen level in soil. And thanks for narrowing my Virbunum search - now I know what to avoid. Added /willows & alders to my list. I just finished researching a variety of different weigelas, and some need well drained soil, others are not fussy. Usually at the end of the nursery season when plants are 50% off, we find plants worth buying, that we wouldn't-dare-pay-that-much-for in the beginning of the season, and weigelas are always among them - so might try planting one late summer-early fall. Maplerbirsh, If I need a huge hole like you described, I will definitely enlist DH's help! Marcia, I'm on the east Frontage Road, due west of Sturtevant, directly across the "I" from Sylvania Airport. I also have a couple of Highbush Cranberry shrubs, but they grow in partial shade in the open woods area. Thanks for the offer though! I know what you mean about the Honeysuckle, although I don't mind them, because they're mixed in with all the other native understory around here, and so far are not invasive. The burdock is what's horribly invasive. Anyway, thanks everyone for your helpful responses! Julie...See Moresnookum96
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