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Morning all,
to brighten the dark season I thought I'll make a start at getting some plants into the slate gravel desert that is our front garden. I would like to plant a bare root rowan ('edulis' cultivar) and an 'Evereste' crab apple.
I have never planted trees before, and I am getting confused by the contradictory advice in different books/websites...
So far, I have dug square holes of about 1 metre side length, to a little more than a spade's depth.
In doing so, I discovered that one planting location is builder's rubble:
and the other compacted clay over builder's rubble:
It took a week and a pick-axe to dig these holes. About 30% of the volume consisted of big stones, which I removed by hand.
I haven't taken out stones smaller than a chicken's egg, of which there are hundreds...
Will trees even grow in that kind of soil...?
I should also say I am planning to plant the trees on a slight mound, as the soil here (South Wales) is very wet for much of the year.
The whole area is covered in slate gravel over weed membrane, which I am planning to put back on top once the trees are planted. So I would struggle to regularly mulch those trees, but at least they won't have any competition from other plants.
From what I have read, I now don't know if or to what extent to improve the soil that goes back into the planting holes??
Some seem to say not to improve the soil, as it creates a pond and the roots won't then go exploring. But would the roots ever manage to grow out into that kind of clay/rubble, or am I effectively growing those trees in a container anyway?
Others write to completely replace the soil with good compost to give the tree the best start, or to mix compost and original soil to varying percentages?
to brighten the dark season I thought I'll make a start at getting some plants into the slate gravel desert that is our front garden. I would like to plant a bare root rowan ('edulis' cultivar) and an 'Evereste' crab apple.
I have never planted trees before, and I am getting confused by the contradictory advice in different books/websites...
So far, I have dug square holes of about 1 metre side length, to a little more than a spade's depth.
In doing so, I discovered that one planting location is builder's rubble:
and the other compacted clay over builder's rubble:
It took a week and a pick-axe to dig these holes. About 30% of the volume consisted of big stones, which I removed by hand.
I haven't taken out stones smaller than a chicken's egg, of which there are hundreds...
Will trees even grow in that kind of soil...?
I should also say I am planning to plant the trees on a slight mound, as the soil here (South Wales) is very wet for much of the year.
The whole area is covered in slate gravel over weed membrane, which I am planning to put back on top once the trees are planted. So I would struggle to regularly mulch those trees, but at least they won't have any competition from other plants.
From what I have read, I now don't know if or to what extent to improve the soil that goes back into the planting holes??
Some seem to say not to improve the soil, as it creates a pond and the roots won't then go exploring. But would the roots ever manage to grow out into that kind of clay/rubble, or am I effectively growing those trees in a container anyway?
Others write to completely replace the soil with good compost to give the tree the best start, or to mix compost and original soil to varying percentages?
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