I need advice!

[.commander]

Hello!

I've had my plot 1 year. Last year I fell, hurt my leg, and lost out on the whole season.

I managed to clear the plot and lay a patio for my shed. I need some advice though...

My plot is clay, and doesn't seem to drain very well. Is it worth putting in raised beds? I see 60% of the plot have, so it might be for the best.

Also, how do i go about levelling the ground? My plot is on a slight hill, and in some areas post digging its lacking in soil volume.. Also does rain compact the soil as it seems im losing height by the week!

Here is a picture: (TO the left of the picture is my main "path" which im gonna cardboard and woodchip. Also I have my compost, and a bit of dead space next to the fence.



(And yes, I managed to plant my overwinter garlic in the flood zone. Doh. )

[WendyC]

Your plot looks pretty clear to me. Personally I wouldn't put in raised beds straight away as you don't yet know how you are going to use the site and if they end up being not quite right it will be time consuming and possibly expensive to move them. I know the ground is very wet at the moment but it has been the wettest winter in some areas for 250 years. Raised beds dry out quicker which can be an advantage in the early spring but a pain in a hot dry summer. (Wishful thinking !!)
Raking is the best way of levelling the ground. If you wanted the ground to drain a bit you could introduce a slight camber, which might mean your path is wet. Rain will compact the ground but you don't want it too fluffy, plants like brassicas like a firm ground. I should get on and decide what you want to grow this year and plan based on that.
From your photos I've assumed you are in the UK, could you add your location to your profile.

[Alison]

From the photos it doesn't look like much of a slope so I wouldn't worry about it, mine is pretty similar and it has certain advantages, my shed is at the top point with water butts off the roof, I can then gravitate the water to other parts of the plot which helps me no end .

I put in edged beds in my first year which I found to be really helpful and by planning things properly I've never wanted to move them. That said, as they're just a 8" frame then I could pick them up and move if necessary anyway. I found it very satisfying to get each of the going and "done" before moving on to the next one rather than being overwhelmed by a full plot at once. Other people find other ways work best for them though so think about what suits you.

Re loss of soil, you might be getting some erosion if the water is running off the plot (doesn't look to be the case on your photos but always hard to say) but it's more likely that things are just settling. You're likely to be adding the contents of your compost heap anyway and that always seems to disappear too. Looks like you're doing fine to me.

[Bill HH]

You soil looks superb to me, I could almost eat it. As Alison says a slope is not a particularly bad thing re water butts etc, my garden is more like everest so I have had to make tiers like the Chinese do on mountains. The answer to clay is compost and more compost, that will also help with drainage. Clay is not a bad thing you just have to work with it. I would be inclined to make one raised bed and compare results with the rest of your ground at the years end.

[rustylady]

Your soil looks superb. I wouldn't go for raised beds - too much work and expense.

I think you will find things will grow well when it stops raining and things start drying out a bit.

[Aberdeenplotter]

yups, some folks would bleed for soil like yours.Bill says the answer to clay is compost and more compost. Clay can be difficult to cultivate but the trick is to get it dug over as roughly as you like before winter and then leave the elements particularly the winter frosts to break these lumps down so that come spring, all you should need to do is give it a going over with your tined cultivator and your rake to make it ready for planting. Dig in copious amounts of compost and fym and also add sharp sand which should help with drainage.

I agree with the others, the slope is an asset. I have a similar slope on my allotment and I have spent a few days recently constructing and filling raised beds but only because I'm trying to create deeper beds so that I can grow carrots and beetroot for exhibition. I'm also very fortunate in having inherited a heap od soil whichwas dumped on my plot before I got it. I've managedto source pre-used decking boards from freecycle/freegle and I'm not put off by the hard work involved but none of that is essential for growing veg. Clay based soil is an excellent growing medium and your veg should do well at ground level.

[sparrow100]

Isn't it is the wettest winter on record for donkeys years? So what you are seeing might not be the norm. I'm on clay and on a slope, with raised beds terrace-stylee (see pic). What I also have is a hard pan of blue clay about 2 spade lengths down, so my drainage is appalling.

Might be handy to look at where your water is collecting. If it's in the middle, are you sure you don't have a hard pan a bit deeper than you've dug? If it's collecting at one end or in a corner, would you dig a soakaway or create a natural pond? The water has to go somewhere after all...

Good luck!

[.commander]

Hello!

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I'm in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

It turns out the flooded bit its the only bit I didn't get round to digging over, so it makes sense on what everyone is saying that this would flood.

Thanks for the reassurance about the soil too, it's nice to know its looking good. I head you are not meant to walk on clay, so should I set about doing my paths now? I was gonna use the principles of SMG, as I think it will suit my needs.

I'll get some sharp sand and compost to dig in also. (I've got a small amount from what I cleared last year).

Also what is a soakaway?

[WendyC]

Can you add you location to your profile and then you don't have to mention it in every post.

[marcofez]

My allotment is on clay soil.
Like many have said compost, FYM, sand are all good conditioners to help on a clay soil. I've also used lots of straw/hay by covering it over in my winter digging, where it rots away to leave a crumbly soil.

[Kristen]

what is a soakaway?

Big pit, chuck all the large rubble in it, and route land drains into it. It will fill up with water (underground) and act as a buffer when it rains and the drains start carrying water away. Over time the water in the pit will "soak away"

That's the theory anyway ... in practice in really wet seasons it will probably not soak away fast enough so I think worth sinking some sort of "pipe" vertically into the middle of the soakaway so that you can pump it out in the bad times. Depends, you might be happy to have the garden waterlogged for a few weeks in mid winter one-year-in-five, but in a Summer like 2012 we had our soakaway pumping out over a period of many weeks, to stop the lawn being like a lake!

[sparrow100]

I probably meant something else then Kristen!

I've spent today digging a trench about a spit or so down, filling with all the reject stones from the hardcore under one side of my plot and then digging a channel to the trench from the moats that were 2 of my paths. It sent the water down along the communal path and the north side of the unlet plot next to me.

I don't think that's particularly sociable of me, so later this year I'll sort out a natural pond in that corner. But while I have stuff drowning in my beds and there is nothing on that plot, I'm giving in to desperation!

[Penellype]

You probably have a clay pan under the plot. My parents live in Harrogate, and you don't have to dig down very far to find really hard, sticky yellow clay. As has already been said, lots of compost will help improve the soil - my parents have used horse muck for years and their soil is lovely. You do need to keep adding it as it gradually breaks down and disappears. Drainage will also help a great deal if it can be done.

[.commander]

Do I put the muck on now?

In that flooded corner the soil is a good foot lower than the neighbours plot and my patio. Maybe made my patio too high? Will i need to bring the soil level up to reduce flooding? As it seems it all runs off and down to that corner...

[Scarlet]

No DIY expert here! is it worth digging a trench along the wettest part for the water to drain to? I wouldn't build it up- the water needs to go somewhere.