Establishing a new garden (Part 1)

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 15, 8 September 1987, Page 16

Establishing a new garden (Part 1)

Spring has arrived early this year and our dream of having all the new beds and borders dug well before planting time

remains to some extent a dream. We had to cope with a problem most probably shared by a number of gardeners in this area. Having

dug the first layer of top soil we hit a layer of hard crumbly clay and below this a strata of compacted gritty sand rather resembling concrete. This was almost impossible to penetrate without the aid of a pick axe and obviously the roots.of any plant placed in those areas would have the same difficulty. To overcome this problem we built up the soil above with compost, well rotted straw and animal manure, adding quite a heavy dressing of peat moss. This will provide a good growing medium and regular mulching from time to time will gradually build up the earth layer above the difficult strata. Fortunately this strata only occurred in seams, probably a former water course. We will use these areas for plants and shrubs with shallower rooting systems. Conifers will be

quite useful in such an area, as chosen for their colour and form they will provide quite an interesting background all year round. The site chosen to sink the garden pool proved to be on such a seam, and time had to be spent chipping out the hard core with1 spade and garden fork. When completed the pool was settled on a good solid base which is an advantage. Planning essential In such a small garden it is essential to plan the planting in keeping with the size of the garden, avoiding shrubs and trees of more rampant growth which would overpower such a small area and give the effect of making it appear even smaller. However tiny, no garden should be planned without the inclusion of a few trees to give some shelter from strong wind and hot summer sun as well as giving a pleasing framework to the garden. Chosen with care it is surprising how many trees can be included in the smallest garden quite successfully, but care must be taken to avoid those with a strong penetrating root system. All types of willow should be avoided. The strong spreading root systems can have serious effects on the drainage system. Selecting your plants Part 2 next week.