|
Mon, Jun 4, 12 at 9:23
| I would like to plant several salvia (May Night and East Friesland) in my front garden, but I have clay soil. Should I bother trying? Is there anything I can do to amend the soil or feed them with something other than the usual compost? I love the way they look and have heard they are hardy, but I'd hate to have them all die on me because they won't like the soil. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by hummersteve 6 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 4, 12 at 12:34
| Clay soil join the club. Every time I dig a new hole in my front yard I not only have to deal with clay but rock,,, no I mean ROCK , but I stray photo below for effect. I dont have this in my back yard which is very tiny. I usually mix evenly as I can clay soil, 5-5-5 compost and maybe top soil and builders sand step 2 if you can find it. Along with this at planting I also add time release osmocote or 12-12-12 or bone meal and water all this in well and you should be ok. This soil wont be what you want from day one but it will get better over time and worms get in this and make it better. It should be ok.
|
|
| WOW, that is some serious clay soil! Mine is clay-ey but not quite that bad, so I guess there's hope for my salvia! Thank you for the soil remedy recipe, too - I will be working on that this weekend for sure. |
|
| Like Steve, I have heavy clay, I amend it with compost and a topsoil combo of peat and sand mix. One of my beds also has huge rocks becuase it was built over a layer of rock and stone that was mistakenly done in the wrong place when the drivway was redone. We dug out as much stone and larger rocks as possible and then built the bed over the top. Salvia greggiis work well in that bed because of the super drainage made possible by the rocks below. Penny |
|
| The soil on my property (north central New Mexico) is concrete-like adobe clay. No humus, no stones, rocks or gravel--no nothing but clay. But once you get it dug up, a surprisingly large number of plants will grow in it. Best I've found are Salvias and snapdragons. Any of the annual Salvias do great, but best perennial Salvia here is purple flowered S. virgata (lately going around as S. cadmica, which it is not). Impervious to heat and cold, blooms most of summer. Good for places that get very little rain, like my place. Caveat: USDA lists it as an invasive weed. And it does reseed itself here, which gives me great pleasure. |
|
| Hummersteve, I was going to say what are you doing in my backyard. Yup the same thing here. I had to replace my shovel a few years back (it was a cheap one)from all the stone and bedrock in the ground. The size of some of the ones I've found is just ridicules. Just a side note I was told never to use sand in clay soil unless you want concrete, perlite is better. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Salvia Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.