Beginner - Page 3

 


I think one of the first things to do would be to hire a rotovator from
your local hire shop. Also, early on, I'd take a soil sample and test it
(cheap DIY Test Kits available at any decent garden centre ... possibly
Wilkinsons etc. too). This will tell you what type of soil you have ....
certain plants prefer soil of a particular type; acid or alkaline (most
vegetables are not too fussy). One good, productive way to break up the
soil is to plant spuds, but it may be rather late this year.

Good luck; this group is usually very helpful to gardeners who are
beginners. HTH.

--
Gopher .... I know my place!

 


A driver who was lost asked a local how to get to a village a few miles
away.  The local thought for a moment and replied "If I were you, I wouldn't
start from here."

And that's the advice I would give to you.  Don't start now. Wait until
you've had some rain to soften the soil.  If you have hard soil (and I
assume that means it has a high clay content) it will be backbreaking to
work it into something decent at this time of year.  Don't think that a
rotavator will help - if the soil is baked hard and compacted it will simply
ride over it, and you will use more effort trying to keep it down and
cutting into the soil  than you would use with a fork or spade!  Also, if it
has been neglected for years it is possible that bricks, concrete lumps,
scrap metal, or other stuff may have been thrown out on it and lost just
beneath the surface.  Your rotavator blades will not like these at all.

Once you can get into the soil relatively easily (probably around
mid-September) then you can add spent mushroom compost and mix that in using
the rotavator.  Then it would be best to leave it over winter to allow
frosts to work on the soil and break it down further.  If you are in a hurry
to get something in, then just plant what you want in a few square yards.
Maybe concentrate on breaking up this area of soil with a fork and spade,
mix in sharp sand and grit to increase the drainage, and then plant your
herbs.

Good luck!

--

Jeff

 




Thanks for the advice. I'll concentrate on a small area and try and get my
herb collection out there before they overrun the conservatory.

There are quite a lot of strange things coming out of the ground.

Maybe next year there will be vegetables as well.