plants for bad soil

Hi Im in the lucan area, and the soil we have is very dry.
Im hoping to find colourful plants that would grow well.

Thanks

joconnell

I had the same - quite ****ty soil that was under paving slabs - I didn't have the time to dig up the lot and do it properly but at the very least I bought a bag or two of good soil - you can get bags of compost / potting stuff for shrubs and beds by john innes that cost about a fiver each - Might be worth getting some moisture retaining compost to deal with the dryness. Dig a hole for the plant you're going to put in about twice the radius of the pot it came in, pour in some of the good soil and use a fork or spade to mix it in with the rest of the soil - then pop your plant in the new hole - it'll grow far better than just sticking it right in. I'd love to have done the entire thing properly and dug all of the soil but I didn't have the time then - would have reaped dividends in the growing of the plants though.

Thanks for that . Ill give the John Innes a try , anything else its just eating up, and turning dry too .

old boy

i am using a diy mixture, 1 bag geup, i bag westfield, 1/2 bag of sand, the old saying you spend a quid on a plant then you dig a 20 quid hole, i dig a very large hole 3/4 fill with the mix, place the plant in position, i then add a fistful of organic pelleted chicken manure, then i top up with the mix.