Clay soil

The Waxbill

I recently dug some holes for my new raspberry, gooseberry and blackcurrant plants. I didn't get a chance to plant the bushes in the holes after I dug them as it was late in the evening. The following day i went out to find the holes (2 feet deep) full to the top with water. Now i new the soil was bad but I never imagined the drainage was that poor. A few days later the water still hasn't drained away. My plan was to fill the holes with good compost before i plant the bushes but is there any point? they will hardly survive in these conditions, will they? Is there anyting I can do to help the water drain away?

The Sweeper

Hi, The Waxbill.

Clay soil is rich in nutrients, but can be extremely difficult to work with. My soil is heavy clay, and in one way it's lucky you didn't plant the bushes in time, because they would have drowned.

Basically, if you dig a hole in clay soil you're creating a sort of impermeable bowl (as you've seen). If you then plant a bush with nice potting compost around its roots into that hole, water will always take the path of least resistance - so all of the surrounding area's run off will gravitate to the hole your plant is in. Your plant, unless it loves being waterlogged, will get wet feet and die.

Things that improve clay soil:

Lots and lots of organic material.
Worms.
Gypsum.
Raised beds.
Mulching.

If your soil is that water resistant, I would look at digging or rotovating to a depth of up to one foot and working mushroom compost and gypsum through the clay. Then build beds upwards, maybe another six inches on top of what you already have one. (If you can't be bothered working the clay first, build a raised bed at least a foot deep on top of it, but make sure you use a lot of gypsum over the clay before laying the bottom layer of the raised bed.)

The raised beds will allow for proper drainage and your plants won't be waterlogged, but they need enough room to spread.

Also, choose plants that can tolerate a clay soil. My rosemary bushes are loving it, but then my climate is a lot drier so they're not getting the rain to waterlog them.

The Waxbill

Thanks Jack Daniels for your help and yes I'm really glad I didn't plant them out as they'd surely be dead by now. I'll take your advise on board and maybe plant each bush in a square raised planter filled with good compost, or something like that. Thanks again for your help.