Clay Soil
Gardening in Clay Soil is often regarded as somewhat of a handicap by most gardeners, especially those gardeners that have preference for growing plants that do require a well drained soil. Most of the popular West Australian natives and South African Proteas that naturally grow in sand and well draining gravels and loams have a preference for soils with good drainage.
These plants are always very popular to grow as many have large, exotic, showy flowers. Therefore if you are a gardener with a liking for these plants it begs to ask the question…..can you still grow these types of plants in a clay soil?
Well being a gardener who has gardened in clay soil for over 10 years I can honestly say, yes, and basically it just comes down to following a few rules.
Firstly though can I just say this. Recently I was listening to a gardening program on the radio where a gardener asked the question about planting into a clay soil. The answer given by the gardening commentator was to dig down into the clay and try and break it up and maybe add some gypsum. Now this is not the first time I’ve heard this type of response to this question and in some respects this answer does bother me. Why? Well consider this.
The biggest problem with clay is the fact it doesn’t allow water to pass through it very easily. Therefore once you start digging into it you really do need to be prepared to keep digging all the way through the layer of clay until you find a layer of soil that is free draining so the excess water has a means to drain away. Now does this sound like a viable exercise for every plant you plant into clay soil? Not really, the hole you dig may have to be quite deep to make it effective.
Therefore once you start digging into clay all you’re really doing is providing an area for water to accumulate after rain. This is not an ideal situation. Now you must understand this, many areas of South Eastern Australia have been in drought up until recently so using the above mentioned method of planting hasn’t really been a problem as there hasn’t been the rainfall to make it a problem. Therefore many plants has survived for years planted into a hole dug into a clay soil.
At the end of 2009 SE Aust started getting lots of rain again and then all of a sudden plants that had survived the drought for years started to die and mainly it was caused by bad planting in unsuitable areas where excess water all of a sudden became a problem.
Therefore the number one rule when gardening with a clay soil or a clay subsoil is make sure excess water has a means to drain away. This also applies not only for water on the surface but below the surface as well. After all, if you dig a hole into a clay soil and then replace it with a freer draining soil, plus the root ball of a plant, do you really believe the excess water will drain away? No it won’t, the hole will just act like a bucket.
One solution to avoid this is to plant plants with smaller root balls such as those grown in tubes. In most cases these plants will quite often outgrow a larger plant anyway.
So what is the best solution for gardening in clay soil?
Well to start off with the obvious solution is to use plants that are tolerant of clay soils. Callistemons, Melaleucas and some Banksias, Grevilleas and Eremophilas all have some species and hybrids that are suitable.
But what if you want to plant plants that require a well draining soil into a clay soil?
Well the easy solution is to garden on sloping terrain. The excess water will easily drain away and not become a problem. Just make sure you don’t dig a large hole in the clay to your plant your plant.
But what if you haven’t got a sloping garden, what if it’s flat?
Well this is where planning your garden and good landscaping can come into play. Use raised garden beds and you can go about this in two different ways. Firstly you can import lots of suitable garden soil that is free draining or you can do what I did. I excavated an area of my garden and mounded the excess clay into raised garden beds. I then used compost and gypsum and hired a small cultivator and then mixed all the compost and gypsum into the clay mounds which were to form my garden beds. What I ended up with was a friable, well draining soil that I could plant all manner of plants that require a well drained soil.
Now if you decide to take this option just make sure the areas you excavate aren’t too deep. You can turn then into pathways and provide underground drainage to direct the water away from the garden beds.
Sound like too much work? Well remember this……….you only have to do it once.
The most important thing to remember though is you must provide a means for excess water to drain away. Correct landscaping is essential, whether it be natural or man made. At the end of the day though, there are many ways to go about gardening in a clay soil and not every plant will grow in clay but if you employ some of these basic principles you will great increase the number of plant you can successfully grow, in a clay soil.
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Eremophila "Big Poly"
When I first came across Eremophila Big Poly (E Bignoniiflora x E Polyclada) I thought of it more as just another addition to my collection and just grew it in a pot for about 2 years. It wasn’t until I planted it into the ground though, that it actually came into it’s own.
The first thing I noticed was it grew very quickly to about 3m tall (in about 2 years). The other thing I’ve discovered is it does respond very well to harsh pruning, so my initial conclusion about this Eremophila is that it is ideal for someone who wants to grow a quick growing, dense hedge.
Most of the flowers fell off after yesterdays thunderstorm. But it's covered in buds so it will flower up again over the next few days. Melaleuca linariifolia (dwarf) is in the foreground.
Sounds pretty good really but this Eremophila has some other great features as well. First of all it is very drought tolerant. The first two years after it was planted it grew very quickly and this was despite receiving very little rainfall and practically no extra water from me. Another feature is that you can plant it areas that suffer from inadequate drainage, as it naturally grows in areas that flood after rainfall and then dry out during summer.
Eremophila Big Poly flowers in late spring and then into summer and this year it’s putting on a spectacular flowering display as it’s the first winter it’s experienced some reasonable rainfall, which as I write this, is now continuing into spring and hopefully early summer.
The flowers are a soft creamy/purplish colour which I must admit aren’t as spectacular as some of the flowers colours of other Eremophilas but nevertheless they make a welcome contrast to some of the deep reds, purples, blues and yellows of other Eremophilas. And as I said if does get some extra rainfall it is very floriferous.
It will continue to flower for the next couple of months and then it will get it's annual prune.
So there you have it, an Eremophila that will grow quite a bit larger than most of the others. It is very drought tolerant, responds best to sunny areas, is fairly wind tolerant, will except badly draining soil (at least for short periods), grows quickly and can be hedged easily (after flowering) into a hedge or a screen.
Sounds too good to be true really as it could be a solution to lots of problem areas you have in the garden. So I suppose the next question is, what are it’s drawbacks?
Well the biggest negative about this Eremophila is that it isn’t readily available in nurseries. In fact the day I purchased it was the only time I’ve ever seen it in a nursery. As such, specialist Australian Plant Nurseries and Markets may be the only place you’ll find it, if you’re lucky.
This I think is a shame and unfortunately is the case for many other very garden worthy Eremophilas as well. I’ve often wondered though why this is the case and have come to a very obvious conclusion, but I’ve decided I will leave this for my next post, so stay tuned.
In the meantime though if anyone is interested in growing Eremophila Big Poly (or any of the other Eremophilas in my garden) and lives in Melbourne (or is willing to travel) I’m more than happy to give away cuttings and if you’re not sure how to propagate from cuttings I’ll also give you a quick lesson. Just send me an email message from my contact form if you’re interested.
So if your looking for a quick growing, drought tolerant plant you can hedge then Eremophila Big Poly may be your answer. That is of course if you can source it from somewhere.
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Eremophila "Eyre Princess"
Eremophilas would have to one one of my favourite garden plants and one of my favourite Eremophilas would have to be Eremophila “Eyre Princess”.
It’s now the beginning of spring in Melbourne and my Eremophila “Eyre Princess” is now at the height of it’s flowering season. At the moment it is just covered in purplely, blue flowers which are a cross between it’s parents, Eremophila Nivea and Eremophila Drummondii.
Eremophila Eyre Princess
The Eremophila above I’ve had growing in my garden now for nearly 3 years and have found it very easy to grow. It is very drought tolerant, likes lots of sunshine and even looks good when not in flower.
The most amazing thing about this Eremophila though is that I’ve never seen it in a nursery. I actually bought this one at a market and didn’t even know what it was called until a few months ago, as it didn’t come with a label. The retail nursery trade sometimes never ceases to amaze me. For a plant that has so many things going for it, that is obviously very easy to market and especially due to the fact that it is a very drought tolerant plant and easy to grow, I really can’t understand why it isn’t so readily available. Especially since it is so easy to propagate from cuttings. I propagated some of these Eremophilas last spring, using the method for propagating plants describes elsewhere in this blog.
Eremophila Eyre Princess Flowers
The only maintenance this Eremophila needs is be pruned after flowering. I normally just use hedge clippers to snip it into a ball and 5 minutes later the jobs done. It’s that easy and when you do prune it, it will grow more compact and bushier and then reward you with lots of flowers the following year. That’s really all the attention it needs.
So if you do come across this Eremophila in a nursery then give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results. Eremophila “Eyre Princess really is an underused garden plant.
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