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I am new to all of this. I am amending my soil with leaves and such. Can I replant now?
The SC soil in my front yard is clay under about 3" of soil and it has basically formed a bathtub for the bed that I put there in May with daylilies, lantana, and perennials (black-eyed Susans, Gaillardias, and Bush Daisy). The bed is in full sun and is about 8 feet across (round shape) and while I spaded up a good bit of it, the bed stayed way too wet after a good rain.
The plants in there did okay (except most of the gaillardias went toes up - too wet) but I want them to do better next year.
So I removed them all ( and the babies that are coming up) and have dug the bed up over the past 2 days:
I added in about a foot of nice fluffy leaves courtesy of my neighbor's maple and pecan trees, a 2 cf bag of Pine Fines (composted pine soil conditioner), some Gypsum clay buster(about 5 good double handfuls) , and I dug up some partially rotted grass clippings from my back yard under the Photinas and added about an inch of that , too. . Spaded it all in good and added about a cup of blood meal and some bagged compost. I now have about 12-14 inches of pretty friable earth, the big chunks of clay are broken up and mixed in. I did not layer the things, they are all garden-forked in and turned over well. I will be adding some lime to bring the PH up, and some more leaves, and some coffee grounds, too.
My question: Can I replant my flowers (except the lantana), a Forsythia shrub, and some of my bulbs now? Or do I have to wait for it to heat up and work and plant later in the spring?
And my hubby just brought home a trailer-load of topsoil that he got at a construction site (clearing a rural plot for a WalMart) that smells faintly of cow manure (my more experienced neighbor agreed that it looked good and the manure smell, while definitely noticeable, was not real strong. )
Should I add some of it?
I am willing to take a chance, I just do not know if the leaves and such in there will be too much for the shrub and bulbs. And can I dig these leaves (we have tons fo them now) into my other beds with azaleas and bulbs and perennials or do I have to compost them first?
Thanks for any help or advice that you can give me - and yes, I will be trying lasagna bedding in another bed and a straw-bale tomato in the spring, but right now I just want to get this bed going nicely because it is the first thing you see at my house.
Many thanks in advance
Lorie in Columbia SC (just below freezing tonight, but a warmish week ahead)
Picture is the garden when first planted in May. And my Abby Labby.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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