Re: Kaolin - Advice Needed
Glenn Breayley wrote:
>
> I wonder if anyone could please give me some advice for a problem spot I'm
> working on at the moment.
> I've got a lovely, sunny enclosed courtyard I'm doing up. It has a
> brickpaved centre surrounded with walls & 1m wide borders against these. My
> North facing ( sunniest in the Southern Hemisphere ) wall is 2m high & I was
> wanting to espalier a fruit tree against it. Unfortunately I find my soil
> goes down about 1/2m then theres a band of pure white kaolin clay. I tried
> digging through it in the hope of punching a large drainage hole I could
> plant a tree in, but gave up at about 2m.
>
> Would anyone have any ideas of what I could do with this area or of any tree
> which might handle it ?
> Other than cover it with concrete & paint it green that is.
Hi Glenn
I wonder if this is perhaps the place for a raised bed. If you could
build up the surface even say 15 to 20 cm this would considerably
increase your working depth and improve the drainage possibilities at
least for the important surface layers. At the same time, a soil well
laced with organic matter and fed regularly with compost placed on the
surface of clay (WITHOUT DIGGING) has been found to be remarkably
successful at breaking up at least its upper layers and converting them
to free-draining soil.
I wonder what fruit tree you had in mind. Though this would be enough
soil depth for a tree on dwarfing stock, the sort of conditions you
describe, (sheltered courtyard and sun-facing wall) would I feel be too
hot for something deciduous such as an apple or pear, even possibly for
a peach. Where I live, near Wellington, (which is considerablty south of
the latitude of Capetown) we find that deciduous fruit trees struggle in
the summer heat and tend to be disease prone against north-facing walls,
even those without the further shelter of a courtyard. However, I can
see it being quite to the taste of a fig, which could also benefit from
the root confinement, which should induce good fruiting.
Alternatively, one could go for an ornamental such as a bougainvillea. I
once when I had my gardening business was faced with a very high blank,
white west-facing wall which fronted on to an entirely paved area. We
arranged half a wine barrel at the base of the wall and used it most
successfully for a bougainvillea which flourished in all the warmth and
didn't mind the confinement or the summer dryness one bit.
Cheers
Moira
> POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
> Ph/Fax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
> Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
