Re: Flat terrain, heavy clay soil, and slow drainage

Hi Ben -

The Mediterranean Garden Society Annual General Meeting in Monterey was
apparently a great success!  We all had a wonderful time.  Sorry you could not
be there.

There is a list of plants for clay soil here:
http://gimcw.org/plants/cult_claysoil.cfm
I had created this list a while ago and just now updated a new version of the
list based upon further research I've been doing.  I am sure there are still
others that could be added.

You are correct in clay soil being 'normal' somewhere and to some plants. 
This is true.  What is not normal is how we deal with this soil, which often
causes more trouble.  Clay soil should  be 'dealt with' as little as possible.
 It's texture can easily be made worse by frequent roto-tilling, digging, etc.
 It is best to amend well ONCE (if needed because of compaction during home
building) and them permanently mulched thereafter.  Seeing bare clay soil
should strike fear into our hearts - it is always best to be covered with
organics or planted.

I have just received the English translation of Olivier Filippi's book (I've
been working through the French edition for some time now!).  I think that the
only issue I would have with this great work is regarding soils.  Our's and
their's are usually completely different.  To make the best use of his
information, I expect that it may be required for us to take this into
account.  It would have been nice if one of Olivier's contacts in California
could have spoken to this in a foreword for the US edition (which was
basically a slightly amended copy of the edition published from a UK point of
view - meaning many UK expats live in the same type of region as Olivier in
Southern Europe).  Olivier and I had talked about this previously, but then
Publishers often win out.

Seán O.

Seán A. O'Hara
sean(at)gimcw.org
www.hortulusaptus.com

> Hi all,
> For those of you fortunate enough to have attended the MGS Annual Meeting in
> Carmel last weekend, I hope it was a blast.  I would have loved to attend, not
> least so as to meet some of you face to face, but a family wedding (and a
> houseful of out-of-town relatives) kept us otherwise engaged.
>
> I did manage to get a copy of Olivier Filippi's book at Amazon.com, and I've
> been slowly devouring it since.  I like his philosophy, but don't think I
> could have a garden entirely without irrigation where I live:  Montpellier is
> considerably greener than Los Angeles, and a no-irrigation garden here would
> be as austere as the grounds of a Zen monastery.  Without the moss.
>
> One thing Olivier brings up is the importance of good drainage, and how he
> achieves this by trenching out for gravel paths, then using the excavated soil
> to raise the level of adjacent beds.  A brilliant idea for a brand-new garden,
> but I can't raise the beds now without tearing everything out, so it's not an
> option.  But it got me wondering, what mediterranean plants will do well in
> clay soil with slow drainage?  The soil is a natural phenomenon, surely some
> plants will do well in clay.  And if you are careful about watering, or rather
> not watering, shouldn't you be able to grow a decent waterwise garden even in
> flat clay?
>
> Just wondering
> -Ben Armentrout-Wiswall
>
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