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

This is a great list, Sean, and from this list I have 
4 of the trees, 
7 of the shrubs, 
7 of the mid-sized plants, 
5 of the low plants (with more than one species of several genera), 
and a pear and a peach tree.  
Interesting that you do not have the peach listed, because it has not been
nearly as healthy as the pear!
Just for Ben's and perhaps others' interest, here is a list of the other
plants (not on your list) that have survived my hellish garden conditions.
Some of them are pedestrian, but what the heck, they survive:
Dodonea viscosa 'Purpurea'
Ceanothus (2 species, both outside the irrigated area, though they may
receive a bit of underground run-off from adjacent areas.
Geijera parviflora
Lagerstroemia indica
Pittosporum tobira 'Wheeler's Dwarf'
Nandina domestica (the large, regular species is still my favorite)
Muhlenbergia rigens
Agapanthus (white and 'Peter Pan')
Tulbaghia violacea
Lantana camara and montevidensis
Ruellia brittoniana
Scoparium 'Mellongolly blue'
Festuca glauca
Carex 'Frosty Curls'
Rudbeckia hirta 'Becky'
Origanum sp.
Santolina virida and chamaecyparissus
Thymus sp
Erigeron karvinskianus
Myoporum parvifolium (groundcover)
Macfadyena ungus-catii
Osteospermum fruticosum
Alyssum
Lavender 'Grosso' and 'Munstead'
Canna sp.
Crocosmia
And in the shade:
Camellia and Gardenia (roots left unmulched)
Daphne odora aureomarginata
Pieris japonica 'Temple Bells'
Tuberose

Also, I don't have them planted yet, but I have high hopes for a Penstemon
or two.  And I may have missed a few things.
Anyway, these are the ironclad plants that survive my soil and my
intermittent attention.
Karrie Reid
Folsom Foothill Gardener
Zone 9


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu [o*@ucdavis.edu]
On Behalf Of Sean A. O'Hara
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 3:03 PM
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: 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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