Need an opinion

[bkay2000]

I want to plant a bed of ferns and hosta. I've always grown hosta in pots. I never messed with ferns before, other than seasonal hanging baskets.

I called the radio plant expert last Sunday about the ferns, as his magazine had run an article about ferns several years ago. I was going to ask about the article, but the phone answering guy said he might not remember the article and since the magazine was written for the whole state, he probably wouldn't be able to give me a good answer without seeing the article. They were short on calls, so we restructured my question to ask about building a fern bed under a pecan tree.

As we have really heavy clay soil, he suggested that I heavily amend the soil and that it wouldn't hurt the tree. He suggested looking for different wood ferns. He then suggested I plant something with it. I said I planned on hosta. At that point, he suggested that I remove the soil and replace it with sandy loam. He said in 6 or 7 years, when the organic matter had decayed, my hosta would have problems.

He's not a hosta person, but is VERY knowledgeable about plants in general and the soils of the area. I know he doesn't know about hosta, because he said you can't grow them in pots. He's also said that people here should choose smaller leafed varieties, which I think is totally irrelevant.

Replacing the soil is going to be a pain, as getting less than a truckload of sandy loam is nearly impossible. Then, what do you do with what you dig out and what's left over? I can't decide if I think he's right or not.

Any opinion?

bkay

[Roxanne]

Well, I can tell you what I did about 6 years back. My husband has a co-worker that bought a brand new condo. He asked if I would plant out the East side of his house for him. This is a neighborhood that has an association. They have rules. Everyones front yard is identical. same trees, same shrubs, even the same daylily in each yard. (boring!) They are only allowed to do their own planting on their East side and in the back yard. Everything must be bordered, because the lawns are all mowed the same day by a service. I went there to see what He had. The home next door on the east was only about 20 feet away, so I made a bed 7 ft. wide and 20 feet long with a clothesline rope and then told him how many landscaping blocks to buy. Then I put a shovel into the ground and encountered the heaviest clay soil I had ever seen! It was awful. I asked him how they even got grass to grow there. He said when this addition was built, truckloads of clay were brought in first and then construction on the homes began. They finished off with about 1/2" of black dirt and laid sod. So, I told him to go pick up about 4 big bags of compost and manure at Menards when he bought the blocks, and that he should buy about 20 bags of mulch as well.
That following week, I dug up 12 common Hostas here and potted them, and went and bought a clematis vine and trellis.
Then, I just dug huge holes in the clay, put half in a wheelbarrow out of each hole and mixed it with compost and manure and put it back into the hole, and planted. He got rid of the rest of the clay that was left over. I put the vine and trellis right in the middle next to the house, and laid newspaper down and mulched it all. I wasn't there again for about 3 years and when I saw those hostas I was shocked. One sieboldiana I had planted was over 5ft. across already, and they all looked fantastic!
So, In a nutshell, I think you could just amend the soil hole by hole, and just top dress every other year or so. It worked here, anyway.

[Mark Raw]

I agree with that no need to remove all the clay/soil just make them good planting holes and backfill with compost and manure. There is however a couple of advantages to clay ~ 1 it holds moisture well 2 it is quite nutritious. Well over here it is unless of couse it's building clay Addition of sand can help break it down too. good luck and as for hostas in pots well all of mine are in pots no probs 'till they get massive then well

[ViolaAnn]

Around here, the clay is so heavy that it would act like a bathtub if it isn't fully amended or if good soil isn't added on top.

[bkay2000]

Really, my question to him was about which ferns were suitable for our area. The second question was whether amending the soil significantly would hurt the tree. Generally, we amend with compost, expanded shale, landscape mix (and sometimes peat moss because our soils are so alkaline). That's what he was telling me to do for the ferns. It's pretty much standard procedure around here if you want to grow anything except shrubs and trees.

I've listened to him on the radio for at least 20 years and I don't recall him ever telling anyone to replace the soil. I've been mulling it over all week. There was an article in the paper last year about a guy who replaced the soil in his flower beds. The article said he loved hosta, although the article was about his garden designs.

Hmmm.....

bkay