laen🪻does anyone have any experience growing serviceberry (amelanchier alnifolia) in crappy, calcium-heavy soil?
i've been searching and have found both that it's fine and that it's terrible ...
thank you!
edited to add #gardening
Helen Clayton@moonrabbit I’ve seen them growing everywhere so I imagine they can cope with most soils.
@helenclayton
i'm suddenly besotted with them, for some reason?
i'm suddenly besotted with them, for some reason?
@moonrabbit they are lovely. I have two and I’m thinking of getting another.
Sarah🌳@moonrabbit @helenclayton First time I noticed them was when my sister lived in the Netherlands. They were used in lots of municipal planting schemes. I always like to have one in the garden - all my gardens have been heavy clay, but I'm sure it was closer to sand in NL. Versatile.
@Sarah111well @moonrabbit many years ago my dad chose one for my stepmum’s parents’ garden (now my stepmum’s garden) and I always admired it. Great year round interest and good for wildlife.
@Sarah111well @helenclayton
apparently (supposedly) the variety i'm looking at is ok with calcium, so we shall see. i suppose we can always pull it out and put it in a pot if it looks peaky.
apparently (supposedly) the variety i'm looking at is ok with calcium, so we shall see. i suppose we can always pull it out and put it in a pot if it looks peaky.
@moonrabbit @helenclayton Do you have chalky soil then? I only have experience of sandy soils and HEAVY clay. Talk about opposite extremes 😄
@Sarah111well @helenclayton
it's clay that's full of limestone (and fossils). and part of our garden in particular is quite gravelly, as someone used to park on it ... 🙄
the bits with decent soil are decent enough, if you don't mind LOTS OF rocks ...
it's clay that's full of limestone (and fossils). and part of our garden in particular is quite gravelly, as someone used to park on it ... 🙄
the bits with decent soil are decent enough, if you don't mind LOTS OF rocks ...
@moonrabbit @helenclayton Aah I understand now. What kind of things do enjoy growing in your garden?
@Sarah111well @helenclayton
weirdly, most things seem to be really happy! apart from in the gravelly bit, although we have got herbs and also All The Borage there and they don't seem to mind.
the main trouble we've had is from the soil being too compacted, and also there's a bit with not enough air circulation due to a sort of beech hedge, so things are prone to powdery mildew and other similar ickiness there. the grapes have suffered in recent years, but that could also be the weird-arse weather and high humidity (which is a new and unwelcome occurence here).
i wouldn't try blueberries though!
@moonrabbit @helenclayton Well that doesnt sound too bad. Everyone's gardens are having to adapt a bit to the climate changes. Nasturtiums would love the gravel wouldnt they?
Sad about the blueberries. How about Alpine strawberries?
Sad about the blueberries. How about Alpine strawberries?
@Sarah111well @helenclayton
ha! nasturtiums are one thing that hasn't grown well at all! (i had forgotten as i only tried them twice, right at the beginning)
but maybe i should try again.
no strawberries here, sadly, as i can't eat them.
what we really need is shade, as we're south-facing with no height. the nanking cherry i planted a few years ago is getting tallish now though, so that's helping a smidge (although it keeps getting some weird die-back at the tips at this time of year ... ).
what grows best where you are?
@moonrabbit @helenclayton My back garden was also lacking in shade. It's not very big, it's long and thin and faces roughly south west. I have allowed some shrubs to grow taller and I've planted a rowan and let a hazel grow up into a standard tree. So there will be more shade eventually.
@moonrabbit @helenclayton
Years ago I went shopping with my mum to her local supermarket and happened upon a nice amelanchier for this garden on sale in there. I showed it to mum & popped it in the trolley - for me. By the time we got home she had decided where in her garden she wanted me to plant it for her 😂
Years ago I went shopping with my mum to her local supermarket and happened upon a nice amelanchier for this garden on sale in there. I showed it to mum & popped it in the trolley - for me. By the time we got home she had decided where in her garden she wanted me to plant it for her 😂
@Sarah111well @moonrabbit I like the multi stemmed ones best. That might help provide more shade than a standard.
@helenclayton @Sarah111well
the one i'm looking at is indeed multi-stemmed. i'd probably prefer a standard really (mainly because we don't have any trees in the (small) garden apart from a dwarf cherry: just bushes), but this one is supposedly good with calcium and only 7,20€ (on offer!), so.
plus you're right, it probably would be better for shade!
@moonrabbit @Sarah111well the standards can look a bit lollipoppy and I’m thinking also of cover. They’re not massive…well they don’t have to be.
@moonrabbit @Sarah111well bay is another idea for your soil.
@helenclayton @Sarah111well
ooh yes, you're right! neighbours down the lane have a MASSIVE bay ... blob.
we have a small one in a pot that would probably prefer to be in the ground ...
ooh yes, you're right! neighbours down the lane have a MASSIVE bay ... blob.
we have a small one in a pot that would probably prefer to be in the ground ...
@moonrabbit @Sarah111well we have two in pots that were suckers from the tree we bought in remembrance of our first cat Toby. They’ve never been as healthy as the feral bays.
@helenclayton @moonrabbit You were lucky to get suckers to take. I've tried without any success. BUT I have taken loads of cuttings, in fact The Boy was always very successful at taking bay cuttings as a child.
@Sarah111well @moonrabbit they just happened!
this one's from portugal! probably tired of being carted around.
Tony MeredithA vote from me for amelanchier being versatile.
We found one in our garden growing slowly in delicate balance. Imagine a stone wall, with an old fern growing out horizontally, and then the amelanchier growing vertically out of the fern.
I eventually cut it out in 2024 (when more than 2m tall) planted it in the earth, and it's flowering again now.
@helenclayton @moonrabbit
We found one in our garden growing slowly in delicate balance. Imagine a stone wall, with an old fern growing out horizontally, and then the amelanchier growing vertically out of the fern.
I eventually cut it out in 2024 (when more than 2m tall) planted it in the earth, and it's flowering again now.
@helenclayton @moonrabbit
@Tony_Meredith @helenclayton
my goodness! that sounds extremely adaptable. and a stone wall would probably (depending on the type of stone, i suppose) be fairly heavy on the calcium ...
my goodness! that sounds extremely adaptable. and a stone wall would probably (depending on the type of stone, i suppose) be fairly heavy on the calcium ...
@moonrabbit @Tony_Meredith adaptable and resilient! Wish I were so 😁
Limestone @moonrabbit @helenclayton