shade plants

Hi

The hosta need a rich soil, means a soil with at least 5% of organic matter. The clay is mineral and salts, adding to this that with bad management (till) it suffers of compaction and so, asphyxia.

You need to buy bags of substrat the first year, and then, always bring organic matter rich in carbone, like straws. The straw will feed fungus and earth worm, the best ally in the garden. For fertilization, bag of humus is a nice solution.

In a clay soil, you could add and mix with sand, which perfom the drain and fight compaction. Don't mix the substrat in clay soil, but only the 5 first cm.

So the first thing to do, it's to soften the 25cm deep in your clay soil, addind sand or thin gravels, adding substrat the first 5cm, and put your plant.

And yes, take care of the need in direct ray sun of each plant, or how many hours of direct sun per day allowed. Analyse the race of the sun, and the move of the shadow.

Lovely 

informative  answer. 

Thank you

I forgot one thing important : cover the soil, protect it from any ray sun. Example, you could prepare your soil, and before planting, cover the soil with a cardboard, and make the hole where you'll put your plant. The cardboard is rich in carbone, and it will feed the soil with the first rain in automn and winter. Following, you could add straw to still protect the soil. 

You could also choose a weed tarp, do your holes, and plant. Then last step, install irrigation path, hand controler or programmer.

When you carbone do you mean carbon as in wood ash or similar.

Have been saving my cardboard! Is it better wet and mulched up 

Not at all : the ashes it's salts, and the carbon was burnt and went to the sky, so problem we know all. 

The life is built with carbone, and in organic matter, it's a dry branches or weed which are full of carbon. When weeds dries, the nitrogen escape, this green looking.

The ashes is not really suitable for clay soil, because it would be salts over salty soil, and so, it will increase the pH toward alcalinity. A good pH for plants it's around 7.3.

It's amazing, but our body work in same way, the way of Life! :)

Ok.I understand. Shredded dry wood or plants on the soil surface  or in the soil?  

Because the clay is very thin material, it suffers from asphyxia, so we have to take care when we insert organic matter.

In surface is the natural process, but here in South east Spain, the sun can heat them and they become water repellent, and so, not aviable anymore for soil life and plants for a long time. It is needed moisture to decompose and sustain soil life. Of course, despite its conditions, it is put in to protect the soil as mulch, but not to feed it in warm season.

The Shredded dry wood or plants material like spanish automn, winter and spring for decomposition, the seasons with the most humidity and its rains.

Any way, you can use them to protect the soil in hot seasons, very important.

Thank you. All very interesting and helpful.

We gave many pine trees.

Are dried needles and bark from pine ok

I use a lot bark from pine, but when is fresh it prevent any growing of weed.