Can’t find NVC info for my area, found maps for other counties and Scotland but not here. Quite a few other maps list mine as unsurveyed too. This one actually specifies it as unsurveyed/urban which could be part of the reason it doesn’t show up in various maps.
Topsoil carbon stock - low, given that the garden was under concrete for a long time I would assume it is even lower than the surrounding area is too. Although by mixing in compost I expect that could be improved eventually. Hopefully the meadow grass will have improved it a bit too, it has been there for a year now and should grow deeper roots than lawn grass.
Soil layer deep, found a few maps saying sandy loam which I presume is for the topsoil because deeper down it seems much heavier. Parent soil river loam.
I do have water butts, but the combined 300L doesn’t last very long for anything more than some pots and we usually get extended drought over summer so for the summer just gone I tried to mainly focus on keeping them going. I do have shrubs (rosemary, thyme, sage, bay trees) down the sides which overall I am more keen on keeping alive than the grass in the middle so I gave them a bit every few weeks without rain but it rapidly uses up water. They are doing perfectly fine which is good, though the bay is still small as they were planted from cuttings and it was freshly planted last year and I watered them a bit more because of that.
I have seen clover growing on the side of roads within a few miles of my house, so I do expect its happy in my region and it probably just struggled to thrive when starting the garden. So growing in pots to get a few clumps established is something I may try in spring and then hope it can spread on its own from there if it has had a better starting point. Common daisy and creeping buttercups are others I am thinking of.
Not sure how useful average rainfall stats are any more, every year seems to be the wettest winter and driest summer on record. Hopefully as life returns to my garden over time it should improve a bit though. Have been contemplating a large underground rain tank but they cost quite a bit.
Can’t find NVC info for my area, found maps for other counties and Scotland but not here. Quite a few other maps list mine as unsurveyed too. This one actually specifies it as unsurveyed/urban which could be part of the reason it doesn’t show up in various maps.
Topsoil carbon stock - low, given that the garden was under concrete for a long time I would assume it is even lower than the surrounding area is too. Although by mixing in compost I expect that could be improved eventually. Hopefully the meadow grass will have improved it a bit too, it has been there for a year now and should grow deeper roots than lawn grass.
Soil layer deep, found a few maps saying sandy loam which I presume is for the topsoil because deeper down it seems much heavier. Parent soil river loam.
I do have water butts, but the combined 300L doesn’t last very long for anything more than some pots and we usually get extended drought over summer so for the summer just gone I tried to mainly focus on keeping them going. I do have shrubs (rosemary, thyme, sage, bay trees) down the sides which overall I am more keen on keeping alive than the grass in the middle so I gave them a bit every few weeks without rain but it rapidly uses up water. They are doing perfectly fine which is good, though the bay is still small as they were planted from cuttings and it was freshly planted last year and I watered them a bit more because of that.
I have seen clover growing on the side of roads within a few miles of my house, so I do expect its happy in my region and it probably just struggled to thrive when starting the garden. So growing in pots to get a few clumps established is something I may try in spring and then hope it can spread on its own from there if it has had a better starting point. Common daisy and creeping buttercups are others I am thinking of.
Not sure how useful average rainfall stats are any more, every year seems to be the wettest winter and driest summer on record. Hopefully as life returns to my garden over time it should improve a bit though. Have been contemplating a large underground rain tank but they cost quite a bit.