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What to grow in a cleared rooty area
Q I have reclaimed a piece of waste ground in front of my house. The soil is very shallow and there are still lots of roots. It gets the sun most of the day. Please could you advise me what to plant in this area?
Karen Sutherland, via email
A What a lovely piece of ground you have to play with! However, you have various challenges to contend with when choosing plants.
The roots are a practical problem as they will make digging planting holes difficult, but each hole can be tackled as necessary rather than trying to sort out the whole plot. The presence of tree roots shouldn’t affect the establishment of other plants.
The shallow soil is the biggest issue, as it cannot hold much moisture and roots will be near the surface and more vulnerable to drying out.
