Advice please!

debs64

There is an area at the back of my allotment currently home to a lot of rubbish I need to sort it out, there are large trees nearby so imagine it will be pretty shaded in summer and the soil seems pretty boggy, all the soil is clay but I think lack of cultivation has left this area pretty slow to drain. I need advice on what to plant there I have a bird feeder up that's very well used and I don't need plants to be fruit or veg I just want it to look pretty and hopefully provide shelter/ food for local wildlife. Advice please? 

debs64

Thanks Ollie will look up berry bushes. I assume the soft fruit I am growing will also help the birds? 

Blue Onion

Red currents and elderberries?  They do fine in damp clay and a bit of shade.  

debs64

Elderberries would be perfect I fancy trying home made wine this year. Thanks blue will look into that

Wayside

Might be boggy in the winter, but when the leaf canopy comes out, and the tree starts drinking - it could change.

josusa47

I think elder is a much under-valued plant.  It's very easy to grow, just put a few berries in a pot of compost, leave them outside, water them when there's no rain,  transfer to individual pots when they're big enough to handle.  Once established, it's indestructible.  The flowers feed pollinators, the berries feed birds.  You can make delicious cordial from the flowers, and the berries can be made into jelly or wine.  I like to add them to apple crumble.

debs64

Hadn't thought of that wayside there are a lot of big trees in the park near the allotment but I will definitely go for elderflowers I think and if I have to water them I will water them. As my old granny used to say' nothing in this world worth having comes easy to you"