Deep rooted ideas please

[Chestnut]

I am hoping your collective experience can help me find a few good planting ideas

I�m looking for long lived edible plants with a dense/strong root system that will help to �bind the soil� on the lowest bed on a terrace, with roots at least 75cm deep.
Ideally something which doesn�t cast too much shade as this slope is uphill from the rest of my plot on the south side - and avoiding alliums (white rot in soil here).

Best I could come up with is rhubarb, but there is a limit to how much rhubarb I can eat each spring

What would you choose?

[nickdub]

Any sort of fruit bush would probably work to an extent. I have a lot of steep banky ground, and grow comfrey on quite a bit of it, to use as a manure.

[Dead Dogs]

Best I could come up with is rhubarb, but there is a limit to how much rhubarb I can eat each spring

Rhubarb isn�t just for eating. You can make wine with it

[mat]

Thinking backwards on this - starting with "Which plant's roots are a real nuisance to me?" - I came up with bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). I foolishly let this plant self-seed years ago, and I (and, embarrassingly, my neighbours) have been trying and failing to dig the roots out ever since. Edibly, it is useful - the very young growth in salads, the older leaves in pickles in place of dill, or cooked in sauces, or used as a bed to flavour steamed food. Although it's tall, its frondy nature means it doesn't cast much shade. An ornamental plant, too. Just don't let it self-seed ...

[Thelma Sanders]

Globe Artichokes are deep rooting, but you may need to fleece or mulch them over winter, where you are (I don't have to here)

[veggiechicken]

How about mint? Its not particularly deep rooted but it spreads everywhere and the roots knit together into a mat (Not you, mat )
You could plant a medley of mints and let them run wild - I like that idea so much I'm going to do it too.

[1Bee]

Plus Bronze fennel is beautiful, and the hoverflies love it.

[veggiechicken]

That's sorted then, Mint and fennel medley - sounds delicious.

[Rocketron]

I'd be wary of mint and would suggest Sage as an alternative.

[Chippy Minton]

How about some of the green manures? They tend to mat and bind. Red clover? You could crop the tops for compost and the bees like it?

For deep rooted you could try horseradish (not forget I said that!)

[Chestnut]

^^^^ I have an old waterbut with a crack in the base which I plan to use for horseradish- the idea is to put the waterbut on a paving slab so that roots cannot find soil

Comfrey, red clover and bronze fennel will be great for the steepest part of the slope, and I think would look quite an artistic colour mix all jumbled up together. I love the mint medley idea too, but might be tempted to put them in some planters around the bench so I can enjoy the scent when I am chilling out - Does mint go well with a rhubarb wine spritzer?

[veggiechicken]

I'd like a photo of this area please, Chestnut, because I can't picture the size or slope or a rhubarb wine spritzer.

[Chestnut]

Oh dear, I hope I haven�t been getting my drinks mixed up again! I thought a spritzer was wine mixed with lemonade, which might or might not be improved by adding a sprig of mint in the glass...



Anyway, here is the slope I am thinking of - though the photo is a little out of date. The bench is behind the camera, on a little �patio� (which is where I thought mint medley planters would give a lovely scent to enjoy from the bench in the evenings).

The bottom part of the slope (foreground on photo) slopes upwards on approx 1:1 gradient, with a couple of compost bins set into the foot of the slope. The patch of ground between the compost bins is about 12� wide and 4-5� front-back, which is the steepest part of the slope.

Behind the compost bin the slope is less steep and now has the beginnings of a terrace, which rises 2 scaffold board widths, then flat 4� bed plus path at same level, which will eventually run across the width of the plot. I�d like to put some strong/deep rooted stuff in this �first floor terrace� bed too - a kind of belt and braces approach to landslide prevention

Above that, the ground is pretty much level, so will just have normal / non-terraced beds.

Hope this makes sense

[Dynamite]

Here’s my penneth worth:-

Strawberries
Broccoli (perennial)
Dwarf/stepover Apple or pear

Kind Regards..........Rob

[Chippy Minton]

^^^^ I have an old waterbut with a crack in the base which I plan to use for horseradish- the idea is to put the waterbut on a paving slab so that roots cannot find soil

Stil be careful with the crack, even on a paving slab. We grew some in a potato planter (with drainage holes, sitting on a paving slab. It still escaped and now we play remove the horseradish throughout the summer