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Vegetables for heavy clay

Clay is the soil British gardeners complain about most and the most fertile ground in the country once it is worked. The useful list is not 'what tolerates clay' but 'what is actually better on clay than on the loam everybody envies' — brassicas, beans and blackcurrants among them.

How this list was built

Generated from the catalogue by the same engine that powers What can I grow? — 18 of the 102 edible plants qualify. It is published because it names a question people ask, returns enough plants to be useful, does not return most of the group it is about, and rests on fields that are actually populated. Lists that fail any of those are on the coverage page instead.

18 plants
PlantTypeLightSpacingMin. pot depthIn a container
BlackcurrantRibes nigrumFruitStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade150–180 cm40 cmworkable
Broad beanVicia fabaVegetableStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade20–23 cm30 cmworkable
BroccoliBrassica oleraceaVegetableSome care neededFull sun, Partial shade30–45 cm30 cmworkable
CabbageBrassica oleraceaVegetableSome care neededFull sun, Partial shade30–45 cm30 cmworkable
CauliflowerBrassica oleraceaVegetableDemandingFull sun, Partial shade60–75 cm40 cmmarginal
CeleriacApium graveolens var. rapaceumVegetableDemandingFull sun, Partial shade30–38 cm30 cmmarginal
CeleryApium graveolensVegetableDemandingFull sun, Partial shade23–27 cm25 cmmarginal
ChardBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarisVegetableStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade25–30 cm25 cmwell suited
KaleBrassica oleraceaVegetableStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade45 cm30 cmwell suited
Land cressBarbarea vernaVegetableStraightforwardPartial shade, Dappled shade, Full sun15–20 cm15 cmwell suited
LeekAllium ampeloprasumVegetableStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade15–23 cm30 cmworkable
LovageLevisticum officinaleHerbStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade60–90 cm60 cmmarginal
MintMenthaHerbStraightforwardPartial shade, Full sun, Dappled shade30–45 cm20 cmwell suited
QuinceCydonia oblongaFruitStraightforwardFull sun400 cm50–80 cmnot assessed
RhubarbRheum × hybridumFruitStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade90–120 cm45 cmmarginal
SorrelRumex acetosaHerbStraightforwardPartial shade, Full sun, Dappled shade30–38 cm25 cmwell suited
SwedeBrassica napusVegetableStraightforwardFull sun23–30 cm40 cmmarginal
Vietnamese corianderPersicaria odorataHerbSome care neededPartial shade, Full sun30–40 cm20 cmwell suited