Clay soils hold moisture during the winter months and are often dry in summer, adding humus such as leaf-mould, compost or well rotted manure and grit will assist drainage in the winter and moisture retention in the summer as well as helping to give the soil a finer tilth. Plants that do well in this type of soil are hardy, not difficult to grow and often thought of as ‘ordinary’. They include many excellent trees and a choice of deciduous and evergreen shrubs.