water retentive soil ?

Hi, I have a couple of plants that would do best in water rententive soil. What mixture could I put together to make this ?
Gazania

 

Believe it or not, clay will have to be in there. I know people curse it as it is so difficult to work when wet and rock 'ard when dry but this is because it is so water retentive. To that I would add sharp sand (or if you can afford it horticultural grit) and a portion of good loam. That should do it. Cheers, Tony.

 

I've done that in the past; and in my tubs & urns. However, my compost from Tubs & Urns tends to go into bags for "reuse" (particularly earthing up Spuds in big pots, as they get muck, fresh MP and fertilizer when planted, so I figure any old stuff will do for earthing up ...)

Anyways, I am now wondering about the properties of water retaining granules when they break down, and have decided I don't want them anywhere near my food crops, and thus am not using them in my Tubs and Urns any more. Haven't decided on anything planted in the ornamental areas, but we are heavy clay here, so not much need for water retention IN the soil.

Just a thought and my 2p-worth