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Here are the ground rules for preparing your soil. By Anne Balogh
Gardeners often disregard the impact soil has on the health and vigor of their plants. Soil preparation isn’t the most thrilling aspect of planting a garden, but it’s certainly one of the most important. If your soil isn’t right, your garden will struggle to reach its full potential.
“A garden is a reflection of the quality of its soil. Gardens filled with beautiful soil have a vitality about them that we can almost feel,” says landscape designer and author Jan Johnsen.
Achieving that vitality requires understanding the chemistry and composition of your soil and creating the perfect environment for fertile plant growth. Good soil management is a continual process, but once you attend to the basics, your soil will do most of the work itself.
6 Basics of Healthy Soil
Before you begin planting, dig up a scoop of soil and take a look at its texture. Is it dense and heavy and clump together when wet? Or is it loose and free flowing, like play sand? Maybe it’s somewhere in between, feeling somewhat sticky but crumbling easily, like a freshly baked cookie.
All soils are a mixture of mineral particles — primarily clay, sand, and silt.
Often they will contain higher amounts of one type of particle relative to the others. That doesn’t make them bad growing mediums, but it will affect their density, drainage rate, and capacity to hold nutrients.
With each soil type, there are trade-offs. Here’s a quick overview:
Adding organic matter is the best way to make your soil more loam-like and improve its structure. Another option is to build a raised garden bed and fill it with a well-balanced soil mix.
Or take the simple approach by growing plants that do well in your soil type, such as choosing drought-tolerant plants for sandy soils. You can grow a garden successfully in any soil, as long as the plant’s roots are accustomed to the conditions.
The pH of your soil is one of the most important factors in determining its fertility. If your soil is too alkaline (with a pH above 7.5) or to acidic (with a pH below 5.5), that can make a big difference in which nutrients are available to your plants.
Although most plants will tolerate a wide range of pH levels, they prefer slightly acidic soils (with a pH of 6 to 7) because important nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium dissolve readily in that environment. In soils that are too acidic or alkaline, your plants may get too much of some nutrients and not enough of others.
How do you test your soil pH? Here are two options:
Any type of soil can be improved by the addition of organic matter. Like farming, natural fertilizers work best . Rather build and nurture the soil, than 'extract' from it with chemicals.
"Most soil amendments work best if you work them into the soil in the fall, so they are well decomposed before planting the following spring", explains organic gardener Elizabeth Stell, author of Secrets to Great Soil.
To get the organic matter down to root level, use a garden fork to mix the material into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil.
In vegetable gardens, which usually contain annual or biennial plants, you can amend your soil each season. Perennial gardens should be amended prior to planting so you won’t disturb the plant roots.
Many perennials must be dug up every few years for division, providing a good opportunity to work in additional organic matter.
Don’t simply think of soil as dirt. Think of it as microscopic world teeming with a vast array of organisms that breathe life into your garden. They also help to aerate the soil and convert organic matter into humus. "To enlist the help of microorganisms, create favorable conditions. As these are the same conditions that promote optimum plant growth, you’ll be doing your garden a double favor,” says Stell.
To encourage soil life, she recommends keeping your soil evenly moist and well aerated and minimizing the use of pesticides. “Many of these are toxic to soil life as well as to whatever insects you’re trying to control,” she says. Also avoid the use of concentrated fast-acting fertilizers, which can harm earthworms and other soil organisms. Instead, use less-concentrated organic fertilizers and slow-release formulas.
These organisms in your soil ecosystem — including earthworms, insects, fungi, and a multitude of beneficial bacteria — act as Mother Nature’s recycling crew, converting dead leaves and plant debris into readily available nutrients. -the best free labor you can get for loosening and aerating your soil.
... to the soil without disturbing plant roots because you simply spread it over the surface and let it decompose naturally. Mulch also helps to:
But mulch also has its pitfalls, especially if you use the wrong type of mulching material and apply it too thickly. It can change the chemical composition of the soil and leach micronutrients that are harmful to plants. It can also create continually moist conditions that lead to fungal diseases of plant roots, especially in wet soils and humid climates.
A variety of organic materials can make effective mulches. However, mulches aren’t created equal when it comes to how they impact the biological activity of the soil and how quickly they break down.
Many say that turning over and breaking up the soil every year creates a favorable environment for their plants because it helps to mix in organic matter and improve drainage. Others say that tilling is a waste of time and may actually do more harm than good — and often they are right.
Tilling has a number of drawbacks. It can encourage the growth of weeds by bringing dormant seeds to the surface and exposing exposing them to sunlight.
It can disturb the beneficial burrowing of earth worms.
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