Soil Foundation Improvement Basics for New Gardeners.
It is the very basics of how to create and care for a healthy, live soil foundation, that most garden owners never really get the opportunity to learn or understand.
The key to achieving a strong healthy garden is by improving the condition of the soil foundation. It is my hope that this article will throw some light on this subject and help you to understand how you can develop a beautiful strong and healthy garden with minimal fuss!
What are the Soil foundation improvement Basics?
The quickest way to create a happy, healthy garden is to improve the Soil that plants are being planted in and it is this stage where we must first concentrate our time and investment. Approximately 75-80% of all problems with plants and lawns relates back to the soil foundation in some way. It doesn’t matter how poor your soil or how established your garden, the soil can be improved and treated in a variety of ways to create healthy, thriving, sustainable conditions.
The material which today is commonly regarded as ‘soil’ is a residue of rock minerals and only ONE component of a healthy soil. Healthy topsoil is composed of weathered rock minerals, air, water and living things such as plant roots, micro-organisms, insects, worms and the organic materials they produce. It is through the reinstatement of the missing components that new topsoil is formed.
Garden soil blends purchased from landscape suppliers may look rich and friable, but these soil mixes have characteristics similar to that of potting mixes and are often made up of similar components. The main drawback with these mixes is that the organic component decomposes quickly and it lacks soil life. Imported mixes lack micro-organisms like worms and insect larvae and other species of beneficial mycorrhiza.
When importing garden blends as is the case with most newly established gardens, it is important to compensate for this lack of soil life by adding in liquid or granular compost and natural nutrients to satisfy and multiply microbe their numbers.
Soil Microbes and tiny soil animals, almost too small to see, form the base of the pyramid of life. Vibrant soils give rise to a diverse, flourishing ecosystem. Lifeless soils give rise to……. nothing much at all. By carefully observing what happens around us, we can tell how things are going in the engine room.
Did you know that a spoonful of healthy soil may contain more than 6 billion micro-organisms, a number equal to the human population of the Earth. The earthworms in a single acre of soil can move and aerate 100 tons of soil annually and may dig up to 800,000 tunnels which carry nutrients and rainwater into and through the soil.
All those organisms in the soil moving, eating, digesting, excreting, and dying, enhances the soil structure, stability, porosity, infiltration, and aeration. So what does that mean? It means that the soil biological community improves the condition of the soil.
The bottom line is that they make the soil foundation a better place to live, which translates into a beautiful healthy garden with stronger, healthier plants and a more stable and attractive environment for humans and wildlife.
The variety (texture & structure) of components found in a soil foundation can vary considerably across the world however there are 3 primary soil types that are found in varying combinations in most gardens as follows.
Sandy Soils – In coastal areas, you’ll find mainly sandy soils which have large air spaces between the sand particles through which water and nutrients drain quickly. This loss of nutrients is generally referred to as leaching. Nutrients such as Nitrogen (growth & green leaves) and Potassium (flowers, fruit and disease resistance) are particularly susceptible.
Silty Soil – particles are between clay and sand in size. Silty soils can be difficult to wet when they’re dry and they can be difficult to drain when they’re wet. With the addition of organic matter, silty soils are quite workable. Silt particles are 0.05 to 0.002 mm and feel similar to flour when dry.
Clay soils are generally found in more hilly terrain, the biggest challenges are slow growth rates & poor drainage and water logging. The minute pore/air spaces between soil particles are so small and compacted it’s difficult for plant roots to freely spread their roots into the soil and grow to full size.
Most natives do not like water logging, so often garden beds are mounded or raised to get around this problem. Often course river sand and microbe-rich compost is added to the clay planting area to open the pores up and allow plant to breath, Don’t forget about drainage,.. ensure excess water can drain away from any planting holes dug down into clay soil.
A loamy soil, if you are lucky enough to have it on your property, it is the base texture and structure that we are all striving to achieve in our gardens. It is a mixture of roughly 40% Sand, 40% Silt or black soil and 20% clay. To this mix, you would add a rich, compost type additive and you have the perfect soil.
In the warmer regions of the world, plants are in an actively growing state for most of the year therefore it is essential to regularly feed them with an adequate supply of essential major and minor nutrients which encourage strong, healthy, pest and disease resistant growth. Like us, if we don’t get a regular and adequate supply of nutritious food, our energy levels drop and we become susceptible to sickness and disease.
If you want to develop a healthy garden,..look out for our next post where we will look at where to start if your garden is struggling and not in good condition? If you need some help in your garden, give our team a call here on 0755 325554.