Making the Most of Any Soil

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts last week! I ended up getting the flu, and was down for the count. But we're wrapping up soil month this week, with a couple of helpful articles on making the most of your precious garden soil.

It's really not what you start with when it comes to the quality of the soil in your garden, but the results you have when the preparation has finished that really matters.

With the correct information and procedures you can make just about any soil fertile, but the key factor here is getting the right information in the first place. Even poor quality soil can be improved to the extent that you can have a lush garden.

Planning your garden ahead of planting will make all the difference as you will be able to get proper drainage sorted out while also allowing for good water and nutrient retention.

An example of sand based soil. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Digging the soil will give you a good feel for it's quality and allow you to look at factors such as the density of the soil and whether it needs breaking up to allow for more water, air and nutrients to be retained within it.

The types of plants you intend to have in your garden will determine what you will need to do with the soil, as some plants thrive in heavy conditions, such as those found in clay soils, whereas other plant roots will struggle to get through anything other than light sandy soils.

Mixing in compost, sand, and other grades of soil when you are digging your garden can change the structure considerably. Having additional information from pH test kits as we previously discussed will also ensure you have the right balance of lime in your garden.

You might need to add fertilizer to get the quality of the land up to suitable levels for planting but almost any soil can be made fit with the right preparation.

Consider raising the garden beds where the ground is particularly poor or where there could be problems with drainage.

Light sandy soils will have space for air, water and nutrients but the nutrients can get washed away easily leaving the plants to suffer. Heavy clay soils can hold the nutrients better but the roots of the plants might have trouble getting to them. Clay soils can also become waterlogged or alternatively in hot dry weather they can become very hard, cracked and dry.

The climate will play a big part in determining how you prepare your soil. Check back Thursday when we will discuss a very helpful soil amendment that can improve almost any soil.