Lawn & Garden

Children may think that dirt is bad since they are scolded for bringing it into the house on their shoes. However, dirt is actually a good thing as long as it remains outside where it belongs.

©2007 Publications International, Ltd. Choosing plants that suit your soil type and climate will ensure a healthy garden. Check out more garden ideas.

In the garden, dirt becomes soil. It’s a beautiful and complex blend of animal, vegetable, and mineral material. Good soil is the foundation for a great garden.

The loose, dark earth found in fabulous gardens on TV and magazines is not natural. It is created by gardeners who improve their native soils. Gardeners add sand to make the soil looser and drier or clay to make it moister and firmer. They also add organic material like old leaves, twigs, livestock manure, and lawn clippings to nourish and enhance the soil. Organic matter improves all types of soil and encourages better plant growth.

To get the most out of your soil, choose plants that are suitable for your soil type and environment. Here are some tips to help you select native plants:

• Choose plants that are adapted to the conditions outside your door. Plants that prefer your native soil and climate are likely to grow beautifully with little effort. Native plants, like shade trees, shrubs, or flowers, are excellent options. You can also try less common plants from areas with similar conditions to your own.
• Identify your garden conditions to identify suitable plants. Test your soil or have it tested to determine if it is a light and sandy soil, a moderate and productive soil, or a heavy clay soil. Observe how sunny the site is and select plants that need full sun, partial sun, or shade accordingly.
• Find your location on the USDA hardiness zone map to measure winter coldness. Note the light levels, soil conditions, and climatic zone information you’ve found. Search through nursery catalogues and gardening books to find plants that thrive in all of the elements particular to your yard. Use these plants as a shopping list for all of your future gardening projects. Doing a bit of legwork in the beginning makes gardening easier in the coming years.

If you’re unsure about what type of garden soil you’re dealing with, it’s hard to choose the right plants. Learn about testing your soil on the next page.

Observe the weeds in your garden to learn more about the soil. Weeds are opportunistic plants that thrive in vacant soil. Dandelions, for example, have benefited from this strategy and are now widespread in America. Despite their ability to grow almost anywhere, certain weeds prefer specific types of soil. Crabgrass, plantains, sheep sorrel, and horsetails thrive in acidic soil, while chamomile and goosefoot prefer alkaline soil. Redroot pigweed, chickweed, dandelions, and wild mustard grow best in fertile, near-neutral soil. Even if you cannot identify the weeds, you can still learn valuable information by examining them. If there are few weeds in a vacant garden area, it may need a lot of work. If the weeds are sparse and stunted with discolored leaves, the soil may be nutrient deficient. If weeds sprout up quickly in some areas and slowly in others, the weedy areas are likely to be moister and better for seed germination.

Looking for more gardening tips? Check out:

• Gardening Tips: Learn helpful hints for all of your gardening needs.
• Annuals: Plant these beauties in your garden.
• Perennials: Choose great plants that will return year after year.
• Gardening: Discover how to garden.

Test Your Soil

Before adding any fertilizers or amendments to your garden soil, it is important to determine what type of soil you have. You should follow the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Sometimes, making unnecessary changes to soil acidity or nutrient levels can cause more problems than benefits.

Soil tests are like nutrient guides on packaged foods and can tell you about the nutrient levels, pH, and organic content of your soil. These factors are essential for healthy plant growth. Follow these tips to test your soil and keep your garden thriving.

To obtain accurate results for your soil, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service, often found under federal or county government in the phone book. They can provide you with a soil testing kit that includes a soil collecting bag and instructions. It is important to follow the instructions precisely. When you receive the results, they may seem overwhelming, but with careful observation, you can interpret them. Look for the percentage of organic matter, which should be above 5 percent. Nutrients will also be listed separately and may be rated as high, medium, or low levels. If a nutrient is low, apply a fertilizer that replaces what is lacking. Soil pH refers to the soil’s acidity, with a rating below 7 indicating an acidic soil. The most fertile pH range is from 6 to 7, while above 7 is alkaline or basic soil. Excessively acidic or alkaline soils can be treated to make them more productive. Only apply the nutrients that your soil test indicates are necessary. Adding more fertilizer than required can be toxic to your plants. Save your money and only buy what is necessary.

To test your soil, fill a jar with a sampling of soil from near the surface and down to a depth of 8 inches, let it dry, pulverize it into fine granules and mix well. Then add a 1-inch layer in a quart glass jar with 1/4 teaspoon of powdered dishwasher detergent and enough water to fill the jar two-thirds full. Shake the jar for a minute, turning it upside down to get all the soil off the bottom, and put the jar on a counter where it can sit undisturbed. After a minute, mark the level of settled particles on the jar with a crayon or wax pencil. This is sand. Set an alarm for 4 hours, and when it goes off, mark the next level, which is the amount of silt that has settled out. Over the next day or two, the clay will slowly settle out and allow you to take the final measurement. These measurements show the relative percentages of sand, silt, and clay, or the texture of your soil. Sandier soil needs more frequent watering and fertilization than heavier soils, while soil with more clay retains more moisture and can be richer and more likely to produce lush growth with just the addition of compost.

To test your soil’s drainage, dig several holes that are 1 foot deep and 2 feet wide. Fill them to the top with water and keep track of how long it takes for the holes to empty. The soil has ideal drainage if it takes 12 to 30 minutes to empty, while drainage is poor and needs help if it takes over 4 hours.

Gardening Tips

• Discover helpful hints for all of your gardening needs.
• Plant annuals to add beauty to your garden.
• Select perennials that will return year after year.
• Learn how to garden with our informative tips.

How to Improve Your Soil

Soil quality is an important factor in creating a successful garden. However, most soil can be improved with a few simple steps. Here are some tips to help you amend your soil:

• Use ground limestone to raise the pH of acidic soils. This natural soil sweetener can neutralize overly acidic soils. It’s best to add limestone in the fall to allow time for it to dissolve. The amount of limestone you need will vary depending on your soil’s pH, which can be determined with a home test kit or professional test. Avoid overdosing your soil with lime by following guidelines on the limestone package or soil test. Maintain the pH by rechecking it yearly and adding limestone as needed. To lower the alkalinity of soils with very high pH, try adding cottonseed meal, sulfur, pine bark, compost, or pine needles. Garden sulfur acidifies soil slowly as microbes convert sulfur to sulfuric acid and other compounds. Soil amendments like compost, decaying pine bark, and ground-up pine needles gradually acidify soil and improve texture.
• Test your soil by feel before and after amending it to gauge the extent of the change. Take a small handful of lightly moist soil from several inches below the surface. Squeeze it into a ball in your hand, then open your fingers to see how it behaves. Sandy soils will fall apart, so to enrich them, add several inches of compost and even an inch or two of clay. Clay soils will form a tight ball that’s not easily broken, so to lighten them, add extra compost and coarse sand.

Regardless of your soil type, you can continue to improve it by regularly adding organic matter. Find out more about this in the next section.

The article discusses the sources of specific nutrients for soil and provides tips for adding nutrients to improve plant growth. There are various processed and packaged fertilizers available for adding nutrients to the soil, such as livestock manure, bat guano, bonemeal, rock phosphate, and Epsom salts. Additionally, adding organic matter to the soil can improve its quality and encourage better plant growth. Mulching is a great way to add nutrients to existing gardens, but it’s important to remember that woody mulch uses nitrogen as it decays and fine-textured mulches should not be applied in thick layers. Adding more soil or organic material can also help keep shrub or tree roots under cover. For more gardening tips, the article suggests checking out other resources on annuals, perennials, and gardening in general.

Obtain compost from your city or town hall service department which is made from leaves and grass clippings collected as a public service. The compost may be free or reasonably priced for local residents. To find other large-scale composters, contact the nearest Cooperative Extension Service. Landscapers and nurseries may also compost fall leaves or stable leftovers for their customers, and bulk soil dealers may sell straight compost or premium topsoil blended with compost. Yard scraps are discouraged or banned in many American landfills, so someone near you is composting them.

Plan ahead for bulky organic soil amendments such as compost, manures, and leaves that may be added by the wheelbarrow-load to improve the soil. This will temporarily raise the soil level, and as the organic matter decays, the soil level will lower.

Add more soil or organic matter to keep the roots under cover if soils rich in organic matter drop to expose the top of a newly planted shrub or tree roots.

Be careful when planting around existing trees, shrubs, and perennial flowers, to avoid covering the crown with organic material, which helps prevent disease problems. If your garden is beside a house or fence, keep the soil level low so it won’t come in contact with wooden siding or fencing that isn’t rot-resistant.

Valuable organic matter comes in all shapes and sizes such as compost, livestock manure, straw, grass clippings, salt hay, shredded bark, bark chunks, shredded leaves, seedless weeds, peat moss, kitchen vegetable scraps, mushroom compost, and agricultural remains like peanut hulls or ground corn cobs.

The quality of your soil can also be affected by where your garden is located and how often you till your soil. Learn more about how to improve your soil through garden maintenance on the next page.

For more gardening tips, try:

• Gardening Tips: Learn helpful hints for all of your gardening needs.
• Annuals: Plant these beauties in your garden.
• Perennials: Choose great plants that will return year after year.
• Gardening: Discover how to garden.

Maintain Your Garden

The location of your garden, how you till your soil, and many other factors can have a dramatic impact on your soil. These tips should help you tend to your soil the right way.

In order to maintain healthy soil in a garden, it is important to avoid walking on wet soils, especially clay soils, as this can cause compression and squeeze out vital oxygen. Instead, use walkways or stepping stones and cover the soil with a board when planting. Adding compost to the soil before planting can also help bring it to life, though it may be rough at first if starting with hard, compacted soil. It is important to remove weed roots and other underground vegetation and break up the soil into reasonably small pieces. Adding a 4- to 6-inch-deep layer of compost to the soil and working it down until it’s 10 to 12 inches deep can help keep the soil loose and light. However, since organic matter slowly decays, it is important to continue adding it to the soil in order to maintain the desired texture. Minimal disturbance is key to preserving the texture and organic content of thriving garden soils, so consider spading or no-till systems. Loosen the soil before planting by turning the surface shallowly with a shovel, or by combing it with a hoe or cultivator for very loose soil. For deep-rooted plants like roses, double-digging garden beds can be a great option, though it requires quite a bit of physical labor.

To double-dig, you need to be prepared for some hard work as it requires a lot of manual labor. If you have health restrictions, it’s best to hire a professional landscaper. Begin by clearing the soil of any vegetation and start digging a strip of soil that is a spade’s length deep and a spade’s width wide at one end of the garden. Then, turn the soil below it and break it up. You can also use a garden fork to break up the hard lower soil. Adding organic matter to the lower level is necessary if needed. Do the same thing to the second strip of soil next to the first row and turn the surface topsoil into the first trench while adding organic matter as desired. Keep filling each trench from the adjacent row and loosening the soil below until you reach the final strip where you can fill it with the soil from the wheelbarrow.

If the soil is too hard, rocky, poor, or wet for plants to grow well, building raised beds is a great option. In vegetable gardens, mound up planting rows that are 6 to 8 inches high and 2 to 3 feet wide. For permanent and decorative gardens, construct raised bed frames built of timbers, logs, rocks, or bricks that vary from 4 inches to 4 feet high. It’s best to seek professional help for big building projects that require strong structures to last.

Remember to take care of your soil and follow the tips outlined in this article to create the garden you’ve always dreamed of. For more gardening tips, you can check out helpful hints for all of your gardening needs, plant annuals in your garden, choose great plants that will return year after year, and discover how to garden.

FAQ

1. What is the best type of soil for a garden?

The best type of soil for a garden is loamy soil, which is a mixture of sand, silt, and clay. Loamy soil has a balanced texture that allows for good drainage and water retention, as well as adequate aeration. If your garden soil is not loamy, you can amend it by adding organic matter such as compost or aged manure.

2. How often should I fertilize my garden soil?

You should fertilize your garden soil at least once a year, preferably in the spring before planting. The type of fertilizer you use will depend on the needs of your specific plants. It’s important not to over-fertilize, as this can lead to nutrient burn and other problems. Always follow the instructions on the fertilizer package and avoid applying it during hot and dry weather.

3. Can I reuse garden soil from previous years?

Yes, you can reuse garden soil from previous years, but it’s important to amend it with fresh organic matter and nutrients. This will help replenish the soil’s fertility and improve its texture. Additionally, rotating your crops each year can help prevent soil-borne diseases and pests from building up in the soil.

4. How can I improve the drainage in my garden soil?

You can improve the drainage in your garden soil by adding organic matter such as compost or aged manure. This will help improve the soil’s texture and increase its ability to absorb water. Additionally, you can create raised beds or plant in containers to improve drainage and prevent water-logging.

5. What is the ideal pH level for garden soil?

The ideal pH level for garden soil is between 6 and 7. This range is slightly acidic to neutral, which is optimal for most plants to absorb nutrients from the soil. You can test your soil’s pH level with a soil test kit, which can be purchased at most garden centers or nurseries.

6. How can I prevent weeds from growing in my garden soil?

You can prevent weeds from growing in your garden soil by using a variety of methods. One option is to apply a pre-emergent herbicide before planting, which will prevent weed seeds from germinating. Additionally, you can use mulch, such as straw or wood chips, to smother existing weeds and prevent new ones from growing.

7. How can I conserve water in my garden soil?

You can conserve water in your garden soil by using a variety of methods. One option is to use drip irrigation, which delivers water directly to the roots of plants and reduces evaporation. Additionally, you can use a layer of mulch to help retain moisture in the soil. Finally, planting drought-tolerant plants and using water-saving techniques such as rain barrels can also help conserve water.

8. How can I tell if my garden soil is healthy?

You can tell if your garden soil is healthy by looking for certain indicators. Healthy soil should be dark and crumbly, indicating a high level of organic matter. Additionally, it should have a balanced texture that allows for good drainage and water retention. Finally, healthy soil should be teeming with beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, which help break down organic matter and make nutrients available to plants.