Can I let you into a little secret?? The secret to a great garden lies in your garden soil.
Soil, mud, earth or whatever you want to call it is actually a living entity, or at least part of an intergalactic universe beneath your feet. That will probably sound very strange, so let me explain.
Soil is a natural environment that supports plant growth. It’s a medium where plants can grow their roots to secure themselves but also to absorb water and nutrients. When the soil is rich and healthy it helps to feed and sustain not just your garden plants but also the whole ecosystem. And that’s because a healthy soil is teeming with healthy organisms, from fungi that break down organic matter into nutrients that plants can use, right through to worms that work the soil and beetles that feed on slug’s eggs. The mini beasts are food for the next layer in the food chain, which includes our feathered friends and all sorts of other garden wildlife like slow worms, lizards, frogs and toads and our prickly friends the hedgehogs.
Most garden soil can be easily improved using materials that might otherwise be discarded. It’s best to compost these materials and rot them right down before adding to the soil. Some materials can be used as a mulch to protect plant crowns and surface roots, while others can be dug straight into the soil. Think of it as feeding the soil rather than the plants, in fact you are doing both at the same time.
Builder’s rubble and new build gardens
If you have bought a new build home on a building site the chances are your soil is extremely poor and plants will struggle to grow in it. Often it’s lost its top layer and is made up of very claggy lumps of clay. This is likely to become waterlogged and it’s really important that you start to add fresh healthy material to this soil before you begin to plant. Sometimes it is recommended to dig sand or gravel into a heavy soil, but in my opinion it is far better to concentrate on adding as much well rotted farmyard manure and garden compost into the soil as you can to help improve not just the drainage but the structure of the soil too.
Enrich the soil
You need to incorporate plenty of well-rotted garden compost or farmyard manure. This will be rich in organic matter that will feed the soil and the soil minibeasts and microbes. You can mulch the soil surface generously with well-rotted leaf mould and other suitable materials, if there are worms in the soil they will take this down and work on it. And once the worms are there the healing process starts. But it is a long and slow process and something you are going to need to work on if you have particularly poor soil. If you have plants you want to put in, consider planting them into pots and containers for a year or two before you plant into the garden. It’s better to really try and improve the soil before you start planting as it makes it much easier. If your soil isn’t too bad then you can improve the planting area where you want to plant things and of course add our wonderful Root Booster into the planting hole when you plant.
Healthy roots
A plant relies on its roots, not just to anchor it into position but also to take up water and plant nutrients. Waterlogged roots in claggy soils will soon suffer and you will see your plant health plummet as a result. Healthy roots support healthy plants and it’s essential that your garden soil encourages healthy root growth if you want a healthy garden. The root environment is just as important as the care you offer to the leaves, shoots and flowers. And the best way to support your plant roots is to feed the soil with plenty of well-rotted organic matter.
Make and add garden compost
Rather than buy lots of organic material the best way to improve your soil is to make your own garden compost. It’s an excellent way to recycle waste material and once it’s ready it will add all sorts of great benefits to the soil. You can compost a huge range of materials from cardboard, kitchen peelings, shredded stems and garden leaves.
There are dozens of different composting systems you can choose to use, or you can use a few of them for the best results. I have a wormery, a hot bin, and a few garden Dalek composters that I use on my plot which supply a copious amount of rich and earthy compost.
Organic matter within the soil helps improve the soil structure. It introduces air pockets and supports the movement of mini beasts through the soil, which in turn improve your soil health. Organic matter helps hold moisture in the soil, which is very important for plants in the summer when soils start to dry out. But there’s another important group of ingredients that are added to the soil when you dig in garden compost. A huge population of very healthy microbes, including very vital fungi, some of which form associations with plant roots enabling them to absorb water and nutrients deeper in the soil. For more advice on making garden compost have a read of our articles here.
What are the golden rules for making compost?
Find out more >
