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Home > Flower and garden articles > “With Golden Soil ....“
“With Golden Soil ....“
Contrary to the well known words of our national anthem, many parts of Australia have soil that is anything but golden ! It is a rare thing to have perfect soil, and most gardeners face the reality of very inferior soil. Events such as urban development and housing construction can leave new gardens with atrocious soil conditions, and rural soil degradation from intensive farming, chemical residues and loss of top soil can present almost overwhelming challenges for gardeners.
But it is possible to overcome such problems - by starting literally from the ground up!
There has been much talk of late about our national water shortage, and of course as gardeners we are worried about to how to maintain our gardens. But tips on how to save water, and how to apply soil wetting agents to our desiccated soils, does not get to the real crux of the problem. If you have sick soil in the first place, you won’t be able to fix it with this “band-aid“ approach. It is essential to look at ‘the bigger picture’ and consider carefully what has caused such poor soil conditions, in order to take a logical approach to fixing the problem on a long term basis.
Any type of soil can be rescued with this practical approach, and a bit of time and effort.
The most important factor in successful gardening is to have a good growing medium. This basically means that your plants can only be as good as the soil they grow in. If you have exhausted soil with no nutrients, your plants will struggle and probably starve to death. If you have light sandy soil, your plants will not get enough moisture and will probably die of thirst. If you have heavy clay soil, your plants will not get enough drainage and will probably drown !
To have lovely healthy plants, you need healthy soil, and to have healthy soil you need the following important ingredients:
o Compost
o Moisture
o Mulch
o Good drainage
Why compost ? All types of soil benefit from the addition of compost, as the presence of organic material in the soil introduces microbes, which break down the compost. In turn, this brings worms into the soil to feed on the microbes. And as we all know, worms are the gardener’s best friend! They are so industrious that in a short period of time their activity can greatly improve any soil type.
The water retention in light, sandy soil can be greatly increased by the addition of organic materials, and this in turn creates an ideal environment in which the worms will thrive. As the compost breaks down, nutrients are released into the soil, also creating a food source for your plants. So this simple process dramatically improves light soil in two very important ways, providing a long term remedy to these problems.
Even heavy clay can be greatly improved by the addition of compost. Don’t break your back trying to dig up heavy clay ! Just add a generous layer of compost on top of the soil, cover with lots of lucerne, pea straw, or a fine mulch, and then go and do something else in your garden ! Give the area an occasional watering during hot weather, other wise leave it to the rain to keep the area moist. After a few months you will find an enormous amount of worm activity has taken place, which will have broken up the clay, improved the texture of the soil, and subsequently improved the drainage too.
It is very easy to produce your own compost. Simply save all your lawn clippings, soft prunings, and weeds, and layer them in a compost bin with all the vegie peels, egg shells, and other organic kitchen scraps. Even newspapers, cardboard egg cartons, and used paper towels can be shredded and added to your compost bin – it’s that simple, and it also reduces the amount of waste going out to your garbage bin.
Compost should be turned occasionally with a garden fork, to ensure good air flow, and watered lightly only during very hot weather. This will provide an ideal environment for lots of worm activity. A nice healthy organic compost bin will not produce bad smells, but please don’t add meat scraps to the compost as this will smell bad and attract bugs and other undesirables !
When all your scraps and clippings have decomposed, you will have lovely, crumbly, sweet smelling compost to enrich your garden beds with, supplying nutrients to your plants and greatly improving the moisture retention capacity of your soil on a long term basis.
Other materials that can be incorporated into the composting process include animal manures, which will introduce valuable microbes into your compost ‘micro climate’. Indeed it is much wiser to use these in your compost recipe, so that by the time you apply the compost to your garden the manure is well rotted. Fresh manure should never be applied directly around plants, as it will burn the roots and severely stress your plants.
Stop Press !!! One very important thing to remember – Never obtain horse manure from racing stables, because if the horses have been treated with antibiotics and worming treatments then the manure will not contain the desirable microbes needed for healthy composting. This can even result in the subsequent death of your plants as there are no ‘good’ microbes in the soil !! Make a point of getting your manures from only natural, organic sources.
Worm farms are also an excellent idea, offering a convenient alternative to compost bins if you don’t have much space in your garden. This is another way to provide your garden with important nutrients and organic materials, and a very easy way to ensure you have plenty of worm activity to help improve your soil quality. Worm farms are generally available from most garden centres.
Moisture and Mulch
It’s almost impossible not to mention these two topics in the same breath ! A great deal has already been written about both, but it is still worth a reminder that mulch is the most effective way to keep moisture in your soil. Choose from a wide range of mulch materials, but remember that it is very important to apply a generous deep layer of mulch, so don’t be tempted to spread it too thin. If your garden provides you with lots of prunings throughout the year, invest in a shredder and make your own supply of mulch to add to your garden – the ultimate in garden recycling !
Every gardener should consider regular mulching as a soil conditioning process, and an essential part of gardening as a whole.
Good Drainage
Whatever your soil type, good drainage is essential for healthy plants. Of course, if you have light sandy soil, the drainage is probably too good ! This is where the use of compost will greatly reduce rapid moisture loss, and improve the soil’s capacity to retain water.
Heavy soils also benefit from this process as we have seen, but some gardens may need more work than others ! If you have a brand new house and a bare block of land which only offers compacted clay and subsoil, don’t lose heart. To get you started, you can build up your garden by bringing in top soil and laying out your garden beds above the level of the clay. This will allow you to get some new plantings into your bare garden, and if you also incorporate compost and mulch into the recipe, over a period of time the clay and subsoil will improve.
Don’t be tempted to plant straight into compacted clay, as very few plants are tough enough to handle it. Compacted fine clay particles don’t allow water to drain away, so winter rains will cause the roots of plants to rot, and the hot summer sun bakes the clay as hard as concrete ! It would be far wiser to invest in some good topsoil, working some fine gravel into the area first as a method of preventing compacted soil in the future. Again, it is important to add compost on a regular basis.
The best type of topsoil is a dark sandy loam, rich in organic matter to hold moisture but with enough coarse particles to allow good drainage. So if you need to buy topsoil, this is a very good investment. Avoid any mixture with too much mushroom compost as this can very quickly become ‘water-repellent’, making it almost impossible to get moisture to the roots of your new plants.
An important tip when establishing new garden beds is to avoid compacting the topsoil before planting, although it is important to rake the soil evenly to ensure removal of air pockets. The soil will settle naturally, especially after watering, so you may even find it necessary to ‘top up’ the levels with extra soil after a few days.
Don’t forget to add compost to the soil regularly, to encourage lots of worm activity and guarantee excellent drainage !
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