Archive for the ‘Soil’ Category

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Basic Gardening – Soil Acidity and pH – Liming the Soil

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

pH is a gardening term used to reflect the acidity or alkalinity of a soil. The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14, with 1 being very acid and 14 being very alkaline. A pH reading of 7 is considered neutral. Most soils, due to climatic conditions, tend to be a little on the acidic side and these soils may need to have their alkalinity levels raised (meaning they may need to be “limed”). In dry arid climates soils are often on the alkaline side and for good gardening, they will need to have pH their levels lowered. Usually a phone call to your local county Extension office can give you a general idea of soil pH in your area. For site or garden specific information, the Extension Service offers soil collection kits and for a nominal fee, will provide the lab service needed for measuring your soil’s pH. They will also make specific liming or acidifying recommendation for your garden.

Different plants prefer different pH levels, however, as a general rule, most plants thrive in a pH range between 6.0 to 6.8. Some favorite Cottage Farms garden plants like azaleas, blueberries, and rhododendrons actually do better in more acid soils (pH 5.0-6.0). Hydrangeas do well anywhere from 5.0-6.8, but the flower color may be affected (blue flowers in acid soils and pink in more neutral soils). Having the optimum pH range insures proper nutrient availability and allows fertilizers to more readily absorbed by the roots, so checking your garden’s pH is important to insure gardening success.

Once you have determined your soil’s pH level the following Cottage Farms guidelines may be helpful as you modify and maintain your garden soil’s pH level. Three things to keep in mind are:

  • The process of changing and managing soil pH is as a long term project. pH changes take place gradually and you will need to judge your results on a seasonal basis.
  • Soil type and texture will affect the amount of lime or sulfur needed to alter pH levels.
  • Raising your soils alkalinity is easier than making it more acidic. Acidifying an alkaline soil is often best left to landscape experts.

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Inspecting Your Soil

Friday, November 6th, 2009

A beautiful garden doesn’t start with going to the garden center and purchasing plants and seeds. It starts with assessing your soil and inspecting your chosen gardening landscape before any planting ever begins.

In order to have a healthy, productive garden you need to get down to the basics – your soil. Time and effort must be spent in improving the quality of your soil conditions first or you’ll be wasting time, money and a lot of energy trying to get anything to grow well.

What Constitutes “Healthy Soil”?

There are five main components that make up any patch of soil:

* mineral particles
* organic materials
* living organisms (worms, bugs, etc.)
* air (hot, humid, arid, etc.)
* water (hard, soft, etc.)

Depending on the region that you live in, these components will vary in the proportions currently found in your soil. You will need to adjust some of these components to the proper proportions for your area zone and chosen garden plants in order to have healthy soil.

The texture of your soil also plays an important role in regards to your garden. Soil types fall into three categories:

Sandy soil -

Water drains quickly through this type of soil, which means that your plants may not have enough time to absorb as much water as they really need. If your soil is sandy, it will be very light, sift through your fingers, and be easy to cultivate.

Clay soil –

Many of us are familiar with this type of soil. It’s heavy and hard to work through. When you ball it up in your fist, it forms a hard lump. Water tends to pool and takes a much longer time to drain away. This can cause root rot to your plants.

Loam –

This is the best soil that you want to have in your garden. Easy to work with, it also holds moisture without pooling water.

Checking Soil pH Levels

One other thing that many gardeners also fail to check on is the pH level of the soil. Depending on the types of species you intend to plant in your garden, you need to be aware that some plants have preferences for certain growing conditions. Certain plants require an alkanline soil, while others require an acidic soil. The pH of the soil needs to be compatable with the requirements of the flower, bush or tree that you are planting, otherwise they won’t receive the proper nutrients to grow well.

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About The Author
Rose Smith owns GardensFromJapan.com To discover additional tips about how to improve garden soil conditions, as well as how to create your own Japanese Garden space, visit: http://www.gardensfromjapan.com/articles.shtml

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Why You Should Use Gypsum in Gardening

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Do you have clay or layer of hard subsoil problems in your garden? Then gypsum may be the answer to help loosen the soil structure. It is not considered a miracle substance and you will find that it doesn’t work right away, but a 3 year program of applications should help improve the poor soil conditions. It is not expensive and is easy to spread where needed.

Gypsum also has a job of repairing the soil that has been damaged through compaction from heavy stock, machinery, in the recovery of sub-soils exposed by earth movement and in soils affected by salinity.

A gardener faces one of the biggest problems in a new or established garden if they have a clay or layer of hard subsoil type of soil. This type of soil creates poor drainage, soggy soil and soil compaction.

When you have a new garden you can work organic humus, which should be done anyway, to loosen the poor soil. Manure, compost, peat moss and soil mulches and conditioners are normally used for this purpose.

You might ask, what do you do in an established garden? A lot of work and time to recondition soil would be required. Gypsum may be just the answer for reconditioning the soil, because it can be spread on the surface of the soil like in the vegetable garden, flowerbeds or on the lawn. What this means is it does not have to be worked into the soil, it can just simply be spread on the surface.

What does Gypsum do? It’s main purpose is to penetrate the many clay particles in heavy or the layer of hard subsoil type soils and loosen the soil structure. Then this creates air and moisture slots that will loosen and break-up the soil structure.

Be aware that gypsum does not contain any major plant nutrients, so continue a regular fertilizing program even though it contains calcium and sulfur which is needed for plant growth. In addition, continue to put out organic humus as you plant.

Gypsum is easy to apply!
Just spread it on the lawn, using the granular type, with a lawn spreader at the rate of 40 pounds per thousand square feet. Gypsum fertilizer can be spread any time of the year and only one application per year is needed. To get it started working, water immediately after applying. If applied properly it does not affect the pH of the soil, not harmful to humans and your animals and will not burn. And because Gypsum is neutral and will not change the soil pH, you can use it in places where plants like Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons and other acid loving plants grow, they need a little calcium too. Of course, gypsum should be applied per directions.

What is gypsum? Hydrous calcium sulfate Calcium Sulfate – CaSO4 Another Name: Gypsite
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James is long time organic gardening enthusiast and writes most of articles based on intensive research, lectures from professionals, gardening books and just plain common sense. Feel free to get more information about gardening by visiting: http://www.basic-info-4-organic-fertilizers.com

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Raised Bed Gardening

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

A raised garden bed can be a fine idea if you have deficient soil or very heavy clay soil or find gardening tiring as a consequence of a physical problem. Even though it will take more time to create a raised bed, or in the beginning be more expensive if you go for a raised garden kit, it will more than pay for itself. Cedar raised garden kits are particularly popular as they are resistant to water and very long-lasting. A raised bed has a number of clear advantages over regular gardening and may make your gardening a good deal easier, more pleasurable and even more productive.

Advantages of Raised Gardening

* In a raised garden you have extensive control over the the make up of the soil so you will be able to raise plants that may need specific pH’s and nutrients without problems
* The soil can be purchased free of weeds so you won’t need to do much weeding.
* In a raised bed plants are a great deal simpler to look after and usually grow better. The soil doesn’t become compacted from persons walking on it, so air and nutrients can get through to the roots much easier.
* Raised gardens warm up quicker in the Spring so you can plant much earlier allowing you a much longer growing period.
* It is much easier to nurture a raised garden than a conventional garden as you can construct the garden at a convenient height. For individuals with physical problems, or are in wheelchairs this is often the only way they can take pleasure in gardening.
* Raised gardens are a great deal kinder to knees and backs! You won’t damage your back or knees from working in the garden.
* In a well made raised garden, drainage is better than in a ordinary garden. You will not get saturated soil and your plants will grow better.

Where to Place Your Raised Garden

Before you settle on where to place a raised garden watch your plot for at least a full day to check which areas receive more daylight or which are in shadow. Are you going to grow sun loving plants or those which favor shade? Find an area where you can have space on all sides of the garden to make cultivation more convenient. It would also be helpful to have paths surrounding the garden to make moving near it with gardening equipment easy. If you are installing one for a person in a wheelchair you have to make certain that access is easy from all sides and it is the correct height.

How to Fill Your Raised Bed Garden

After your garden is finished load it with high-quality earth and compost. A blend of 50% compost and 50% soil is generally suggested. Top soil is generally obtainable to buy in bulk but be wary of the quality as there are no standards in place. Top soil can fluctuate a greatly in it’s components. Garden centers also sell soil in bulk and you can be positive that it is good. You might use top soil from your own garden but you will need quite a lot and it might not have all the nutrients necessary. It will also without doubt have weed seeds and probably stones.

For saving money you may possibly need to mix garden soil with purchased soil but make sure you mix it completely and if at all possible have a soil test to guarantee the nutrient levels and pH are good enough. Whatever option you select mix in a small amount of sand as an aid to drainage. You will also need to top up the soil intermittently as it compacts down and put in some organic matter regularly. An excellent suggestion is to produce some ground cover plants during the winter to protect the soil which you can then dig in in the Spring to add nutrients.

Conclusion

Raised gardening has countless clear advantages over traditional gardening for all of us but particularly for the elderly or individuals with physical problems. Whether you decide to put together your own raised garden bed or select from one of the various raised garden kits obtainable you will be sure to get many years of pleasant gardening.

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Vegetable Garden Planning

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Planting a backyard garden can be a fun and rewarding experience if you approach the planning and preparations aspect of gardening in the right way – but a lack of planning and preparation can cause your hard work in the hot summer months to yield mediocre results (if any) at the end of the growing season.

Perhaps somewhere in the world, the key to successful gardening is simply dropping a handful of seeds into the ground and watching them spring up. But most garden soils require careful attention and preparation.

Choosing a Plot
A common mistake among beginning and experienced gardeners alike is to plant more than they can possibly care for. A successful vegetable garden plot does not need to be big. A small, well-tended garden will grow as much or more produce than a larger one that the owner cannot keep up with.

Backyard gardeners should choose a sunny spot where water is readily available. Most vegetables do best in full sun if possible, but at a minimum, your garden should get at least 6 hours of sun a day.

Try to select a spot with good, rich soil. Good garden soil is deep, loose, fertile, well drained, rich in organic material and has a neutral pH. The ideal garden soil composition is about 5% organic matter, 25% air, 25% water, and 45% mineral matter. If you are planting a garden in a desert area with naturally not fertile soil, plan on working to improve the soil that is there.

Prepare your soil
Although organic material is only 5% of the “ideal formula” for good growing soil, applying the right organic matter to your soil can make worlds of difference.

Nearly all soils, whether clay, sandy or humus, benefit from the addition of organic matter. Spread a layer of organic matter two to three inches thick over the soil surface and incorporate it six to eight inches deep. Organic matter breaks up clay allowing for air and water circulation, and helps hold water in sandy soils. Good sources of organic matter include straw, twigs, leaves, peat moss, sawdust, grass clippings and well-rotted manure.

Organic matter will tie up nitrogen as it decays. Add nitrogen fertilizer to the organic matter to aid in the decomposition process. This addition of nitrogen is not intended to aid future plant growth, but to act as a facilitator to help in decomposition. More nitrogen fertilizer will be required when you begin planting. You’ll want to use one pound of ammonium sulfate, or 2/3 pound of ammonium nitrate, or ½ pound of urea for each inch of organic matter placed on one hundred square feet of soil. As a word of caution, if you are using well-rotted manure for organic matter, reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer you apply by one half.

Tilling
Finally, before you are ready to plant, the soil should be tilled thoroughly. Tilling breaks up hard soil and allows air to circulate around the roots of your plants. Us a tiller, shovel or fork to churn the soil at least eight inches deep. Do not try to till your soil too early in the spring before the soil has had a chance to dry out a bit. Tilling muddy soil only causes mud clods that choke tender roots of needed air and water.

Once your soil is ready, consult your local extension or the back of your seed packets for the proper time to plant your garden fruits and vegetables.

By following these simple preparatory steps before you plant, you will increase your chances of having a bountiful harvest at the end of the growing season. Good luck and happy gardening!

Read more about vegetable garden layout and planning a vegetable garden issues by visting http://www.gardeninghelp101.info/

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