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FROM THE GROUND UP: HEALTHY SOIL DEALING WITH
CLAY SOIL: The biggest problem
we had was working with dense clay-type soil. To have good plant
growth and abundant bloom, you need to start with good soil. The
existing soil I have to deal with is so dense that we had a hard time
finding any earthworms, although we did find grubs under the grass roots!
Any type of soil can be amended to allow good structure and nutrients to
be available to your plantings. Listed below are amendments
that will help enrich and improve the structure of clay soil, and
soil of any type.
NOTE: I f you have clay soil and want to add topsoil, check to see from where the topsoil has come! I was surprised that a year later, the soil was still full of clay, after we had incorporated several yards of topsoil for our small area, and tilled it in with peat moss and compost. If the local landscaping companies get their topsoil from the same area, chances are good that the clay in the purchased topsoil will also bind your soil! You can offset this effect by adding a lot of organic material to your soil. Don't give up on it! It takes several years to get really good soil, so be patient and keep at it.DEALING WITH SANDY SOIL: Again, add lots of organic material, compost, manure, peat moss, and you may also want to incorporate purchased top soil. Mix these in each year, and you will build a soil that is rich in nutrients and will hold moisture. Persistence is the key.Regardless of the type of soil you have, be sure to have your soil tested before you start planting your garden. This way, you can correct any deficiencies of minerals in your soil before any problems arise with your plants. An imbalance of micro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) in your soil can cause serious health problems to your plants. See TESTING YOUR SOIL. GETTING
STARTED WITH YOUR OWN FLOWER GARDEN FIRST, select a site where you can view the garden from a patio, deck, or window, where it can easily be seen. Be sure your site is in a place that gets the right amount of sunlight for the kind of plants you want to grow. Check the area several times during the day to determine the sun pattern in that area. Decide what plants you want to grow in this place, and what conditions they require. This means doing some research on your plants. What type of soil do you have, and is it a wet or dry area? These things will determine the types of plants you can grow successfully. For instance, you won't be able to grow healthy azaleas in an area that gets full sun, has poor drainage and a high Ph (alkaline) soil. These conditions are not appropriate for this type of plant. Design of your flower bed: Starting in the spring, or fall, take a garden hose and outlined the area you want to use. Then you can dig a little trench to mark the outline. We remove the grass, although some people like to kill the grass off by putting down newspaper or piling soil on over for a few weeks first. It's more work, but faster to just remove the sod, so that tilling in amendments won't chop up grass roots that will grow back later and have to be pulled out. SECOND, once the site has been selected, we take a sample of soil to our local County Extension Office to be tested. We then know the soil Ph, and existing nutrients which enable us to best decide what amendments are needed:
Testing Your Soil Till in recommended nutrients, compost, peat moss, and other organic material. Be careful not to till your soil while it's wet! The surface may appear dry...use a shovel and dig down at least 12 inches to make sure the soil has dried to a "barely damp" stage...if the soil is dark underneath, it is best to wait a few more sunny days before tilling. Tilling soil when wet, turns even the best soil into clods that are nearly impossible to break apart. The texture of the soil will be compromised. New plants will have a hard time putting down new roots in a rocky soil structure. It is best to wait an extra week to work the soil properly, than to wait a season for your soil AND plants to recover!!PLANT
SELECTION AND PLANTING
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