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Gardening Essentials

The most important ingredient to successful gardening is good soil. Unfortunately, most of us are not so lucky, but the good news is, the soil in your garden can be changed. Making changes to your soil is not hard and will result in a more abundant harvest for years to come.

So, what is the first step? Determine the general quality of your existing soil. Pick up a handful of soil and form a ball. Good soil (loamy) will briefly form a ball, but it won't stay together. This is the idea garden soil. Clay soil forms a ball, which sticks tightly together. This ability to compact tightly can be a problem in the garden. Water is unable to drain away, drowning the plant, and nutrients are unable to get to the roots where they are needed. Clay soil can only be worked when it is not too wet or too dry. If you amend it with organic material, it can be fertile and productive. Sandy soil will not form a ball at all, and results in a soil that will dry out too quickly, and allow nutrients to pass through too quickly, being unavailable to the plant.

The next step is to check the drainage of the area you want to plant. To assess drainage, dig a bucket size test hole. Fill with water and see how long it takes to drain away. If it drains in a few hours, the site is well drained. If the water remains for more than a day, the drainage is poor. This may be due to a layer of rock or impermeable soil below. You can compensate for poor drainage by building a raised bed of wood or stone.

By raising the bed 4-6 inches, you can make a big difference in the results of what you grow.

Last but not least, you need to check the fertility of your soil (or lack of), and the pH. You can't determine this by looking, feeling, or smelling the soil. For about $10.00-$15.00 you can get a kit at your local garden store to verify the pH and the three major plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It will only provide approximate measures. I like to use the local agricultural extension service. For less than $10.00, you not only get the same measurements, but they will give you the additives you need, and the amount needed to correct your problem. You obtain a box, and fill it with soil gathered from different places in the area you want to plant. Mix the soil samples together. If you want to plant different types of plants, fruits or berries which may require a different soil (acidic versus alkaline) obtain a second box. You can also list what you plant to grow in the area and they will suggest amendments for improving the soil. They will also tell you what kind of soil you have: clay, loamy, or sandy.

pH is a term used to describe the acidity or alkalinity of soil. It ranges from 1.0 to 14.0. Neutral pH is 7.0. Most plants prefer a neutral pH. A pH reading lower than 6.5 indicates acidic soil, and a reading 7.5 or higher is alkaline. What's so important about pH? The soil's pH affects the availability of minerals, such as phosphorus, copper, zinc and boron to be used by the plant. You raise your soil's pH by working agricultural lime into the soil, and use sulfur to lower the pH of alkaline soil. The best time to get your soil tested is in the fall and add amendments such as lime and sulfur at that time.. It may take several months to alter the pH.

The major plant nutrients are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Nitrogen is essential for the new growth of plants. It produces new leaves and stems. Some plants are heavy feeders and need an ongoing supply of nitrogen throughout the growing season. Other plants may only need it during the new growth phase. Symptoms of too little nitrogen include stunted plants with slow growth and pale leaves. Too much may result in the plant growing so robustly, that they flower poorly, or produce little or no fruit.

Potassium (sometimes called potash), assists the plant in photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process a plant uses to draw energy from the sun. It improves disease resistance, and aids in overall plant health. Potassium is also important in developing full seeds, and helping fruit to ripen.

Phosphorus encourages a good, healthy roots system, and gives seedlings a quick start. It provides strength to plants that grow from bulbs and tubers, and supports heavy blooming in flowers. Both potassium and phosphorus need to be worked into the soil to reach root level.

Another way to improve your soil is to add organic material. Organic material improves the soil structure so it will hold water and oxygen. It also makes it easier to work. Organic material increases the soils microbial content, which may decrease the chance of the plant becoming diseased. One of the more important reasons for adding organic matter is that it plays a big role in storing and releasing nutrients for the plant to use. Organic matter includes rotted manure and compost and green manures (cover crops such as alfalfa or rye grass that are turned into the soil).

Organic matter cannot be added just one time, since it can be lost in decomposition or in warm-moist climates. It is hard to add too much organic matter but a ration of 2 to 1 soil to compost is not unreasonable. Adding this much organic matter may be hard at first, so until you build up your compost pile, you may want to dress your beds each fall with and inch or two of compost and improve you soil over the years. You may also purchase compost. Be sure not to use fresh manure on beds. It has to be well rotted or will burn plants.