Gardening is a reliable source of healthy food. In addition to that, it gives you an ideal environment for relaxation. Just like in any other maintenance exercise or task, you will need to give your garden enough time and resources if you want to realize optimal results. In this article, we will look at different types of soil and how to maintain and improve them for quality results. Again, we will take an in-depth look at the plants that do best in each type of garden soil. Also, it will be prudent for you to know what not to do in order to maintain your garden better and have quality outcomes.
Clay Soil
If your garden has clay soil, you should know that you can get the best out of it. Contrary to what many people might think, if properly maintained, clay soil can make your garden flourish with healthy plants. It contains rich minerals that can be of great benefit to your garden if you maintain it well. According to Essex Garden Care, for you to maintain a clay soil garden, you should do the following:
· Ensure that you add 2-3 inches deep of organic matter on the soil surface
· It’s highly advisable that you add the organic matter during the autumn season
· Improve drainage by raising permanent garden beds
Do not allow a lot of foot traffic around the growing area of your garden. This can negatively affect the soil structure and, consequently, result to plant growth challenges. Clay soil is good for the following: Helen’s flower, Bergamot, ornamental trees, roses, and fruit trees like the meyer lemon.
Sandy Soil
If your garden has sandy soil, you must have noticed that it drains water quite faster than other types of soil. This is because there are large air spaces between sand particles. The problem with this is that nutrients are easily lost as water drains away. This is a disadvantage to trees, shrubs, or other plants that you grow in your garden. However, you do not have to worry because there are steps you can take to maintain your garden for better results. Essex Garden Care advises that you can do the following to maintain your sandy soil garden:
• Mulch around your crops with materials like wood chips, hay, or leaves to retain moisture for a longer time and to cool the soil
• Add 3-4 inches of organic matter into the soil. Manure is one of the organic matter you can add to your garden to improve the quality of the soil.
• Grow cover crops for boosting soil fertility and soil quality
Whenever you are growing crops, never allow the growing area to be overly exposed to the sun, especially when the crops are young because they will miss out on essential nutrients.
Mulch the growing area for more nutrient retention. Some of the shrubs and crops that you can grow in your sandy soil garden are tulips, sun roses, hibiscus, and tree mallow.
Silty Soil
Silty soil is more fertile compared to clay or sandy soils. Bremerton Washington asserts that silty soil holds more moisture and is nutrient-rich. Easy cultivation makes it a good option for gardening. For this type of soil, you must manage drainage properly for you to have quality outcomes from your gardening efforts. This is what you should do to improve the quality of this soil type and maintain your garden effectively:
• Add organic matter on the soil surface on an annual basis. An inch of organic matter will suffice.
• Construct raised beds to improve drainage around your garden. Drainage is very important if you are going to have quality plants from your garden.
For you to get the most out of your gardening, you should avoid unnecessary tiling and foot traffic on garden beds. This is likely to have negative effects on the quality of soil and, as a result, cause poor plant growth. The trees that do well with silty soil gardens are willow, cypress, and birch.
Loamy Soil
Loam soil is a mixture of sand, clay, and silt. This soil type has the ideal attributes of healthy gardening. It does not have the disadvantages that other soil types have. For example, it retains moisture, it has quality drainage, maintains nutrients, and its soil structure is great.
Based on these characteristics, loamy soil has the most favourable attributes for gardening.
However, that does not mean that you should not maintain it. According to Essex Garden Care, for better gardening outcomes, it is advisable you improve soil quality using the following exercises:
• Apply a 2-inch deep amount of organic matter to your garden for the improvement of your soil. You can repeat this exercise annually for better results.
• Plant cover crops to enrich soil quality and improve soil fertility
• Mulch around your plants to retain as much moisture as possible; this will be not only good for the plant, but also for the crops.
• Crop rotation will also ensure that the soil’s vitality remains high
What you should never do regarding loamy soil is to assume that it has all the characteristics and attributes you need for your gardening. The truth is that depletion and drying out is possible if you fail to do proper maintenance of your garden. The plants that do well with loamy soil gardens include bamboos, delphinium, and wisteria.
Certainly, maintaining your garden takes a lot of effort, time, and resources. That is why you should have concrete planning early enough. The soil of your garden is, indeed, an important component that should be put into consideration from the onset. Much of the maintenance work will revolve on the type of soil of your garden. Before you understand how to handle different soil types you might find it difficult to maintain your garden, but the moment you comprehend the characteristics of different soil types, it will be easier for you. An important point to remember is that whatever soil type your garden has, you can get the best out of it.
The most fundamental thing is to make sure that you give it the attention it requires for improved and quality results. Keep working on your garden and you will soon see the rewards of your efforts.