The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
GET DOWN TO EARTH
The secret to a happy garden? Great soil. Here’s how to improve yours…
To most people, soil is just dirt. But to plants, it’s life or death. Whether you garden on clay, sand or chalk, it affects what will grow well. And unless you’re lucky and have naturally good ground, it’s likely yours will need improving.
Loam, dark brown soil which contains a good mix of everything – clay, sand and organic matter – is generally regarded as the best garden soil, and traditional soil improvement techniques are designed to turn whatever soil you inherit into something as much like loam as possible. You don’t have to take that route though – if your soil is particularly extreme, it can often be easier to design a garden that uses plants that are at home in such conditions.
WHAT’S IN YOURSOIL?
You can discover a lot by looking at the garden after it’s rained, and by rubbing a handful of soil between your fingers. Sandy or gravelly soil feels gritty and won’t hold together. Clay soil feels smooth, can be rolled into a sausage shape, and turns to sticky mud after rain. Chalky soil is pale, often with visible white lumps; peaty soil is almost black when moist and crumbles between the fingers; loamy soil – everyone’s dream – holds moisture well, but allows it to drain away after heavy rain.
IMPROVE WHAT YOUHAVE
There are two ways of improving the soil – one is by digging in organic matter, such as compost, to improve the structure and add nutrients; the other is by adding fertilisers. Actually, you need both, because they each have a different job to do.
Organic matter is ‘roughage’ – it improves the soil’s structure and releases nutrients. The cheapest form is compost – you can make it yourself with a compost heap, and it costs nothing. You can also use manure, which is also often given away free by horse owners; or buy mushroom compost, composted bark or spent hops at garden centres.
Sandy, chalky or gravelly soils are fast-draining and ‘hungry’, so you can improve them by digging in organic matter in spring and autumn, mulching (piling it on top of the soil) where you can’t dig. Clay soil turns to good fertile earth if you dig in or mulch with organic matter and add grit (from garden centres). Peaty soils are short of nutrients, so organic matter will add ‘body’, while even good loamy soil needs occasional helpings to keep it in good condition.
You need to use fertiliser as well. It comes in two types: organic, from natural sources, and chemical feeds. Organic fertilisers have the advantage as they keep soil bacteria busy – and busy bacteria are happy bacteria. Fertilisers contain different amounts of three main elements: nitrogen for promoting leafy growth; phosphorus to help roots, and potassium, which is vital for producing flowers and fruit. A general purpose fertiliser such as Growmore (inorganic) or blood, fish and bone (organic) is good for preparing soil before planting or sowing, and feeding all round the garden. The three main ingredients are present in equal quantities, making it a ‘balanced’ fertiliser – the plants’ answer to a good square meal.
My standard soil improvement technique is to dig in manure or home-made compost on new beds and mulch the soil surface on established beds, in winter and spring. I also fork in a good sprinkling of organic fertiliser just before sowing or planting.
A final reason to get digging? Air flows more freely when soil particles are looser; surplus water can run away, and it’s easier for roots to penetrate, meaning plants grow better.
No cook wants to be without herbs and no gardener wants to be without them for fragrance. They have the advantage that many of them are perennial, they can be squeezed into pockets on the patio and a little goes a long way.
Herbs are some of the very easiest edible crops to look after. Mediterranean-style herbs such as bay, rosemary, thyme and sage must have a warm, sunny spot with well-drained soil; and basil is very fussy about warmth and shelter, but it doesn’t like hot, searing sun – it’s best grown in pots of potting compost in semi-shade. Other herbs, such as tarragon, parsley, sorrel and mint are happiest in normal garden conditions in sun or light shade with soil that holds moisture but where they won’t have wet feet.
Plant perennial herbs (such as chives, mint and fennel) in spring and frost-tender herbs (like lemongrass) in summer, after the last frost, so you have the longest season in which to use them.
Remove flowers from leafy herbs like basil and chervil to keep them going longer, also from coriander and dill. But there’s no need to bother taking flowers off perennials.
Water lightly when the soil dries out, and use a general-purpose liquid feed regularly every two to three weeks for herbs in containers. Only big loutish perennial herbs like mint need lots of water and heavy feeding; when you grow mint in pots you can hardly be too generous.
Spring clean borders and fork over vegetable beds. Hand weed or hoe and mulch with organic matter. Pressure-wash drives and patios and remove weeds and moss. Prune roses and standard apple and pear trees.
Cut the lawn for the first time and begin regular mowing. Lay turf before the end of the month if you didn’t in autumn.
Sow wild flowers, hardy annuals and herbs.
Plant roses and climbers, pot-grown shrubs and fruit trees; plant and divide perennials.
Sow lettuce, rocket, radishes, spring onions, leeks, onions, broad beans, parsnips, spinach, turnips, early varieties of carrots and peas.
In the greenhouse, sow tomatoes, chillies, sweet peppers, half-hardy annuals and bedding plants; pot up new plug plants and tubers of begonia, arum lilies and dahlia; and plant, water and hand-pollinate strawberries.