Gardeners face many difficulties in preparing the soil in their beds. From brand new beds to existing ones, adding organic matter can improve soil structure significantly.
Soil moisture should also be considered. To work the soil effectively, it should be moist but not waterlogged; to test for this simply grab a handful and squeeze. If it forms into a ball when pinched with your thumb it’s ready for work!
1. Know Your Soil
Soils are living ecosystems that provide essential services. They contain nutrients, water, decaying organisms and minerals such as sand, silt and clay. Amending soil with organic matter typically improves its texture as well as its nutrient and moisture levels.
Soil structure is also key. Soil particles clump together into small clumps called “peds,” which take different shapes depending on conditions and can alter how water, air, and organisms move through a soil.
Soil texture can be determined by the proportion of sand, silt, and clay particles; loamy soil has nearly equal portions of these three components to provide ample aeration and nutrition availability. A simple test to assess your soil texture: Use a wire flag plunged vertically into the ground to determine how quickly or slowly it bends – fast bending indicates loose, easily manipulatable soil; slow bending indicates dense or compacted conditions.
2. Know Your Plants
Knowing your plants well allows you to select an ideal location. For instance, beds that receive direct sunlight all day will become hot and dry quickly; in such an instance, heat-tolerant and drought-tolerant plants would make the best selections for this zone. Moreover, having kultiva living soil beds can help plant development compared to normal soil beds.
Note the status of an invasive or susceptible plant when planting it to help decide whether or not you place it within reach of watering hose. This information will assist with making decisions on placement.
An effective way of determining if a plant will thrive in its chosen environment is to examine how much water it requires. You’ll know this from its soil; whether hydrophobic (repelling water) or easily absorbent. Knowing how much water a plant needs can make an enormous difference to its performance when transplanted.
3. Know Your Climate
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map categorizes climate conditions across the nation into zones, providing an easy way for gardeners to select plants which will thrive and survive in their region. Knowing your zone helps ensure you select plants which will flourish in your garden environment.
Climate zones take into account average temperatures as well as other factors that influence plant health, such as humidity levels and summer temperature extremes, in addition to length of growing seasons and length of growing seasons. You can find information on climate zones in many gardening books, seed catalogs and online.
Keep a close eye on weather patterns in your garden to understand their effect on crops, such as yellowed lower leaves indicating overwatering or browning at the edges indicating under-watering. Selecting the correct potting soil also plays a major role in successful germination and growth; best potting mixes should include non-soilless ingredients that promote proper drainage, airflow, no weed seeds or contain an optimal pH level suitable for seed starting.
4. Know Your Soil Type
Soil provides plants with vital anchorage and stores their nourishment, acting like an inexhaustible reservoir of resources. Composed of different-sized mineral particles – such as sand, silt and clay – in various proportions, ideal soil texture often called loam is achieved when this combination is properly balanced.
To determine what kind of soil you have, take a small spadeful out and squeeze it gently in your hand. Does the mass crumble easily or hold its shape? If it holds together well, it may be clay while if it breaks apart easily it could be sandy soil.
Make an easy experiment out of it by placing some soil into a clean jar with straight sides and filling it with water. As it settles, it should separate into distinct sections: sand at the bottom, silt in the middle, and clay on top – counting how thick each section is will give an idea of your soil’s percentage breakdown by component.
5. Know Your Soil pH
Most landscape plants have specific pH requirements. Technically speaking, it measures the concentration of hydrogen ions; however, in everyday usage this term refers to how acidic or alkaline the soil is. Acidic soils inhibit uptake of certain essential nutrients while too much alkaline soil may prevent some plants from flourishing altogether.
As testing soil pH is relatively straightforward and there are numerous home testing kits available, it should not prove challenging to perform this test. Simply mix some small soil sample with distilled water and dip a pH test strip into it – when in contact with soil it will change color to reveal an instant readout from a chart on your package. Alternatively, lab-based analysis is also an option; though these tests require longer preparation times but provide more precise readings.
6. Know Your Soil Moisture Level
There are multiple methods for evaluating soil moisture. One is simply using your hands to feel the texture of the soil. This approach works well when dealing with plants like Umbrella Palms and Boston Ferns which need relatively moist conditions; it may not be as useful when dealing with drought-tolerant varieties such as Cacti or Succulent species as this could lead to overwatering if watered when surface conditions appear dry.
An efficient way of measuring soil moisture levels quickly is with a soil moisture meter, available both online and at garden centers. When purchasing one, make sure it comes equipped with a sturdy probe designed specifically to work in more clay-like soil textures; and an easy-to-read display will prove particularly helpful in clay conditions. A soil moisture meter will indicate current soil moisture levels but won’t tell you exactly when or how often to water; that requires further investigation of your plant’s needs.
Most plants thrive when soil moisture levels remain consistent; however, too much moisture can also be detrimental. A reliable method for monitoring moisture levels in your garden or container planting is crucial to properly caring for them.
Watering should begin when the top 2 inches of soil feel dry to the touch; it is also essential that all of the subsoil receives sufficient hydration.
Use a soil moisture meter to assess how wet your soil is. Make sure it has a sturdy probe designed to penetrate clay-rich soil, as this will give an accurate reading. Mulching your garden may help retain more moisture by decreasing evaporation rates.
7. Know Your Soil Composition
Soil is an ever-evolving natural medium, affected by five interrelated forces: parent material, living organisms, climate, topography and time. Due to this interaction of elements that influence its makeup, soils come in all sorts of varieties all across the planet.
Inorganic soil components include clay, silt and sand particles in various proportions to create its unique texture. The proportions can differ depending on your location, impacting physical properties such as structure and density.
Substituting some screened compost and/or organic matter that’s rich in nutrients to your soil is always a smart move, helping to improve soil structure, increase water and air infiltration, decrease runoff and release previously locked-up nutrients that were locked up in mineral fractions of soils. High quality organic matter increases soil organic carbon (SOC), leading to improved aeration, water retention and nutrient availability.
Healthy soil typically consists of 20 percent clay, 40 percent silt and 40 percent sand. Additionally, healthy soil contains organic matter, minerals and water as well as supporting an ecosystem in which microorganisms provide food sources to plants and other organisms that live there.
Loamy soil texture is considered ideal; it combines equal portions of sand, silt and clay and feels fine-textured when rubbed between your fingers. Loamy soil also retains moisture well throughout spring and summer without drying out quickly or overheating rapidly; plus it requires regular replenishment with organic material as well as the application of fertilizers in order to remain vital and vitality.
To test the soil texture, grab a handful of moist soil and squeeze it between your fingers – if it crumbles into pieces then you have sandy or gravelly soil, while if it stays together it could be clay-rich soil – this information will come in handy when selecting seeds, filling containers or raising beds.
8. Know Your Soil Organic Matter
When planting soil pots and beds, it is crucial that you understand your soil organic matter level. Soil organic matter contributes to its structure, nutrient holding capacity, water retention capacity and aeration as well as other characteristics.
Organic matter in soil consists of living microbial biomass and decomposed plant residues, accounting for 22-25% by volume. While living microbial biomass provides readily accessible plant nutrients to plants, decomposed plant residues stabilize into humus to form part of its total composition and make up an additional component.
To increase organic matter in a garden or raised bed, regular applications of compost, manure and leafy greens will go a long way toward increasing levels of humus. High carbon materials like peat moss or sawdust should only be added sparingly or when decomposition has already reached this stage.