How nutritious is my soil?
Emma915
Posts: 95
This may sound like a bizarre question, however I'm giving it a go.
I have a wide variety of plants in my garden. I have a clay type soil (not massively heavy clay but obviously clay especially in certain areas).
Since living here in 2014 I regularly (annually) feed plants (perennials, shrubs, fruit trees) with relevant material. I follow guides on the RHS website on when to feed my fruit trees, each particular shrub etc. I also then give hungry perennials such as dahlia top ups through the late summer/autumn.
How do I know if I am feeding too much. I'm led to believe clay soils are good at retaining nutrients so I mostly feed annually.
Should I concentrate more on mulching and less on feeding? I am in the process of producing a fairly decent compost heap but not sure how far it will travel around the garden. Mulching can be mighty expensive if I want to fill the whole borders.
I apologise for the vague question. Please try not to shoot me down.
Posts
Someone posted a link to a helpful website on the general fertility of soil in any geographic location in the UK, it also highlighted pH levels. It was rated out of 5 but I can't for the life of me remember the website name, it was 2-3 weeks ago on here.
It's quite difficult to know how good your soil is unless you have it professionally tested and I don't think many of us do. However, you can learn a lot by just looking at it. Good soil is crumbly and rich, not trickling away like sand or clumping into solid lumps of clay. It should have organic bits breaking down in it and a bit of a gritty feel. It should smell earthy and pleasant. There should be worms. Look at your plants, too. If they have mean, pale or yellow leaves or few or small flowers they are probably short of food. If they are very lush and floppy they may have an imbalance of nutrients. There are lots of charts showing you how to identify these problems.
There is a lot of debate about feeding and as you learn about your plants you will be able to decide if they benefit or not. Some clay is very fertile but compacted, waterlogged clay is not, so again, your own circumstances will tell you what to do. Mulching is always good but need not be costly. Many councils sell big bags of compost for modest prices and horse owners give the stuff away.
Happily, on this site, no-one will shoot you down!
The clay soils of East Anglia have become some of the most productive in the country following the incorporation of lots of organic material (eg. manure) over the years to improve the structure.
Regular mulching of your garden with manure/compost etc will be incorporated into the soil by worms and your soil will be just great.
Last edited: 26 January 2018 06:47:19
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Agree with Dove - lots of organic material will help release the bound-up nutrients in your soil.
To get an idea of pH and general soil type, type your post code into this site-
http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I go for mulching rather than feeding for my clay soil.
Firstly it does more to break down the clay structure and allow better drainage.
Secondly (which is part of the first, in truth), adding dead stuff - leaf mould, manure, bark chippings - to the soil encourages the whole bio-system, microbes, invertebrates, fungi, insects and some larger animals. This produces a far more sustainable soil structure in the long term than just feeding the plants. Think of it like a balanced diet vs a sugar rush. The odd bar of chocolate now and then is all very well, but plants will be healthier with a more varied diet that a strong eco-system can offer them by releasing more of the minerals bound up in the soil.
So I feed plants in pots and annual vegetables (which are very hungry plants and far too in-bred to manage without lots of help) but mulch the borders with a mixture of different materials - depending what I can get for a sensible price when I run out of home-made compost and spent stuff from the pots.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
You can get soil test kits for home use for under £25 if you are really keen, but as others have said mulching is almost the answer to everything in the garden.