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First time gardener - soil advice.
mfordbnw
Posts: 5
Hello,
Sorry for the simple question but I am a first time garden owner and gardener.
Previous garden owner had layers of pebbles on the "garden" part of the garden. The soil was very compacted and upon digging around the soil is infested with what appears to be the roots of rambles growing wild behind the garden.
I want to plant a mixture of plants and shrubs to add a bit of colour and life to the garden but I am unsure how to tackle the ground.
Do I need to remove all of the roots when turning over the soil? Can they be left there; they are no longer attached to a plant?
Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.
Last edited: 29 January 2018 15:45:20
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Posts
Here is a link to an image of the soil and roots...
https://imgur.com/a/LcnJy
Hi
if there stinging brambles or nettles then leaving a section of root in the soil will normally mean that they will re- root and produce an other colony of weeds growing. If there roots from shrubs then if there not connected to the host plant and are not consisting of a root ball or long tap root then they will decompose in to the soil
Personally, I remove most roots as I do not like the appearance of them on the top of the soil
you're lucky, those don't look like the roots of horsetail, bindweed, stinging nettle or couch grass!
they just look like normal weed roots, you should be good to just dig the ground over (i would remove any obvious or large roots, but there's no need to sieve the soil), incorporate plenty of organic matter (compost/manure etc) and plant up.
be aware however that you will disturb weed seeds dormant in the soil, so you may have to do a bit of weeding once it warms up a bit.
Hi,
as pointed out above, you will near certainly have weeds...take that as written. there will be 1) seeds from annual weeds, and 2) roots (died down for winter) from perennial weeds. you want rid of both! The perennials can be a pain if they're 'rhizome' roots...in which case don't leave even a scrap of root behind or they'll be back.
My advice would be to pause any planting until the weather is warming, say averaging more than 15 degrees or so. That means the weeds (both types) will start growing, you will then be able to see what are coming up...and make decisions about how to tackle it. A bare ground is a lot easier to weed ( be that from chemical or by hand).....hence my advice, don't put any pots into the ground yet....keep planning/buying/reading.
Also, have you just moved into this house in winter? in which case, there is every chance there are some beautiful plants there in the soil, the 'herbacious' type which die down over winter, the 'brown' is cleared away and you have bare soil for a few months until the weather is nicer ( ie spring) and they start shooting up and grow again.....don't assume everything is a weed, is what i'm trying to say!!!!
I find the forum a great resource so don't hesitate to post more pics and ask more questions.
Thank you for your advice