If you pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it, does it stick together in a ball (clay soil) or is it sandy and runs through your fingers (free draining sandy soil) ? There are inexpensive soil testing kits you can buy from garden centres which involve mixing some soil with water and checking what colour is. Have a look in your neighbours' gardens to see what they are growing.
My next door neighbour has pansies and marigolds in her garden and a lady over the road has a spotted Laurel and a nice plant that I like called a Hebe Margret.I have no idea if the soil would be the same between homes though,I will pick up one of those tests if I can find one.
If you pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it, does it stick together in a ball (clay soil) or is it sandy and runs through your fingers (free draining sandy soil) ? There are inexpensive soil testing kits you can buy from garden centres which involve mixing some soil with water and checking what colour is. Have a look in your neighbours' gardens to see what they are growing.
Hi I will get a soil testing kit,but thinking about it our soil has always looked dry and sandy,quite drab.I edged my lawn a few days ago and having looked at it today the edge had crumbled and looked like I hadn't even made a nice edge,an article says this is because the soil is sandy,so that doesn't sound great,would I be thinking that is acidic and doesn't hold much nutrients?It also is pretty much sandy when squeezed in the hand.
I will get a testing kit,but is there anything I should do improve the soil.I bought some lawn edging to hold it together and placed it today and at least that looked nice.
I have one more bed to clear which I will do tomorrow if it's not raining,but I should find out about the soil before buying any more plants to fill it
@warwickbear1973+8, A great and reasonably cheap soil improver is good old fashioned manure. You can buy it ready bagged from garden centres, B&Q etc. Often on special offer of 3 or 5 bags for £x (struggling to remember what I paid last time, around £15 I think). You can either dig it in before planting or just put it on the surface, after rain, and let the worms take it down. Another soil improver is homemade garden compost but I'm guessing you've not got that far yet. You will need to add manure or compost every year as it helps to keep the moisture in and 'beef' up the soil. Lavender however in particular doesn't like it.
Thanks @Lizzie27 so if I buy some can I use that straight away or do I have to use it at a certain time of year,I think it wil be easier to get it delivered as I'm a non driver,I don't like to pester my friend too often for help with his car and he helped collect my plants last week.Once purchased can it be kept for quite a while,as I'm not sure how much I would need to buy,so say I bought 20 bags and found that I only used 10,would it be ok to keep in my garage for a year or so until the next application?
@warwickbear1973+8 , you can use the bagged manure straight away and I wouldn't have thought you need anything like 20 bags, they're usually the bigger ones about 70 litres each. They do keep, especially in the dry, but might have a slight pong if kept in the garage! We put six bags on three long veg beds (10ft x 3ft) which is ample. If you use it as mulch on top, it needs to be at least 2-3 inches deep.
@Lizzie27 Thanks,should I be leaving it on top as mulch or mxing it in with a fork on those beds with the plants in,and I have cleared a bed today that's about 25ft x 4ft,do you think it would be best to try and improve the soil this year with that bed before buying any further plants?And just plant stuff next year.
The garden in looking nice now and has been such a transformation,considering I've only been a gardner for a week haha.I'm hoping the tortoise will cheer up now that he can see new plants
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My next door neighbour has pansies and marigolds in her garden and a lady over the road has a spotted Laurel and a nice plant that I like called a Hebe Margret.I have no idea if the soil would be the same between homes though,I will pick up one of those tests if I can find one.
Lavender however in particular doesn't like it.