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Poor Soil Advice and Soil Improvement
honeybean
Posts: 50
Hi
My friend came over the other day and kindly told me my soil is very poor. To be honest, its true, its grey, dusty and in need of some tlc.
My plants all seem fairly happy and I always add compost to any planting hole when planting anything new. But the overall look of the beds and soil looks quite dusty and tatty.
Anyway, I am keen to take up this advice and improve the soil this year and every year from now on.
I have been looking at various websites that sell soil improvers, mushroom compost, black gold, winter mix etc. I just do not actually know what to get. They all sound like they will do a great job. I guess I want to add nutrition to the soil and get the worms working whilst also suppressing any weeds. They all seem to offer this and all seem a similar price. I just feel a bit confused and not sure what to buy.
Please can you advise me and suggest the best way forward?
Thanks
My friend came over the other day and kindly told me my soil is very poor. To be honest, its true, its grey, dusty and in need of some tlc.
My plants all seem fairly happy and I always add compost to any planting hole when planting anything new. But the overall look of the beds and soil looks quite dusty and tatty.
Anyway, I am keen to take up this advice and improve the soil this year and every year from now on.
I have been looking at various websites that sell soil improvers, mushroom compost, black gold, winter mix etc. I just do not actually know what to get. They all sound like they will do a great job. I guess I want to add nutrition to the soil and get the worms working whilst also suppressing any weeds. They all seem to offer this and all seem a similar price. I just feel a bit confused and not sure what to buy.
Please can you advise me and suggest the best way forward?
Thanks
Thanks 🌻
0
Posts
Once you've had decent rainfall and the soil is properly wet (later in the autumn, probably), get some organic material - your own compost ideally or bought in well rotted manure is often the cheapest (any stables near you? If so you may be able to get manure but you might have to keep it for 6 months in a heap somewhere until you can use it. If it smells it's too fresh. Composted stuff doesn't smell much or at all) - and put it on the surface of the soil at least 2 inches thick. Leave a little gap around the stems of any plants still above ground when you do it, as it can 'burn' them. Then go and put your feet up, the worms will do the rest.
Mushroom compost is usually very lime-rich so if you have acidic soil and don't have acid loving plants, it can be a good choice. I use composted bark chips to mulch my acid lovers. You can use ordinary bagged compost, although that gets expensive if you have more than a very small garden.
Monty Don always says it's better to only do part of the garden and mulch it thickly than to try to spread it out over the whole garden. Do one bit this season and another part next year if you can't afford/manage to do all of it at once.
You can also mulch in spring if you get out there early.
Don't mulch dry soil.
Don't spend a fortune on expensive stuff. As long as it's organic, it'll work.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
But if your soil suits your plants, that's all that really matters. A mulch will look tidy and perhaps reduce watering. What mulch depends on what you grow. No good chucking tons of manure on if you grow silvery leaved Mediterranean plants; they won't like the extra fertility but the weeds will. Ideal for roses though.