Soil Structure and
Fertility
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Every garden is unique because of it's
location and more importantly the type of soil. Soil types can vary enormously
from place to place even within short distances. You may have heavy clay soil
in one area and light sandy soil a few feet away.
Very few of us are fortunate
enough to have perfect soil but we can do something to improve what we
have.
Soil
Types
Sand
Light sandy soils consist of large, coarse
particles. These allow water to drain freely and so need regular feeding. Light
soils are easy to dig and work all year round. You can feel the grittiness with
your hands.
Loam
Loam soils are in the middle of the range
between sand and clay. Loam soils are a mixture of all soil types and is ideal
for growing most plants. The majority of soils in gardens are loam types, these
range from light loams with more sand and heavy loam with more clay. Generally
a good all rounder for most people.
Clay
Clay soils are
made up of very fine particles that readily stick together. Clay soils store a
lot of water and nutrients between these particles. When clay is wet it is
often unworkable and when it is dry it can become very hard. Although clay is
difficult to work, it often produces the best plants.
There are many types of soils
that fall between these categories. A simple test to determine what type of
soil you have is to rub it between your fingers, if it feels gritty it is sand,
if it feels smooth it is clay.
You can also dissolve some soil
in a jam jar of water, shake vigorously and leave to settle. Once settled you
will see the layers of differing particle sizes, heaviest at the bottom and
lightest at the top. The very top layer will show how much organic matter is in
your soil.
To determine the nutrients
available in your soil involves some complicated testing procedures. You can
get a good idea yourself by looking at the colour, darker usually means more
fertile. The amount of organic matter is a good guide as well, when doing the
jam jar test, a thick top layer of organic matter points towards healthy soil.
You will be able to tell from digging how healthy your soil is, as you dig the
garden you should see lots of worms with every forkful you turn over, if you
don't you need to improve the soil.
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