YOUR garden soil is alive with life – help to keep it in good heart with a few simple steps this winter. 

Not only is digging in your garden great general exercise, but you’ll also be doing the soil a power of good

Ready, steady, grow . . .

Soil is a living material, alive with organic life.  Just a few simple improvements made in autumn and winter each year will bring it to the peak of health, in readiness for the growing year ahead.

In good heart . . .

If you’re feeling sluggish after the excesses of the festive season, just imagine how your garden soil must be feeling – exhausted from summer bedding, trampled under-foot, cold, rain-soaked and neglected!  Remedial measures are called for to bring it back to good heart in time for the spring.

Invest in the future . . .

Adding more organic matter to your garden soil will improve its drainage and water-holding capacity.  Helping crops through drought and downpours pays dividends in the long run as come next summer, you’ll see a visible difference with greener, healthier-looking plant, higher yields and less need to water.

Just one bucketful of organic matter per square metre, every two to three years will suffice.

The organic approach . . .

Homemade domestic garden compost is ideal, but few people can make sufficient for their needs. Buying straw and well-rotted farmyard or stable manure locally will help boost your output, once fully composted.

Alternatively, purchase bags of composted, blended farmyard manure which are ready conditioned for immediate and easy use.

Gentle exercise . . .

If you garden on heavy, sticky clay, the temptation is to avoid digging, at all costs!  Simply laying a thick blanket of organic matter on the surface, taking advantage of the natural process of decomposition and worm activity, will in time, deliver results.

However, digging can also be a good form of gentle exercise as it stretches muscles and keeps the heart strong, as well as clearing the ground of weeds, debris, aerating the soil and incorporating organic matter.

Dig for victory . . .

Deep digging can be useful for increasing the depth of soil available for root growth,  while shallow digging, or pricking over the soil surface with a garden fork, relieves compaction and improves immediate drainage.

And for victorious results, ‘double digging’ is the key.  By breaking up and incorporating rich organic matter to twice the depth of your spade, it’s possible to get the very best results, even from small areas of cultivation.

Raised on tradition . . .

Traditionally, unduly wet or heavy soils were ridged over winter, allowing them to drain freely.  Nowadays, an early start in spring can be almost guaranteed by the use of permanently raised narrow beds, which are raised approximately 8-20ins (20-50cm) above path level, and made up of extra soil scraped from in between. 

Raised beds have many advantages, especially for rearing high-maintenance vegetables:

• Bending is reduced to a minimum, with easier access for cropping and care.
• Soil pH is easier to manipulate and drainage and heavy soils are easily improved.
• Raised soil naturally warms quickly in spring, giving a head start to the sowing and growing year.

And the acid test . . .

The Royal Horticultural Society recommends that gardeners carry out annual pH soil tests, using a simple chemical kit, to discover where they stand with soil acidity before liming to improve fertility.  (Kits are readily available from good garden centres.)

Acid soils are ideal for ericaceous plants – rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and the like, while neutral-to-alkaline soils are perfect for roses and brassicas, but may mean that some essential nutrients are locked-up and unavailable to some plants.

An average pH of 6.5 is ideal for most plants, while lime-loving brassicas prefer a pH of 7, and ericaceous camellias prefer a PH of between 5-6.

Check too for potassium and phosphorus levels and remedy before adding any organic matter in winter, to ensure your garden soil is in good heart for sowing this spring.

BY CHRIS ROBERTS

managing director of Van Hage in Pepper Hill, Great Amwell