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In the garden, success will be based not on what you plant, but on what lies beneath your feet—the foundation. A healthy foundation is the single most important factor in growing strong and beautiful plants, yet establishing it is often a gardener’s least favorite task. It’s much easier to just buy something you like, dig a hole, and plant it. But if you don’t create a good foundation, you’ll find that what you’re trying to grow will die, be unhealthy, or bear no fruit. Although building a foundation is critical to the success of your garden, it’s usually not a lot of fun. It can involve a lot of dirty work with no visual or immediate rewards. Good soil is the single most important factor in growing beautiful and healthy plants. The Bible refers to soil in Matthew 13:3-8 when it states, "Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered beause they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." The correct soil composition makes the difference between a thriving garden, and a non-productive one.
Soil is composed of air, organic matter, and minerals that are found in different-sized particles of clay, silt, and sand. Sand is the largest particle in most garden soils, and clay is the smallest. Silt particles are smaller than sand and larger than clay. The ideal soil, usually referred to as loam, contains approximately forty percent sand, forty percent silt, and twenty percent clay. Loamy soils are ideal for most plants, but many plants also grow well in other types of soil.
Garden soils are made of different ratios of all these materials. Extreme amounts of clay can result in
a soil that is heavy and tends to pack tightly, like cement. Clay sticks to your shoes and shovel when
it’s wet and cracks when its dry. Although clay soil drains slowly, its ability to retain moisture and nutrients often makes clay very fertile. An excessively sandy soil, on the other hand, means a constant struggle to maintain sufficient moisture and nutrients for plant growth. Water drains through sandy soil fast, so it dries quickly. Plants in sandy soil often need lighter, more frequent applications of water and fertilizer. Silty soil contains small irregular particles of weathered rock, which means it is usually quite dense and has relatively small pore spaces and poor drainage. Soil that is silty tends to be more fertile than a sandy or clay soil. Remember, your plants will only be as good as the soil they are growing in.
Don’t let soil color fool you, because the color doesn’t automatically indicate the quality of the soil. Soil comes in a variety of colors. Aside from basic brown, the most common colors are black, red, yellow, and white. Many gardeners believe that rich soil is dark, but this is not necessarily true. Black
soil can be low in nutrients, and reddish, sandy soils can be good growing soils. No matter where you live or what soil you find there, you can improve it, rebuild it, and upgrade your growing conditions. It is best to get a laboratory soil test before taking steps to alter the soil composition.
One way to determine soil texture is by performing the do-it-yourself soil test by squeezing the soil. Take a handful of barely moist soil and squeeze it. If the soil crumbles or falls apart easily, it probably contains large amounts of sand. In contrast, if the soil is somewhat sticky, forms a ball, and doesn’t crumble easily, it contains more clay. There’s nothing like working in a garden that has tilled fertile and amended soil. Once the ground is prepared for planting, the seed easily takes root, and healthy new life begins.
- Work two to four inches of organic matter; such as compost, peat moss, or old mulch into the surface of the soil. Add at least one inch more each year after that.
- Add organic matter in the fall
- Use permanent raised beds
- Never till or cultivate when soil is wet
- Work three to four inches of organic matter such as well-rotted manure or finished compost into the soil.
- Mulch around your plants with leaves, wood chips, bark, hay, or straw
- Plan to add at least two inches of organic matter each year
Improving Silty Soil (Between Sand and Clay)
- Add one inch of organic matter each year
- Avoid compacting soil by doing no unnecessary tilling, and also, limit walking on garden beds
- Consider constructing raised beds, which also are easier to maintain.
Keep in mind that there are plants that thrive in acidic, clay, alkaline, and sandy soil.
Plants that thrive in clay soil
Plants that do well in alkaline soil
Now it’s time to plan your work and work your plan. The first task in preparing a garden is to remove any debris, weeds, and unwanted grass. Till the soil using a shovel or rotary tiller and add amendments (fertilizers, compost, peat moss, etc.), if necessary. This video will show you different ways to compost your garden. The city of Philadelphia has a Greenworks Program which includes the Philly Compost project. The website will give you all the information you need to start composting. Philadelphia Channel CBS-3's Green Scene segment on composting will also teach you how to compost with your community. Also, don't hesitate to take a sample of your soil to the local garden nursery to get some good advice on what kind of soil you have and what kinds of plants will thrive in your type of soil.
Although many times neglected, the most important component of anything you built is the foundation. Without a strong foundation, nothing can grow, thrive, or bloom to its fullest potential, whether in the garden, or in your personal life. Can you dig it?
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