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Soil in the Garden
In our endeavor to create a beautiful flower garden, we must
first start with the soil. Soil is not just "dirt". It is
instead a composition of minerals, water, air, organic material
that has decomposed and bacteria. All of these must be in the
right proportions to grow the flowers and plants that create our
beautiful flower garden.
We all know that our flowers and plants gather their required
nutrients for growth through their roots from the soil. This
means each of us, as the gardener, must be the steward of our
garden soil. Our neglect and abuse can ruin the soil. Indeed, in
many parts of the country our farming and ranching soil has been
so depleted as to make growing crops require ever increasing
amounts of synthetic chemical amendments.
If you should dig into your soil, you will see that it is
divided into topsoil and subsoil. The topsoil is where you will
find most of the organic material and living organisms. However,
plants draw minerals from the subsoil and it is important to our
flower garden as well.
Soil differs in different parts of the country based upon the
kind of minerals it is derived from and the size of the
particles that make up the soil. These can range from gravel to
clay.
For most flower gardening situations, we are usually
concerned with sandy soils to clay soils. This is important to
know, as it has to do with the amount of air available within
your soil for your plants to access. As well, it concerns how
fast water is drained away from your plants.
Perhaps the best thing one can do with any flower garden soil is
to add organic material. Some gardeners believe adding sand to
any soil but already sandy soil is also of benefit. But organic
matter is perhaps the most elegant solution for just about any
type of soil problem. Organic matter can:
-help the soil hold more water
-help it drain better
-add important nutrients to the soil
-give bacteria and other beneficial organisms "food" to work
with to the benefit of our flowers and plants
-changes the structure of our soil over time as we keep adding
it.
coyright 2005. Sandra Dinkins-Wilson
About the author:
Looking for gardening tips about your Flower Garden? Check
out our flower gardening tips and articles at
http://flowergardenlovers.com with information on rose,
butterfly, water, shade and wildfower gardens.
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