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From the Ground up!

© Nathalie Gignac Henderson

Using a good soil for your flower beds, lawn, or garden is essential for building great plants. It is not just for having the biggest or most colourful flowers, but also for giving them what they need to be strong and healthy. A bed with inadequate or unfertile soil will just make the plants weak and vulnerable to insects and diseases.

Preparation is essential for good soil and healthy plants. Your plants need nutrients, moisture and oxygen which is provided by their root system. Also a well-drained soil is important for many reasons. Soggy soil in spring will stay cold, whereas a well-drained one will be ready much faster for early planting, which extends the growing season and helps you avoid seedling diseases. To correct a poorly-drained soil, add organic material such as compost or build up a surplus of topsoil or soil mix on the surface of the existing soil.

If you consistently have problems with your plants and don't know why, do a soil test to check the pH level. For some plants this is crucial, as they required an alkaline or acidic medium. Most plants prefer a neutral level of about 6 or 7 on the scale. (Under 7 is considered acidic and over 7 is alkaline.) This site will tell you much more about that subject. In the meantime, here are some improvements you can make yourself. To increase soil alkalinity, add some hydrated lime. To increase soil acidity, add sulphur. Peat moss boosts acidity, organic matter, and moisture at the same time. To raise the level of nutrients in the soil, add fertilisers containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Always apply as directed by manufacturers. To make digging easier you can rent a rototiller. Depending on the size of the job, there is the double digging method in which you work your way across the bed, moving 1 foot trenches of soil at a time. Dig a trench about 1 foot deep, putting the dirt in a wheelbarrow. Add compost to the bottom of the trench and then transfer the soil from the next trench in to it, and so on. To fill the final trench, transfer the soil of the wheelbarrow from the first trench, and voilà!
 
 

Plants for acidic soil:	Plants for alkaline soil:
Ageratum	Allium
Azalea	Clematis
Blueberry	Daffodils
Coffee (Arabica)	Geranium
Ferns	Hen & Chicks
Hydrangea (blue)	Marjoram
Huckleberry	Morning glory
Jack-in-the-pulpit	Nasturtium
Ladyslipper (pink)	Oregano
Mountain Laurel	Petunia
Monarda didyma	Pinks
Rhododendron	Sage
Rhododendron	Savoury (winter)
Trailing Arbutus	Thyme

There are many soil mixes available commercially, but you can make you own very simply if you know the necessary ingredients. Here is the perfect site for all the information about types, ingredients and descriptions of potting