Soil

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Contents 1 Garden Soil 2 How to Cultivate Soil 3 Sandy Soil 4 Chalk Soil 5 Heavy Clay Soil 6 Assessing Garden Soil

Garden Soil

How to Cultivate Soil

Every gardener comes to realize that there is almost as great a variety in the quality and composition of the soil he endeavours to cultivate as there is in the flowers, fruits and vegetables that he seeks to grow in it.

That its quality should vary with varying localities is not surprising, but that its composition within the confines of his own small plot of ground should differ so radically as is not infrequently the case may very well create astonishment, and certainly invite some explanation. Let us suppose that the tenant of a new garden is making a preliminary survey with a view to planning it out so as to realise his own ideas and to put it to the best economic advantage. The chances are that in nine cases out of ten he will look directly to the end and overlook the means. He will not trouble himself greatly about the quality of the soil, but will proceed to have the ground " dug over " (either by his own exertions or by the aid of a mercenary), and to have it " planted " forthwith. Whether the ultimate result will satisfy him may perhaps be problematical. But that some such rough-and-ready proceeding as this is the all too common practice of the new owners of small gardens I have not a shadow of doubt.

What, then, is the better alternative ? Surely it is that the gardener should first of all make himself thoroughly acquainted with the characteristics of the soil he is about to till. His earliest task should therefore be to dig out holes to a considerable depth in various parts of the garden. The result will probably surprise, and in some cases dismay him.

He may, as I hinted previously, discover, not many inches below the smiling loamy surface, a number of relics bequeathed by the speculative builder in the shape of sundry pieces of cement, bricks, lumps of solid mortar, clinkers and what not.

The remedy for this state of affairs must be drastic and immediate. But even supposing that the soil has not been unduly disturbed since it was converted, perhaps, from meadowland into a garden plot, the outcome of this preliminary exploration may nevertheless provide interesting and unwelcome results.

The removal of the top spit will reveal the condition of the subsoil and the natural earth, and it is this stratum of his ground with which the gardener will have to wrestle in his struggle to induce the soil to produce its richest harvests. He may find that the subsoil consists either of solid impervious clay, or of flints and limestone, or thick layers of chalk, or possibly of sandy gravel. If he leave the holes open for a few days he will easily be able to test the drainage qualities of the ground. Should there have been no rain since the holes were dug, and water collect at the bottom, he will know that the subsoil is waterlogged, and that the drainage in this spot is imperfect. In the event of heavy rain he will be able to discover by the tardiness or the rapidity with which it disappears whether the drainage is good, bad, or indifferent.

This will give him a clue to the future treatment of the soil which will be invaluable. By an intelligent application of correctives he will be able to supply the deficiencies that reveal themselves as he proceeds with the work of building up suitable soils for the reception of various classes of plants.

Without any resort to technical or scientific terms, it will perhaps be found advantageous to discuss the peculiarities of various subsoils in turn and to suggest the methods of treatment required in each instance. The only remedy possible in the case of the builder's relics is their instant removal. It may mean that in order to accomplish this satisfactorily it will be necessary to dig down to a considerable depth. The work will be hard and tiresome, but it will be labour well spent. If it involves the removal of a good deal of hard, useless clay, so much the better, for the future welfare of the beds and borders that are being operated upon. And while the foundation is thus laid bare it will be well to see that proper provision is made for drainage.

If the soil has been dug out to a depth of two or three feet a layer of nibble brick ends broken fairly small may be placed at the bottom, and over this again a layer of old decaying turves if such are available. Upon this foundation some of the best of the excavated soil may be deposited, and with this should be incorporated a generous quantity of well-seasoned farmyard manure. For the top layer to the depth of at least a foot good loam should be supplied. This, if possible, should be what is known as the " top spit " from an old meadow. It can be dug out a spade deep after the surface turf has been removed, and it will be found to be the finest growing material it is possible to obtain. A piece of ground prepared in this way, with a light surface dressing of old manure applied in early winter, and forked in during the spring months, will provide a medium for the cultivation of flowers and vegetables that will last for years without any radical disturbance.

For flinty, stony soils the most obvious remedy that suggests itself is the right one. This is their removal as time and opportunity permit. It will occur frequently enough to satisfy the most ardent desire for their disappearance, for with each disturbance of the soil they will in some mysterious manner work their way to the surface and invite instant removal. And unless they are removed, there need not be any assured hope that it will ever be possible to make a satisfactory seed-bed in such stony and flinty soil.

Sandy Soil

see Sandy soil

Chalk Soil

A subsoil composed chiefly of chalk will, as a rule, be found to have deposited upon it merely the thinnest of surface coverings. In this case it is useless to attempt to grow ordinary garden produce which requires a deep root-run, and the only remedy to be adopted is one that may involve expense. This is to have the foundation thoroughly broken up and to bring in and lay upon it, to a considerable depth, soil suitable for the purpose it is desired to attain.

Heavy Clay Soil

see Clay soil

Assessing Garden Soil

From the information we presented, each individual gardener must judge for himself what are the soil conditions of his own garden, and what are the remedies which each requires to bring it into good cultivation.

There remains, however, one important subject which deserves consideration in some detail I mean that of digging and trenching.