Market Clinic

The Soil in Your Garden

by Christine Freeburn – Master Gardener

For the plants in your garden to be the best they can be, you need to start with the

best soil you can make. Enhancing your soil with compost and manure is the best

way to do this.

Soil provides physical anchorage for plants

You need your soil to have enough texture to hold your plants without being so

heavy that it strangles them.

You should know what your SOIL TEXTURE is.

To do this, you can try this simple test:

• fill a quart jar one third full with a sample of your soil

• dig down into the soil to get your sample

• fill the jar with water, put the lid on tightly and shake well.

As the soil settles, you will be able to see different layers.

The bottom level is the sand portion

Next will be silt. Silt has larger particles than sand, but smaller than clay.

Last will be clay.

The amount of each that you have in your soil will determine what type of soil you

have....clay, sandy, silty or any combination of these. The best soil is sandy loam,

which is about 60% sand and 40% clay.

This will also tell you how your soil deals with water....does it drain well or hold and

stay wet longer.

You can amend your soil to improve the texture, but it is a constant challenge.

Sometimes it is better to accept what type of soil you have and grow plants that

prefer a sandy soil or a clay soil.

Soil supplies water and nutrients to plants

When you water, water the soil and roots of your plants, not the leaf portions. Water

is absorbed through the roots and channels up into the leaves.

pH

Another thing you should know about your soil is it's pH...is it acidic or alkaline. pH

has a scale of 1 to 10, with acidic soil have a low number. Most plants like 6.0 to

7.5. This is where they can best absorb the nutrients in your soil. You might have

heard that plants like rhodendrons prefer acidic soil, which would have a lower pH.

Knowing the nutrients in your soil is important also. You can send away to Guelph