Picking Posies
We have no control over the weather and very limited control over the
soil in our gardens. It can take several years to
change the quality of the dirt in your beds.
You do have complete control over the plants you choose to grow. When
folk's begin gardening, they often select plants
based on the bloom. Is it pretty? Do I like the color? They are important
qualities but there are other considerations
as well.
For instance, Colorado garden author and lecturer, Lauren Springer likes
to point out; too few of us give much thought
to the place of origin of our plants. What are the implications of
their origins for mulching, placement and
other cultural considerations?
Many of Lauren's plants grow in a xeriscape, a landscape that requires
little water. She's chosen plants that are
from rocky Mediterranean environments. Consequently, she's added lots
of gravel or rock to her beds. They tend to like
alkaline soil.
Providing too much organic material for these plants, plants that evolved
for thousands of years without benefit of
constant organic stimulation, would not be welcome. They would not
appreciate organic mulches at all. In fact, they
might even die from such attention.
It is easy to believe every plant would thrive with lots of fertilizer and organic material but it is just not true.
One of the considerations important to take into account is the pH factor
of the soil. (This can be determined with a
simple test.)
Back to chemistry basics. . . The term pH refers to the acidity or alkalinity
of soil. If you live in an area that
gets lots of rainfall (like I do), acid soils predominate. Areas that
usually get little rainfall are more likely to
have soil toward the alkaline side.
Scientists have assigned a numerical range of 1.0 to 14.0 to describe
soil pH. Neutral soil measures at 7.0. The majority
of perennials do best in a neutral to slightly acid soil, between 5.5
and 6.5.
The problem with soils with pH levels that are too high or too low is
they bind the nutrients thus depriving your
plants of needed nutrition.
The traditional approach to altering your soil (to reflect the pH of
their native habitat) is to add lime or limestone
to acidic soils. An application of lime will last for about three years
and should not be applied at the same time as
fertilizers since they can neutralize each other. Vegetables, by the
way, like soil to be more alkaline than
flowers do.
The solution for too alkaline a soil is to add organic material. Sawdust is a frequent choice.
You can get a good idea of your soil condition from the USDA Extension Office near you.
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David Soper, The Garden Guy, writes and lectures on gardening topics. Read more on his website, Adventures in Gardening, www.gardenguy.com
