More to Soil Than Meets the Eye

As you begin making plans for fall planting, you must prepare the soil for maximum growth of the new plantings. Proper soil composition is paramount for healthy greenery.

The soil serves two purposes for plants. It physically anchors them upright and, more importantly, houses nutrients to be absorbed through the root system when needed.

If the soil does not have the appropriate balance of water, soil particles and air space, the plant cannot properly receive the necessary nutrients. Optimum soil composition (structure) is rarely obtained, but it should be our goal.

Soil is made up of mineral and organic materials that I call solids. The balance is made up of microscopic air pockets or space. In any give area, the soil should consist of 50 percent solids and 50 percent space. In theory, this open space should then be 50 percent water and 50 percent air. This provides a loose and lumpy soil that allows nutrients and water to flow freely to the plant roots.

Very few people understand the necessity of these ratios and often drown their plants by over watering. Too much water for too long a period upsets the 50-50 balance.

You can achieve the ratio when you prepare the soil for a new tree or landscape. First, strip back and dispose of the sod and then dig or rototill once to break the soil up. Then add compost and peat to 20% of total volume, plus a 5-10-10 fertilizer when the soil is not too wet to work properly. Again, spade the are at least once more to thoroughly mix all the elements.

Once the area has been cultivated, it should be raked out so the clumps are no bigger than a golf ball or smaller than a pea. A pulverized, dusty or powdery soil will pack down and become as hard as a rock the first time you water it.

As kids, we were magnificent at making mud pies, tightly packing wet soil with our hands. We don't want that same notoriety as gardeners. A mud pie eliminates the space component of soil composition. A plant couldn't grow in a mud pie anymore than it could a rock.

Once your plants have taken root, they will only need occasional shallow cultivation. Work-up the are no more than an inch deep. Do not rototill around rhododendrons, azaleas, or other shallow rooted plants, because you could tear the new roots completely away from the plants.

For your plants to do their best they need a proper soil balance of solids, water and air. With your help you can give them a planting bed they will be more than happy to rest their roots in.