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You
can do quite a few things to help your plants survive and
thrive in your garden's beds, including amending the soil,
mulching, watering, and fertilizing.
Soil
Amendments
As
you are aware, if you have ever tried to plant anything in
this area, Virginia soil is not only full of clay, but also
extremely hard to dig! Clay soil particles are so small, and
they tend to bind so tightly, that the plants start to show
signs of stress after about a year if you don't add amendments
to the soil. This happens for a couple of reasons. First,
the plant's roots cannot penetrate the compacted clay soil,
so they become root bound. If this happens, the plant starts
to wilt or drop leaves, because the roots cannot draw nutrients
from the soil. When people see the plant wilting, they assume
it needs water. But as clay soil holds water like a sponge,
any extra watering causes the roots to rot and the plant to
die.
Over
the years of working in the Northern Virginia area, we have
found that using the following equal parts mixture, gives
our plants the best possible chance to survive and thrive
in the Virginia clay soil: sand, organic matter, and topsoil.
Sand
The
first part of the mixture, sand, helps break down the
clumping effect of clay, making it more pliable and easier
to work. It also helps water to drain much more freely.
The sand breaks down the clay particles, allowing the
plant's roots to move into the air pockets this process
creates. Unfortunately, sand alone has few if any nutrients,
and that's why the second part of the mixture, organic
matter, is so important.
Organic
Matter
Organic
matter, which generally is extremely rich, adds to the
soil the numerous nutrients and trace elements that plants
need to survive and thrive. Organic matter comes in many
forms-such as rotted leaves, compost, or Compro. You must
make sure that the organic matter has decomposed sufficiently.
If it is still decomposing when you add it to a bed, it
will draw nitrogen from the soil as it continues to decompose,
which will adversely affect the plants instead of helping
them. Organic matter, specifically Compro, tends to add
more alkaline to the soil, which helps in this area because
of the soil's acidity. However, you do not want to use
Compro every year in the same beds, as this could change
the soil's PH balance too much. Organic matter made up
of rotting leaves should come from more than one type
of tree. If your pile of rotted leaves consists only of
oak, it will add more acidity to an already acidic soil.
This means that you'll want to try to mix up the organic
materials in your pile.
Topsoil
Topsoil
makes
up the third part of the amendment-mixture. Topsoil also
helps break down the clumping effect of the clay while
adding additional nutrients.
This
3-part amendment mixture is for a typical garden site. However,
exceptions to the rule obviously exist. In boggy sites,
you'll want to increase the sand in the mix to get the water
to drain faster. For sites in woods, with lots of competition
from existing trees and shrubs, you'll want to raise the
flower bed and increase the organic content to compensate
for that extra competition.
Mulching
Mulching
simply covers the soil-having both an aesthetic and practical
purpose. Mulching helps a landscape look more finished.
It also keeps down weeds, balances temperature fluctuations
in the soil, and adds nutrients as it breaks down.
You
can use several materials for mulch:
Double-shredded
Hardwood Mulch
Several
theories have been set forth recently about problems with
double-shredded mulch. Some reports say that this form
of mulch tends to mat down, almost becoming a barrier
to the water and fertilizers the plants need. However,
we have used this material since 1982 with no such problems.
Indeed, we prefer this material to any other, not only
for its appearance, but also because of its ability to
add nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. Double-shredded
simply means that the wood has been put through the shredding
machine twice to make its appearance more uniform. If
you have access to mulch from recently cut and shredded
trees, be careful to REFRAIN from using it in garden beds
or around the foundation of your house. Not only could
newly cut and shredded wood contain termites, it also
is still decomposing, meaning it will draw nitrogen from
the soil to allow it to continue breaking down. This,
in turn, will adversely affect your plants.
Wood
Chips And Chunks
Wood
chips and chunks are very decorative in the correct setting,
and they generally last longer than shredded mulch. Unfortunately,
wood chips easily scatter and do not readily break down
to add nutrients to the soil. If you use chunk mulch,
remember to add some type of organic matter to the soil
every year. This entails sweeping back the chunks, adding
an inch or two of some organic matter, and then replacing
the mulch. To keep your plants healthy, don't rely only
on commercial fertilizers. These fertilizers tend to disrupt
the microbes in the soil. Plants need natural organic
materials to survive and thrive.
Organic
Matter
In
England, we do not use the 'mulch' America knows. We just
add a top layer (1-2 inches) of organic matter to the beds
each year. We also tend to vary the material each year.
We may use decayed compost one year and rotted shredded
leaves the next. The point is to get nutrients to the plants.
Using organic matter in your beds, unfortunately, is the
least aesthetically pleasing method of mulching.
Watering
Watering,
an inexact science at best, still has some constants to
remember. People kill 80% of their plants by watering them
too much. You'll find it far more preferable to underwater
a plant than over water. You can often revive plants you
haven't watered enough. Plants draw their nutrients and
moisture through their root systems. With a good mixture
of soil, water remains just long enough in the soil's air
pockets for the roots to get what they need. These air pockets
then empty of water, giving the plant's roots an opportunity
to spread into them. If you water a plant too often, even
just a little each time, these air pockets never drain of
water. Thus, the plant's roots become waterlogged, eventually
killing the plant.
When
you water, do it deeply and infrequently. Use a screwdriver
to test the moisture content in the soil. Make a hole bigger
than the screwdriver and insert it about 2-3 inches into
the soil. If, when you pull it out, the tip has soil clinging
to it, then your soil is moist enough (despite how the surface
may look). Obviously, you won't need to water. Dry soil,
needing watering, will simply fall off the screwdriver.
Fertilizing
Nothing
can substitute for a good mix of organic matter to amend
the soil. However, commercial fertilizers do have a place
in gardening. Not only can they correct specific imbalances
that show up in soil tests, they also can be easier to use.
Again, do not use the same type of fertilizer year after
year, as different fertilizers carry different trace elements
and minerals. The more varied the diet you give your plants,
the more likely they will be to survive and thrive!
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