🌱 Getting to Know Your Soil
Deciding what plant to grow in your garden starts with knowing your growing conditions and soil type. Generally, this falls into two categories – sandy soil or clay soil, which will dictate the type of plant that will grow successfully, and that is the key to a beautiful garden and productive vegetable plot.
🏖️ Sandy Soil
Sandy soil is very free-draining and lacks sufficient moisture and nutrients to keep all but the hardiest plants thriving during the hot seasons.
You can improve sandy soil by working in 3″ – 4″ organic matter, such as well-rotted manure or compost. To give plants the best start add compost to each planting hole before planting, adding a mulch around the stems with leaves, wood chips or straw. This will help retain and cool the soil. Keep topping up with around 2″ of mulch annually.
Tap-rooted veggies, like carrots , beets and radishes, do well in sandy soil, including fruit trees like peach, apricot and sweet cherry.
Herbs that need good drainage will thrive in sandy soil especially rosemary and lavender. Perlargoniums, dune daisy, helichrysum, dianthus, Buddleja, silver arcotis and salvia plus any variety of succulent will grow happily in a flower border with sandy soil.
🧱 Clay Soil
Clay soil can be very challenging as it is moisture retentive, making it prone to water-logging. A nightmare to dig when wet, then baking solid and rock-hard in full sun. However, clay soil does retain essential plant nutrients so tends to be very fertile .
Adding large amounts of organic matter, such as untreated grass clippings, leaves and bark will improve the workability of the clay soil.
Raised beds are the best and easiest option for a decent crop from clay soil.
Roses love a clay soil along with aloe, Gazanias, Rudbekias, hostas, plumbago, Heucheras, salvias, Carissa macrocarpa and varieties of ornamental grasses for a stunning display in clay soil.
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