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What
is soil? |
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Soil is basically a mixture of sand,
clay, chalk and Humus, and when
they are balance out it becomes
what we call loam. Loam is a fertile,
easy to cultivate, free-draining
soil. Its most likely that your
garden soil is made up of heavy
clay, sand and large stones. But
don't worry, your soil contains
the main ingredients which makes
up loam, but are present in the
wrong proportions. Your soil can
be improved by adding humus, lime
and fertilizers. |
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Put a name to your soil
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Get a hand full of soil from your
garden on a day when the soil is
moist. Squeeze it in your hand.
Is it moulding together, falling
through your fingers, does it feel
sticky! Just by doing this you can
get an idea of what type of soil
you have. |
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Soil Types
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Clay soil
when squeezed can feel sticky, moulds
together and forms an impression
of your fingers. |
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Sandy soil
squeezed in your hand slips through
your fingers, can feel gritty and
will not hold together very well.
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Peaty soil
will feel spongy in texture and
will be dark brown or black in colour.
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Acid
or alkaline? |
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If your wanting to grow Azaleas,
rhododendrons, camellias and heathers,
then your soil needs to contain
a ph reading slightly on the acidic
side as these plants & shrubs hate
lime. If you want to grow vegetables
and your soil ph reading is very
acidic you will need to add some
lime. The best ph reading to have
to grow a good variety of plants
and shrubs is between 6 & 6.5 ,
Slightly acidic. You can get a soil
testing kit from your Local Garden
centre. So get your soil in good
condition first before you start
planting. |
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