carol on soil
alkalinity is measured on a pH scale,
which runs from 1 to 14 with neutral at 7.
Anything below neutral is acid – strongly
acid would be 4 (peat bogs such as those
around Greater Manchester); anything
above 7 is alkaline (Salisbury Plain, for
example). In both very alkaline and very
acidic soils, the three major elements that
plants need to grow (nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium) are less readily available
than in neutral or slightly acidic soils. Key
trace elements are also often unavailable
in highly alkaline soil, while very acid soils
are also deficient in elements due to them
becoming soluble and washed away,
or ‘locked up’, so unavailable. Extreme
acidity can be neutralised to an extent
by dressing the soil with chalk or
limestone. Gardens on acid soil are often
the envy of those whose soil is very
alkaline. Ericaceous plants – blueberries,
heathers, rhododendrons – which are
ungrowable on chalk or limestone,
luxuriate in acid conditions.
The next factor impacting plant growth
is soil texture. The texture of a soil affects
aeration, drainage, how much water it can
Whether you garden on
heavy alkaline clay or light
acid sand, there are plants and
practices that’ll promote
a thriving garden
hold, how easily it becomes compacted and
how well roots can penetrate it. Three basic
constituents – sand, silt and clay – affect its
texture. Clay soils are easily waterlogged
and will clump together when wet. Silty soil
is also prone to waterlogging, while sandy
soils are free-draining, can erode and are
usually low in nutrients. Loam soil achieves
that sought-after balance of being moisture
retentive while also draining well.
Whether you garden on heavy alkaline
clay or light acid sand, there are plants
and practices that will promote a thriving
garden. Heavy soils are often assumed to
be the most problematic of the lot. Clay soil
turns into mud during the winter/spring
‘rainy season’, then bakes hard with deep
fissures after only a couple of weeks of
summer sunshine. In both cases, it is
impossible to work. The mere mention
of waterlogging or clay conjures up visions
of double-digging and chiropractors’ bills.
But the benefits of heavy soils usually
outweigh their problems. The inevitable
PHOTO: JASON INGRAM
hard work is compensated for by
luxuriant growth and high fertility.
No matter what else you do to ameliorate
clay soils, the first step is to attend to
drainage in any areas that are constantly
December 2020
Homemade compost
feeds your soil,
improves its structure,
and adds to the
essential microbial life
Making compost
Making compost is at the heart of looking
after your soil – no garden should be
without a compost heap.
✗ Don’t worry about how you make your
compost, as long as it works. Compost
bins, rotating compost containers, compost
heaps and wormeries all work well.
✓
Do put a mixture of green and brown
materials in your compost heap. Green
materials include grass clippings,
annual weeds and the like; brown materials
are woody stems and items such as cardboard.
✗
Don’t add big piles of fallen, deciduous
leaves to your compost heap, as they
break down slowly and are better saved to
turn into leafmould.
✓
Do try ‘fast’ composting, if you have
space. The fast method of making
compost entails collecting all the constituent
wet. Bad drainage is often caused by
a layer of compacted soil below the
surface of the topsoil resulting from
constant use of a rotavator, too much foot
traffic or, most usually, by the cultivation
of only the top layer over a long period.
Deep digging usually solves the problem.
Incorporating plenty of gravel and
organic matter into the soil will improve
drainage immensely.
Silt and sand
Silty soils have much in common with clay
and should be treated in a similar way.
Although the particles are bigger and do not
form clumps, they are close together and
materials together and building the heap in
one fell swoop. It is the heat produced in any
compost heap that aids the decomposition
of the raw materials and encourages the
bacteria to do their work. Such heaps need
turning regularly to ensure those bacteria
have plenty of oxygen with which to operate.
A large heap will produce compost quickly,
and is better able to kill off weeds and
pathogens that can survive in cooler heaps.
✓
Do make ‘cool’ compost, even if you
don’t have space for a big, fast heap.
Even a small bin where constituents have
rotted down unevenly will produce useful
compost. In ‘cool’ composting, the contents
of the heap are added as and when they are
available. It’s useful to add small amounts
of cardboard – when screwed up it creates
useful air pockets. Microorganisms need
oxygen to do their job.
so drainage is poor. Adding bulky organic
matter helps to avoid waterlogging. And
silt is easier to work than heavy clay.
Sandy soil is easy to work at any time
of year. It is also quick to warm up in the
spring. But light soils are prone to drought,
meaning plants lack the water they need to
take up nutrients. The best thing a gardener
with sandy soil can do is add large amounts
of bulky organic matter – anything that
will improve the texture of the soil and
its capacity to hold water and food – old
manure, compost, spent mushroom
compost, leafmould or seaweed (an
excellent addition) as they help bind the
sandy particles together. Digging should
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