Where there’s muck there’s brassed off gardeners unless they have the right soil to take the extra nutrient.

‘The Gardeners’ Book: For the Gardener Who’s Best at Everything’ is really grand for novice gardeners taking up gardening for the first time or those seeking to grow some green fingers.

Improve Your Own Soil’s Consistency

• Great soil contains air, water and nutrients appropriate for the plants you want to grow.
• Digging soil over introduces air then weather breaks it down into a fine tilth.
• Worms aerate soil and improve the texture. They feed on humus or rotting vegetable matter so encourage worms by feeding the soil with humus.
• Sandy soil needs more humus to help it retain water. Clay needs more humus to hold the soil open for delicate roots.
• Soil should drain excess water away so some stones are not a problem. If there are lots of stones and rocks remove them or grow plants that like those conditions.
• Do not walk on very wet soil. Use a plank or duck board.

Bought Soil and Compost

• Compost in bags can be perfect for pots and containers. It usually has some fertilizer, some wetting agent to make it easy to water and is of a consistancy that helps plants grow. It is not economic for larger garden areas although I use it in the greenhouse beds.
• Peat, as well as being out of favour as unsustainable or eco-unfriendly, has no nutritional value and is hard to water once it dries out.
• Top soil can be bought in various quantities but may contain stones, weeds and poor soil so beware.

The Right Soil Chemical Content

• Plants need Nitrogen, Phosphates and Potassium (NPK) as food from the soil. Sun is the enegy to turn this food into growth through photosynthesis.
• Hearty soil will have accessible NPK that can be augmented, for heavy feeding plants, with a balance fertilizer such as Growmore or Blood, Fish and Bone.
• Some plants prefer a slightly acid soil from which to extract the nutrients and animal manure and peat mixed with your soil will increase the acidity.
• Vegetables often prefer an alkaline soil so you can add a dusting of lime.

I thought my humus was a funny bone until they gave me the elbow.