Soils.... The Garden Basic...Absolute

Lori ~
Thanks. Lots of interesting information there. :o)

There's a great deal of invaluable advice here, Lori. I founbd over the last few years that paying more attention to the soil and its requirements really pays great dividends.

An excellent Blog Lori. As you so rightly state the soil is the basic requirement of any garden, and it pays to keep it in good condition.We have a clay soil here but we have enriched it with compost over many years, so we now have a really good growing medium. Also we use a good quality compost for all the pots and containers and ensure that the plants are well fed to keep them healthy.

Hi Lori, Thanks for writing this blog.
I've recently had some topsoil in order to raise the level of my garden and it is very clayey. I've been wondering whether to add coarse material and/or compost to it. Your blog has been very interesting for me. I think I'll do that test you explain in a jar so that I can find out more about the composition of the soil I have.
All the best, Hywel.

Lori, Thank you very much :o) Going by the squeeze test I think my soil may not be too bad, it separates into chunks quite readily but doesn't crumble. I'll get a glass jar for your test.

Ido alot of composting near anough every thing, and it as made a differance to my soil, every thing is quite healthy.

Thanks Lori. I must be a lucky person, but I will do a test. I am sitting on fertile volcanic soil and everything in the garden is thriving. There are no rocks either, yet the rain drains well into the ground ( and to the neighbours, lol ). When we had the farm we had soil testing done every few years, also leaf testing, as to see which deficiency the trees had, if any. Very interesting outcomes. Had to add lime as the soil was acid. On the farm I was sitting on bauxite, very gravelly and with many rocks! Hard digging there, yet everything grew but lettuces. I had no sand to add either.
The squeeze test is good too Peter, especially for the humidity.

Interesting blog Lori. I live near an area in East Anglia called the Fens, it is reclaimed pre historic sea bed and it is black as you like. Most of the UK's vegetables are grown here due to this rich loam soil. I love to watch the fields being tilled and exposing the black drills.

I sometimes go to dog shows up in the fens and Ams is right about the amazing black of the soil.

Ams ~ it would be interesting to see a photo of a jar test using some of that black stuff ! :o)

Black stuff - Guinness, mines a pint please TT. Ta

I guess you could upload a photo of a Guinness and another of soggy fenland soil, and we have to guess which is which?

eeeewwww! I've only tasted Guinness, but have to say that it doesn't have the same bouquet as a quart of alluvium!! My son's a Guinness drinker...he says it's the best brew on earth.
It has been mentioned by a few people...I'm wondering how many have tested their soil with the jar test? I found it to be a great way to 'see' your soil's profile.

Yesterday I fixed guttering and downpipe on a shed. Never done that before. Seems fine!

I now need to dig out nearby, so I'll put some of that in a jar and see what it looks like ! And maybe do a similar test with some soil from a flower bed to see how it compares. :o)

Great TT...will be interested to hear your results.

Hi Lori.

Thanks for your advice in this blog.
I've just put soil in two clean empty marmalade jars.
(Paddington Bear would be proud)

One was soil which I'd dug out of a hole for drainage near to one of my sheds where I'd fixed up guttering earlier this week. The area was home to a large conifer about 6 years ago, and the soil seemed good.

The second was from my flower bed nearby.

I put in the soil with water and shook them up. I now have two jars which I've left to settle, but it really isn't telling me much. The soil doesn't seem to have separated into identifiable components, except that the top quarter of an inch of soil in both jars appears to be made up of finer particles - not sand.

Is there anything further I should be doing, please. Sorry, no camera available to take photos. Thanks. :o)

Hi TT...it sounds like your ratio of soil to water is a little heavy on the soil side.... I use a quart jar... fill it 3/4 full with water....then add about a 1/2 cup of soil. make sure the lid is tight and shake like mad for 30 seconds...make sure there aren't any chunky bits left... if there are~ shake some more... When you're sure it's a slurry then just set it aside and check it in 30 minutes or so...the sand will settle out first...then the clay...then silt which is what you've described (I think)~ it takes quite a while for the silt to settle...the OM will be floating on the water surface. It may not look like a lot...and you may think that you have to add tons of OM...but consider that the sample is only a half cup of soil...and extrapolate that to the whole bed size...and this is the time to add OM...it never hurts to have more!
From your description I'd say you have a clay component to your soil...but you must have a slurry...it's no good if there are still chunks... Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake yo' booty!!
Check out the pic on my page of the mason jar closeup... hth....
Lori

Lori ~ thanks.
I'll have another go tomorrow with less soil and more water.
There certainly weren't any soil chunks left.
There is quite a lot of clay in my soil.
Please confirm - are you saying the sand will be LOWEST in the jar, then clay, then silt at the top ? Thanks.

I'll report back again. :o)

Yes...TT...grit, small stones and sand will be the first...if you have any ... then clay...then silt...then OM. If you are in a clayey area...you may not have much sand unless you've added it...another test you can do right in your garden is to dig a hole as if you were planting something...add water til it's full to the soil line and record how long it takes for the soil to absorb the moisture. If it drains away quickly you've sandy soil... if it takes forever you have clay base with lots of silt...so your aim would be to be somewhere in the middle...and you would accomplish that by adding compost (om) and some sand.

Hi Lori ~
It was a beautiful warm, sunny afternoon here and I had a good look at the jars of soil and water from yesterday. I decided I had included the right amount of water. The mix was all well-settled and I would agree there's little sand. Lots of clay and a bit of OM. Sand not evident.

Last week, after putting up my shed gutter I dug a large hole near the down-pipe. I tipped some water on the roof to see what would happen, and the water ran into the gutter, down the pipe and then sat a long while in the hole. So from your information, that indicates clay.

I've since dug the hole much larger, and filled it with lots of shingle. I'll try to add sand to my flower beds as time goes on.

Thanks for all your advice. :o)

Great! Hope your plants thank you for the work by putting on a show for you! I was prompted to write the blog by a question from Peter about his soil...but I realized as I was writing it how much work I had to put into the soil just to have something my plants could live in...(as opposed to die in!) so it seems that moving to a previously ungardened site was a good learning experience because I had to start from the gound up! Keep composting! ;-o !!

Hi Lori, I am a new member from West Yorkshire in U.k.,
I have made so many friends since I joined.
I am going to a garden class and learning about soil and P.H values. My soil sounds similar to yours. So I will try your advice. I have a bin full of compost I have been trying to make, we are due to take some out early November, so I hope it's worked its magic.

Will add you to my favourite list.

Nice to meet you, happy gardening love Marge.

Hello Marge! Nice to meet you!... so they're going to teach you the litmus test..with the strips that turn red or blue? That's a pretty good specific but perhaps only relevant if you are starting from scratch.. If you've been gardening on your plot for years (or someone else has) the soil is probably pretty good... the plants that have thrived can tell you what needs doing...I decided that I wanted to do all my beds like they were going to be carrot beds...( the soil must be deep, rich and friable) so I first dug a strata...just a large hole, on the side of a hill if possible, and then noted the soil layer(s) and the type of sub-soil. that told me what I had to begin with... from that I knew that I had precious little "topsoil"...the rest is pretty much in the above blog...To me the jar test and the squeeze test work the best...they are perhaps less than scientific...but they give you a starting point...you can take what you see to an "expert" or just order a truckful of loam or sand... If you're lucky you have a clay base to start. Otherwise ...all you likely need is compost...and you are working on that!! forking over the compost and letting the winter frost do it's work..along with the earthworms...can make a world of difference in the spring...otherwise I topdress around my perennials, which is kind of like tucking them in...lol.