It ALL Starts with your Soil - Part II

Back on March 6, 2020, when I wrote It ALL Starts with your Soil Part I we were living in a "normal" world. There weren't any shelter in place orders and store toilet paper shelves were fully stocked. What hasn't changed in what seems like a blink of an eye, is the outdoor gardening season. What better place to be than in the garden during these uncertain times.
 

Stunning Front Yard Raised Bed, Photo by Donna B-B.

Wishing you safe health and appreciated respite as we eventually ease back to our daily routines, careers and quality time with family and friends. 

Part II-click here for Part I:

In a nutshell if your soil is typical Colorado clay and so dense a shovelful looks and feels like a block of smooth, dense Christmas fudge, then you're going to have to help it along so it can support healthy root growth which equates to nice plants for you to enjoy. 

Managing soil properly depends on what you'll be growing, so I'll break up the recommended cures for clay "fudge" soil and sandy soil conditions in three bullets and one bonus bullet.

Large hunks of clay (fudge-like) garden soil

1)  One of the easiest ways to deal with poor soil is to simply accept it, skip trying to fix it by adding bags of soil amendment year after year which may technically lead to too much - read more on this topic from last May's blog - Soil Test Enlightenment. Opt for raised beds.

Build raised beds and add soil. Raised beds can be used for growing vegetables, perennials, herbs, fruits, trees and shrubs. 

There is cost involved in installing raised beds, however, there are scores of re-purposed material ideas online or in your creative mind. Click here and here for some ideas. Local, independent garden centers also sell raised bed kits, check them out (most are open or offer curb side delivery during this state-wide shut down). Instead of hand watering, consider adding sprinkler lines or soaker hoses for ease of watering. Click here for an excellent how to on installing drip irrigation to raised beds.

One caution about bagged or cubic yards of soil to fill up raised beds. Most commercial amendments have added fertilizers, organic matter, are high in salts and more (as described in the Soil Test Enlightenment blog). Before seeding or planting, plan on leaching the bed of soil with water several times to dilute and drain through excessive additives. Before adding more fertilizer (organic or chemical) this season, send a sample off to the CSU soil lab for testing. There are delays due to Coronavirus.

Our Corner Pollinator Berm Bed, Many Natives

2)  Go native, that is ... by planting native plants. Native plants for the most part do not like nutrient rich soils like the kind found in bagged and bulk soils. What they need is good soil drainage so their roots don't drown. 

The key to creating quality conditions for natives to grow is to use less added bagged/bulk soil (only 10%) and some small aggregate like expanded shale or pea gravel (15%) mixed together in your existing soil. Read more here. Consider building berms (man-made hills) for plantings which can be interesting and out of the ordinary in an existing landscape.

3) Whether you have overly clayey or sandy soil, the best way to improve both conditions to grow all types of plants (see above for natives) is to add amendments to and mix well into your in-ground soil. Amendments help break up clay soil while it helps slow down fast draining sandy soils. Yep, the cure for both conditions is adding amendment. How much to add? All the amendment types and amounts to add to your current in-ground soil can be found on this very helpful fact sheet from CSU Extension, click here. A must read!

Ohhhh Noooo

Bonus Bullet - if you can't deal with the clay or the sand or planting in general, you can always go rock, literally!