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    Knowing the Soil

    So you’ve figured out where to grow your flowers. It’s now time for you to check the soil. Testing the soil is by far the least exciting part of gardening, but although that said, soil testing is the most important.

    Expert gardeners test the soil through its pH level. This is for the reason that the pH of the soil will tell you how acid or alkaline your soil is. As what many experts have said, plants will not survive in a soil with pH not within an acceptable range for in this case, no nutrients can be absorbed by the plants for it to grow.

    So when testing your soil, note that most plants grow and bloom in a soil with pH somewhat neutral, like 6.2 to 6.8. However, it is important to know that this is not always the case. The truth is some plants are more particular when it comes to soil pH range. In this case, the best thing you can do then is to check first the label of the flower or plant you are considering. If you are growing plants in the nursery, there is a great possibility that you can find plants with tags that contain some specifics about the pH and other details. If no pH preference is listed, a neutral pH level is always recommended.

    Aside from the pH level, it is also a rule of thumb when starting a flower garden to check the texture of the soil. If you are new to this concept, then note that soil texture actually refers to how sandy, heavy clay, rocky, or sandy loam the soil is. No matter what kind of texture your soil is boasting, it can be improved with the addition of compost or something organic that will serve as a soil conditioner. Compost is important for a number of reasons. It does not only improve the soil structure, but it also aids in the necessary microbial activity in the soil and can even hold the soil nutrients in their organic state, allowing the soil to be more healthy and available throughout the growing season.

    I have some additional tips for you to consider when testing the soil texture and adding a compost. Consider the following:

    Clay Soil – Many people who have a heavy clay soil tend to add some coarse builder’s type sand or something fine. Well, this can be helpful for improving the texture of your soil, but for ultimate result, it is best to add them only in addition to the compost you have added. Compost is very important as without it, your soil composed of sand and clay will tend to yield bricks when dried, which is not good for growing plants.

    Shallow Soil – When it comes to shallow type of soil, it is often suggested that if you have a bed rock with just a shallow layer of soil on top of it, building raised beds is a worth taking move. This is good so to provide your plant a much deeper soil for its roots.

    Rocky Soil – Many people say that rocky soil is not good for growing flowers or plants. Well, it is interesting to know that rocky soil is not at all bad, but it can be difficult to work as your shovel tends to bounce off the stones every time you use it for gardening. If this is the case, try to remove first anything that appears to be like the size of a potato or larger. You can also use a tiller to better accumulate the soil on its fine state, without those hard rocks around.

    As you may notice, checking and knowing the soil is not an easy task. It can be more complicated especially for the beginners, but as you go along the task, you’ll find that it’s worth considering knowing that soil testing and preparation is one of the most critical moves to consider in flower gardening.

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