Ensure your vegetable garden soil is at its best

Successful production depends on good vegetable garden soil structure;

• get it wrong you have nothing but hard toil
• get it right and the rewards are endless
• you too may even get complimented!!

So how do you know what state your vegetable garden soil is in?

Well it comes down to a bit of exploration and detective work, and yes, getting you fingers dirty like most gardeners do!

So find a trusty spade and go down to your plot. Dig a hole the width and depth of your spade, cutting the 3 sides towards the sun with the spade, leaving the one facing the sun to be bust as you lever out the earth;

Good soil is characterised by;

• a good earthy smell
• an open (plenty of air pockets, pores and cracks) crumbly structure(breaks easily into granular pieces)
• lots of roots and pores penetrating the soil to depth
• plenty of life (fungi, earthworms) with spiders, beetles and other small insects on or in the soil
• such soils are free draining, but conserve moisture.

• a stale/ rotting smell
• tight compacted structure which is difficult to break
• with few roots and pores and little fungal or animal life
• roots may be mostly horizontal and cannot go below a certain depth
• when broken the soil is in larger angular pieces or worse flat plate-like structures
• such soils can be waterlogged and do not drain well and although maybe wet on top after rain can be dry lower down

Top soil depth

Check the depth of your top soil as this will govern both the depth of digging and choice of technique (no-dig, shallow dig, traditional dig and use of raised beds or flat beds).

Check the soil type and characteristics in the table below;

Soil drainage

Whilst you have still got the hole, pour in some water using a watering can/ bucket and see whether it drains away.

It should slowly drain away.

If the water stays you need to explore the deeper sub-soil which is probably damaged by compaction and will need soil lifting or the use of raised beds.

Soil pH governs nutrient uptake and growth

Check soil pH by taking 3-4 representative samples from your plot, mix thoroughly and test the combined sample in a pH test kit from your local garden store.

Ideally aim for pH 6.0-7.5 for optimum plant growth and uptake of soil nutrients.

Soil organic matter

Check soil organic matter content by comparing the colour of the soil where you are planning you vegetable garden with an area nearby which has been left undisturbed for 10+ years. The darker and more crumbly the soil the higher the organic matter content. Vegetable garden soil is one of the most important factors to get right for success of your vegetable garden so watch this space ........ for more information and a link.

For more information on vegetable garden soil preparation.

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