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Creating A Garden		One of the most important, but often overlooked, aspects of gardening is knowing what soil type you have and either choosing plants suited to your soil or adapting the growing conditions to suit the plants you would like to grow. You will need to know the depth of your topsoil, its pH, what the underlying ground is like, and how freely draining your soil is.
Creating A Garden
Know Your Soil
Create Deep Fertile Loam
Knowing Where The Sun Shines

Testing your soil

Having a basic knowledge of your garden soil is essential if you are to choose plants that will thrive. The most important aspects of this are knowing the soil type and its acidity or alkalinity known as the pH. Both should be determined before buying plants.

Please remember that when testing the pH of your garden soil, to test different areas within your garden; It is not uncommon for the pH to vary from one area to another.

The bulk of soil is made up of a mixture of organic matter, rock and mineral particles. However it is the air, water and nutrients in the ground that the growing plant really relies on. These are taken up by the roots and then used by the plant to form flowers and leaves. The relative proportions of all these, along with pH, determine soil type.

The Six Basic Soil Types: -

Loamy soil Often seen as the ultimate garden soil because most plants will grow in it, this is brown and crumbly in texture and similar to that found on well worked allotments. It is rarely waterlogged in winter or dry in summer and supports a wide range of plants. Loamy soil is light and easy to dig and is naturally high in nutrients.

Chalky soil Typical of south-east England, chalky soil is very shallow, full of clumps of white chalk or flint and is very free-draining. This means it can be bone dry in summer and plants will need far more watering and feeding than on any other soil. Chalky soils are always alkaline, which restricts the number of plants that can grow on them. Planting may also be difficult as spades frequently hit lumps of hard chalk or flint.

Clay soil Clay soil is sticky to handle and can be easily rolled into a ball shape. It is naturally high in nutrients so plants that like these conditions should do particularly well. It does pose some problems. In summer it is often baked dry, with visible surface cracks, making it difficult to get water to plant roots. Yet in winter, it can be constantly wet and water-logging is common. It is hard to dig at most times of the year.

Silty soil Silty soil is made up of fine grains, originally deposited by a river. The tiny particles give it a silky feel if rubbed between the fingers. It does not form distinct shapes like clay when wet, but it can be rolled into sausage-like strips. Silty soils can be badly drained but are not prone to water-logging.

Peaty soil The fens of eastern England are very peaty and are some of the country's best farmland. Plants grow happily in it, as long as they can adjust to the relatively acid conditions. Almost black to look at, easy to dig over and spongy to the touch, peaty soil can be soaking in winter and bone dry during most of the summer.

Sandy soil Sandy soil feels rough and gritty when handled and will not form distinct shapes like clay. It usually has a sandy brown colour and is easy to dig over. Water-logging is rare on such soils as they are very free-draining and, accordingly, watering and feeding of plants is needed on a regular basis. It is quick to warm up in the spring, so sowing and planting can be done earlier in the year than with clay or silty soil.


Plants for different soils

Sandy, chalky or alkaline soil
Ceanothus Ceratostigma Clematis Cytisus	Daphne Euonymus Euphorbia Genista	Hypericum Ligustrum Mahonia Rosmarinus	Spiraea Stachyurus Weigela Wisteria


Peaty or acid soil
Calluna Camellia Corylopsis Cryptomeria Desfontainia	Enkianthus Fothergilla Gaultheria Halesia Hamamelis	Kalmia Larix Leucothoe Pieris Pinus	Rhododendron Sarcococca Skimmia Staphylea


Clay or silty soil
Abelia Alnus Bergenia Choisya Corylus	Crataegus Kerria Laburnum Malus Philadelphus	Potentilla Pyracantha Pyrus Rhamnus Sedum	Sorbus Symphoricarpos Taxus Viburnum Vinca


pH testing

The pH of a soil refers to its acidity or alkalinity and is a vital factor in plant growth. It is easy to measure and is usually listed numerically on a scale of one to 14. Acid soils have a pH of below seven, neutral is pH 7 and alkaline is above seven. For most garden plants a neutral soil is ideal but some, such as rhododendrons and camellias, must have an acid soil. Others, including many clematis and syringa (lilacs), prefer alkaline conditions. The majority of amateur soil testing kits are very simple and rely on colour rather than a numerical scale. Acid soils turn a solution yellow-orange, neutral turn it green and alkaline, dark green. The soil tester to the right will instantly tell you the pH level of the soil in any area of your garden. Equipped with this knowledge you can produce better results in your garden by planting varieties most suited to the ph level of your soil. Each capsule can be used once.


Creating the perfect soil. Every gardener wishes they had deep fertile loam, the next section tells you how it can be achieved