Article: Gardening Basics: Good Soil Means Good Plants!

Gardening Basics: Good Soil Means Good Plants!

Whether you’re a novice gardener or you’ve spent a lifetime of weekends in a space defined by miles of landscape edging and dominated by several feet of vegetable trellis, you know that there are 3 basic needs for a successful, flourishing garden. These are:

1) Soil

2) Moisture

3) Sun

We’re going to talk about soil in this article, because even experienced gardeners sometimes forget how much the quality of soil can influence the quality of plants, vegetables and flowers. When you’re looking to fill your Frame It All raised garden bed kit, it’s essential to get the good stuff and prepare it accordingly. We recommend using bagged topsoil or ordering a delivery of quality garden soil or loam from a local greenhouse or garden center (to give you an idea of how much, a 4-ft wide, 8-ft long, 6-inch deep raised bed requires a little more than 16 cubic feet of garden mix to fill the bed).

Once you have your soil, you need to prepare it with soil amendments, or fertilizer. This is done based on the type of soil you have—sandy, clay, or loam. Many local garden centers sell soil testing kits or offer annual soil testing in the spring, so you can see exactly what your soil makeup is, and know which amendments to use. Your goal in amending garden soil is to achieve a loose, friable, fertile, well-drained, humus soil. You also need to take into account what you’re growing (vegetables or flowers/plants) and what type of amendment you prefer (organic or inorganic). If you’re just getting started, here are some basic steps to take:

For sandy soil, your aim is to improve moisture retention. In other words, when it rains, you don’t want all the water to run through the sandy grains before the thirsty plants get any. You can use compost (organic fertilizer) to beef up your sandy soil so it will hold more water and nutrients, allowing root systems to take hold. Clay soil needs to be loosened up to allow air and water flow among the plants’ root systems. This can be done by adding organic amendments like sphagnum peat moss, shredded bark, or sawdust. Mix your garden soil with organic matter and coarse or sharp sand or perlite at a ratio of 3 parts garden soil: 3 parts organic matter: 1 part sand or perlite. A fertilizer containing nitrogen will further enhance clay soil. If your soil is loam, then consider yourself lucky: this type of soil is characterized by equal amounts of sand and clay. A basic fertilizer or compost worked into the soil will maintain its pH and provide the best possible conditions for your flower or vegetable garden.

We encourage you to check out our website at www.frameitall.com for videos on constructing your raised bed gardens and other aspects of raised bed gardening.