Knowing The Different Types Of Soil Before You Start Your organic garden

Good soil is one of the most important requirement for an organic garden. It provides food and nutrition for your plant with the organic material present in it. Soil also acts as the main source in storing water for your plants. Because plants are watered directly at the roots the soil then slowly absorb the water which then allow the water to be stored for your plant.  You need to also know that not all soil is suitable for organic gardening or gardening in general, which can be a disappointment for any new amateur organic gardeners.

When I first started learning how to be an amateur organic gardener, I knew nothing about the different types of soil.  I was just excited about planting my seeds or plants and then wait to see them grow. Some grew some did not.  I have since learnt over the years the different types of soil there are, how to improve them and the type of plants that will grow in certain soil. 

So how will you know whether your soil is good enough to make an organic garden? The soil for your organic garden should not rocky or shallow, not salinity, polluted with lead or clay or silty soil. The ideal soil for planting an organic garden is one that is well drained, moist and with plenty of organic matter including compost and peat moss.  

Let us go on look at the different type of soils and how they can be treated in order for you to be able to grow your organic plants.

Shallow or Rocky Soil

If you find that your allotted slot for your organic garden has Rocky or Shallow soil, this can be improved by adding new soil and removing any rocks by making several furrows then extracting the rocks. Another method of dealing with rocky soil is to have raised beds about six inches deep so plants can grow in above the rocky soil or planting plants that grows well in rocky soil  such as Bull-flower and Candy Tuft.

Salinity Soil  

Another problem you may encounter  is Salinity in your soil. If you live close to the sea, then you will experience this in your soil.  In order to help clear up this problem using a drainage system will help to wash out the salt before treating the soil. Then removing all the soil from your plot and replace it with fresh organic soil with depth of about four to five feet. However, where possible avoid soil with salinity for growing your organic plants because they could die or not grow at all and even treating it may not solve the problem on a long-term basis.

Lead Soil 

You may also encounter Lead in your soil if you reside near housing estates that are over 20 years. There is every chance that your soil may contain lead due to the paint on these building which has been washed down into the soil over time due to rain and eventually it seeps into your soil. This again would need to be treated before using this site for growing your organic plants.  You will need to consider drainage as well as tilling your soil to about four to six inches deep and cover with organic soil.

Silty Soil  

Silty soil, If your house or garden is near a river or your garden is situated in what was once a river bed then there is every possibility that your garden has this type of soil. In order to manage this soil so that you are able to produce an organic garden, is to ensure that each year you in-corporate about an inch of organic compost. 

You should also ensure that you add good quality organic fertilisers as well then cover with about 3 inches of mulch.  By doing this the compost will encourage beneficial soil biology which will encourage hardier plants whilst the organic fertiliser will act as plant food. The benefit of adding the mulch is that it will protect the plants from drought, soil erosion and weeds.

You also need to ensure that on a regular basis  you turn over several inches of the top layer of the soil to keep the soil crumbly and easily manageable. Silty is very good at retaining water but can becoming water log, like clay soil if over watered which then causes rotting roots, which appear as brown, black, grey, or slimy.

Once the roots of your plants are damage, they can’t take in the nutrients needed by the plants to survive.  The positive  however with gardening with Silty soil is that you can grow a wide range of plants/trees such as bald cypress, yellow iris, Japanese iris.

Clay Soil 

Clay soil  was something I had to deal with in my own garden. I had to learn how to treat the soil to make it easier to dig because it was so hard in dry weather my fork could not get into the soil and was cloddy when wet, my fork got stuck and the soil was so hard to turn over.   

The positive about clay soil is that it retains water extremely well and it is fertile.  The downside however is that it can become waterlogged and cloddy, very hard in dry weather which makes it difficult to work with when planning your organic garden.

To work with this soil, you need to improve its texture so that it becomes more malleable therefore making it easier to work with. In order to do this, you need to add Organic material such as compost on a regular basis deeply into the soil over many years before your garden will be  properly ready for growing your plants. Adding organic compost will help to coat and stabilise your clay soil particles, separate clay particles and aggregates from each other. Particle aggregation in the topsoil reduces crusting, increases the rate of water handling and reduces erosion and runoff.

The positive is that once your soil structure has improved there will be no need to continually add organic compost on a yearly basis. However, to continue to improve the nutrient in your clay soil is to add organic fertilisers like kelp extract, blood meal, cottonseed meal and fish emulsion.

Loam Soil 

Loam soil is a mixture of soil  which is  a combination of clay, silt and sand which is said to be ideal soil for growing plants and as the benefits of each with very few disadvantages.

I hope the above has given you an idea of the different types of soil you may encounter when planning your organic garden. My next  two pages  will  look at how you can test the  soil  in your garden  so you  know what type of soil you have and  how to improve it with organic material.