Nurture Your Soil & Enjoy A Bumper Crop ¦ Longacres Garden Centre
You can watch the accompanying video here: http://youtu.be/gDM9uYFZWN4 Arguably one of the most important parts of gardening and horticulture is looking after your soil. It contains all the vital nutrients that plants need to sustain healthy growth and produce a good crop, if the soil becomes worn down or isn't nurtured you will start to run into problems with your plants and crops! The first task you'll need to do to start improving your soil is to clear it of weeds, heavy clay blocks, debris, stones & anything else which shouldn't be there. It's best to try and tackle weeds at the roots and remove as much of them as possible. Rake the soil over to remove any last obstructions. Next is to begin to till or ‘turn over’ your soil whilst adding organic matter. Using a fork or soil tiller begin to lift & turn over the soil and break up any large clumps that may occur from doing this. As you are undertaking this begin to add your organic matter - this could be compost, manure, leaf litter etc… and continue to work the area until you've added a decent amount of organic matter and the whole site has been turned over. Its always advised to read the label on the product you are using and care should be taken not to over-fertilise the site as this could lead to plant growth problems. Make sure any manure is well rotted before applying to your site! I'm using Westland Organic Vegetable Growing Compost for this new vegetable plot - which is good for improving soil drainage, soil fertility and the texture of the soil. I'm also adding well rotted farmyard manure from Westland which contains a whole host of excellent nutrients required for plant growth and will again help with soil drainage and texture. Thats all there really is to it! Now is the time to work the soil and your new vegetable plot, or existing patch ready for the season. Depending on the crops you are hoping to grow will determine what else you may need to add to the soil or what you may need to fertilise your plants with later on in the season. This simple soil nurturing process can be carried out on a yearly basis and you'll start to see the results of your improved soil in your flowers, vegetables or fruit - almost straight away! Have any questions about growing your own, plants or houseplants? Send them to us here: plantsonline@longacres.co.uk
