| The best plants are grown in gardens where the | | | | In addition, the same plants grow in the same |
| soil is not ignored, but regularly improved with soil | | | | spot indefinitely, usually at a comfortably wide |
| conditioners and manure. Plants are healthier and | | | | spacing, and nobody complains if they don't flower |
| live longer as a result of additional supplies of | | | | profusely or crop heavily. The plants are also |
| compost, manure and fertilizers. Get the soil in | | | | native to this country and therefore accustomed |
| good heart before you plant, and your plants will | | | | to growing in the conditions available. |
| grow faster and establish more quickly. | | | | In a garden, where tidying up removes much of |
| There are two basic types of soil additives: those | | | | the potential soil enrichment, plants from all over |
| that are bulky and which make a difference to | | | | the world are grown cheek by jowl, competing |
| the feel and structure of the soil when they are | | | | ferociously for water and nourishment. 'Man-made' |
| added to it, and those that are in powder, liquid or | | | | varieties have been bred to flower over a long |
| granular form and which are more concentrated in | | | | period and, in the case of vegetables, to produce |
| terms of the nutrients they contain. The bulky | | | | a heavy crop. They can do this only if we make |
| types are usually known as soil conditioners and | | | | sure their roots can grow in earth which provides |
| the concentrated plant foods as fertilizers. | | | | them with sufficient nourishment. |
| All soils benefit from the addition of bulky organic | | | | Farmyard manure |
| matter. Heavy clay soils will be made less sticky | | | | A term used to cover all kinds of animal manure. |
| because the organic matter holds their clinging | | | | Stable manure is the most common and is |
| particles further apart and so allows water to | | | | available in town as well as country. This mixture |
| escape more easily. As a result, drainage is | | | | of straw and dung needs to be well rotted before |
| improved and the soil becomes easier Co | | | | it is dug into the soil. Stack fresh manure for |
| cultivate. | | | | three to six months before digging it in. The |
| On sandy soils, where drainage is rapid and | | | | reason for this is that fresh manure needs frantic |
| moisture retention is poor, organic matter acts as | | | | bacterial activity in the soil to rot it down into a |
| a binding agent, sticking the particles together and | | | | form that can be absorbed by plants. Soil bacteria |
| as a sponge helping the soil to hold on to water. | | | | feed on nitrogen, a valuable plant food that is |
| Chalky soils tend to be thin and poor, and the | | | | needed to promote growth. If the manure is |
| organic matter here gives them more body and | | | | fresh, the bacteria will use up supplies of nitrogen, |
| helps them hold on to plant nutrients. | | | | making them unavailable for plants, which then |
| Even loamy soils need helpings of organic | | | | become starved. |
| enrichment to keep them 'in good heart'. | | | | Mushroom compost |
| You could ask why it is necessary to enrich soil | | | | Well-rotted compost in which mushrooms have |
| with manure, compost and fertilizer when, in the | | | | been grown contains lumps of chalk, so is best |
| wild, plants seem to thrive without it. The answer | | | | not used on chalky soils because it will only make |
| is a simple one: in nature nobody tidies up. Fallen | | | | them more alkaline. On the other hand, it is a |
| leaves are allowed to rot down and provide the | | | | valuable soil conditioner on acid soils, but avoid |
| plants with nourishment, thanks to the activity of | | | | using it where lime haters, such as rhododendrons, |
| soil bacteria. Because of the plenitude of organic | | | | azaleas, camellias and heathers, are to be grown. |
| matter, these bacteria are present in abundance. | | | | |