How to Care for Soil

How to Care for Soil

We must look at soil as an expert would. Determine what it lacks and what deficiencies it has, and supplement them appropriately. This will increase our yield and success in growing various plant species. The upper part of the earth - the soil is biologically active. It is professionally called topsoil. It is the darkest and most nutrient-rich soil in your garden. Topsoil is roughly 10-30 cm deep, depending on how deep you cultivate and nourish the soil.

Below the topsoil is a harder part of the soil. It is composed of compacted soil particles. Usually, you don't cultivate it with a spade. The soil is then hard, doesn't allow roots or irrigation to pass through. Because it doesn't allow irrigation to pass through, it can cause the top layer - topsoil - to wash away.

Below this layer is yet another layer - the subsoil. This is also important. It can be poor in nutrients or, conversely, rich. The disadvantage is when it is full of groundwater.

The most advantageous is soil that does not contain these lower layers. You can achieve this by regularly cultivating, digging, and deepening the soil. This will increase not only the soil's fertility but also its cohesion.

You may still remember from natural science that soil is divided into light, medium-heavy, and heavy. Each has its own advantages and challenges. If you recognize these well and in time, you can limit them or, conversely, take advantage of them.

Medium-heavy - loamy to sandy-loam - soils are suitable for vegetable growing. They are usually deep, with high calcium content. They are sufficiently permeable.

Light soils - sandy to sandy-loam - are airy and warm up very quickly. However, they don't retain irrigation well. They are also suitable for vegetable growing, but also for planting fruit trees. The most suitable soil for peaches, apricots, and other stone fruits.

Heavy soils - are clay soils. They are very difficult to cultivate and work with. Plants, especially trees, root shallowly in them. Shallow roots cause low resistance to frost.

Hoeing

Hoeing may look like ordinary garden work, but it isn't. By hoeing, we give plants much-needed oxygen. The soil is aerated. Aerated soil is no less important than irrigated soil. By hoeing, we lightly break up the hardened top layer of soil - the soil crust that forms, for example, after rain.

Hoeing is most commonly done with a hoe. We hoe carefully so as not to damage the roots. We need 5 types of hoes. A wide one for shallow hoeing and weeding. A heavy one for landscaping, turning compost and working around trees (digging holes, hoeing circles around trees). A double hoe for hoeing and weeding in narrow rows. A draw hoe for weeding - we work with it by pulling to cut through weed roots, and lastly - a small hoe for hoeing in rock gardens and flower beds.

During hoeing and loosening beds, we remove weeds from the bed. Dug-up weeds go into the compost. If the weeds are already flowering, we sprinkle them with lime on the compost.

Loosening the Soil

Unlloosened soil allows too much moisture to escape into the air unnecessarily. Moisture is very important for plants. Their vegetative life depends on it. The most moisture escapes from soil that has already formed a crust. Soil should be loosened after rain and thorough watering. This is to prevent soil evaporation. Loosening and hoeing is also a periodic fight against weed growth. Hoeing and loosening can be done throughout the year. In summer, loosen and hoe only shallowly.

Digging

Digging is the breaking up of soil with a spade, shovel or other gardening tool (pickaxe, etc.). However, the most suitable tool is a spade! We use two types of spades. A pointed one - suitable for digging in heavy and stony soils. It is also suitable for digging holes when planting fruit trees. The second spade is a straight spade - suitable for digging in farmyard manure and compost, for working in light and medium-heavy soils. If you're a connoisseur, you can also get a digging fork, which will make work easier during summer bed digging and when cleaning soil from couch grass.

When digging, it's good to follow the basic procedure. We dig by "slicing" the soil with the spade and turning it over. This is so that washed-away nutrients get back to the surface.

Mulching is very important both for plants and for enriching the soil. It's suitable not only for beds, but also around fruit bushes. It retains moisture. However, remove mulch from bushes and trees for winter, so that mice don't shelter in it.

Remember that patience pays off. Through digging we can continuously improve the soil. Enrich it. Supply it with nutrients, air and moisture. Don't avoid green manuring either. It may be more laborious, but the soil will be all the more fertile.

Mulching

Mulching is used wherever we want to prevent weed growth, create a unified aesthetic appearance, maintain optimal soil moisture and warmth. It also prevents soil from drying out and the formation of soil crust. It reduces soil erosion. It protects plant roots from frost and in spring from premature sprouting due to elevated temperatures. It increases microbial activity in the soil and adds nutrients. Mulching is a very widespread method in agriculture and horticulture.

We perform mulching by:

• spreading a thick layer of material
• covering the soil surface with foil or textile

Mulching can also bring fungal growth to the garden. This can happen with a thick layer of mulch, with improper storage, or when using mulch already infected with fungal mycelium.

When spreading straw around fruit trees, their fine roots may spread in the upper layer of soil, which is undesirable. Voles and mice may also multiply.

What we mulch with:

• bark
• wood chips and sawdust
• leaves
• straw
• peat
• mown grass
• pebbles and gravel
• nonwoven and woven textile
• polypropylene foil
• and combinations of materials

For covering beds with foil, black or transparent polyethylene foil is suitable. With this method of mulching, we intensify the activity of soil microorganisms, increase soil warming, limit weed growth and increase moisture retention.

Before laying the foil on the bed, we must level the soil well and prepare, for example, stones or slats to weight down the edges, or we can use galvanized hooks.

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Author: Hana Michalíková