Plants are far more dependent upon soil to help them survive, thrive

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As we begin our outdoor gardening season, we need to look at our gardens from an entirely new perspective.

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Our changing climate, with its more extreme conditions, is putting much greater stress on all our plants. Everything in our gardens, from vegetables, grasses and annual colour plants to perennials, shrubs and trees, is being challenged by these changes. As a consequence, all our plants will be far more dependent upon the soils in which they grow to help them survive and thrive.

Before planting anything, we need to make sure our soils have a porous, open physical structure and an abundant amount of living micro-organisms, worms and other beneficial components to encourage the organic development of a healthy, balanced ecosystem. In addition, our soils must be well-draining in order to shed excess water from heavy rainfalls. They also need to retain enough moisture to keep our plants hydrated during long, dry spells and heat domes.

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The ultimate goal is to create a soil that needs little cultivation. To start the process of improving our soils, we need to deal with a very common condition: heavy, clay-based soils. Over the long term, gypsum, applied in a granular form, has the ability to open heavy soils to allow both better water penetration and the movement of air and oxygen into the soil.

For a more immediate solution, working in fir or hemlock sawdust or fine bark mulch is very effective in helping break up heavy clay. A smaller D-handled fork is useful for incorporating these additives into the soil. For larger areas, a good rototiller with a canopy is the easiest way to go. It’s important to cultivate as deeply as you can for this process to be most beneficial.

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Once the soil is open, porous and workable, you can then begin improving the level of organics in your soil by adding compost, which is essentially well broken-down plant matter. Compost releases many nutrients to help feed soil organisms, and it also aids in moisture retention.

If you don’t have your own homemade compost, there are lots of great alternatives, such as composted manures, like steer, poultry and mushroom, which all add invaluable organic matter to the soil. A product called ‘Sea Soil’ is another great option for enriching soil. Produced in B.C., it’s a blended byproduct of the fishing and forest industry that has been composted for two years. All these organic additives feed and work with many soil organisms to start the process of soil regeneration. They also help keep the soil open and porous to allow oxygen into the soil.

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The acidity or alkalinity of soil is another essential element. A soil’s pH level is measured on a scale of 1-14. The lower the reading, the more acidic the soil. Most plants perform well when soil tests in the upper 5’s to the lower 8’s. When soil becomes too acidic from continuous wet weather, many nutrients are locked in the soil. The application of a proper amount of lime will move the pH level up to a range where more of these nutrients are available to the plants.

A prilled lime, like Dolopril, is easy to apply on both lawns and gardens, and a 11 kilogram bag usually covers 186 square metres. It takes a while to release, so an application as soon as possible will help put your garden in a pH range where your plants will perform well this spring.

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In more dry, arid areas, like the Okanagan, soils tend to be more alkaline. Applying sulphate fertilizers will help bring the pH level down to a better growing range.

If you’re having issues with soil acidity or alkalinity, many garden stores have pH testing kits that will give you some sense of where your soil fits on the pH scale. Unless your garden plants aren’t growing well, this is usually not a major issue.

It’s important to keep in mind that, as good and organic as your soil may be, you might still need to provide nutrients for your plants to perform up to your expectations. Today, there is an excellent array of organic fertilizers that you can apply now or during the growing season. There is also a hybrid 10-15-19 fertilizer which is 40 per cent organic and contains micronutrients that also help in the development of fruits and flowers.

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The one issue that concerns me most, when it comes to planting small fruits, fruit trees, perennials, flowering shrubs, flowering trees and shade trees, is the planting hole. Far too often it’s simply dug, the plant set in and watered. Every planting hole must be as carefully prepared as any garden bed. The golden rule is that a planting hole needs to be 2 to 2½ times the size and depth of a plant’s root system.

Any poor soil conditions you run into must be amended, just like your garden soil. If it’s a heavy clay situation, mix in plenty of fine fir or hemlock mulch until the soil is open and porous enough to provide good drainage even during the heaviest rainfall. The soil in the planting hole must also contain a good amount of organic matter that is slightly on the acidic side; it will help hold precious moisture when we run into long, hot dry spells in summer.

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It’s also essential that new plantings get a thorough, deep watering at least once a week until their roots become established, which can take up to a year. Nutrients are equally important to boost a new plant’s ability to become established and tolerate most weather extremes. The goal is to ensure that your plants become self-sufficient as soon as possible in order to grow on their own with minimal care.

As we move into our growing season, it’s critical to take the extra time to prepare our soils in a sustainable, organic way to make sure all our plants have a far better opportunity to grow and thrive even in the most challenging conditions.