Successful gardens always start with the soil. If you are looking for help with your soil, drop into your local Landscape Supplies for plenty of inspiration and products. A rich and active composted loam is idea for garden beds filled with trees and shrubs, a veggie mix is top for raised garden beds, and for laying roll out lawn. Soil is unseen under lawn however a vital part to our lawn health and appeal. What basic soil types are there? • Sand • Loam • Clay What is the difference? • Sand drains water and nutrients quickly and can be hydrophobic • Clay is the opposite end of the scale hold water and nutrients well but doesn’t drain, which tends to compact and become water logged. • Loam is a blend of the two and is a perfect growing base What is in soil? • Organic matter – decomposing plants and animals • Minerals – broken down rocks • Air pockets • Water • Living organisms – microorganisms, bugs & worms. How do we know what soil type we have? The ribbon test helps us find what size particles the soil contains and in what amount. 1. Pick up a handful of soil and work together with water until moist 2. Sandy particles are coarse and easily fall apart 3. Clay will be smoother and will form balls easily 4. If we ribbon it out we can see how much is clay or sand on how long the ribbon goes before it breaks We can improve sand by adding loam and organic matter We can improve clay by adding loam, sand and gypsum. Ideally loam is perfect base – free draining but able to hold water and nutrients. For all your roll out lawn needs and loads more head to The Turf Farm website THE TURF FARM WATCH THE CLIP
