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We are at the beginning of the year and
some of you could well be moving house or even starting
a garden from scratch. And wondering where
to begin..
The first thing to do is find out what
kind of soil, if any, you have in your garden. Soil is the
foundation of successful gardening and constantly needs
improving. Any soil will grow something and because of this
gardeners are apt to take their soil for granted and not add
anything to it in the way of fertiliser or compost. But good
soil, rich and healthy, can enable a gardener to get twice
the results with half the effort.. The first thing to do
then is to get a soil testing kit from your local garden
centre or DIY shop, and test the PH of your soil, thereby
getting an idea of the type of plants your soil will
support. You may also have different types of soil in
different parts of your garden. It is easily apparent
whether soil is light or heavy but only a chemical
investigation will reveal whether it is acid or alkaline.
Once you have discovered your soil type or types, you can go
ahead with suitable planting for the location and soil type.
There are several types of soil testing kits available;
those that allow only a single one-off test, mid range kits that allow approximately
five tests and there is a hand
held PH meter with a probe that's pushed into the ground
giving a quick and easy - but not necessarily 100% accurate
- reading, which will allow repeated testing and last for
many years. I have one of these and for a general guide it
is excellent and cheap enough.
If you are moving into a newly built
house you might find that you only have a very thin
layer of soil with some turf on top, that has been laid as
an afterthought on top of all the builders' rubble. It
would be a good idea to remove the turf, import some topsoil
to a depth of about 18 inches, then replace the turf.. If
your house has been built on a very rocky subsoil, you won't
be able to grow anything deep rooted such as trees. So it
really pays to take a spade and examine what lies underneath
the top surface of your new garden...
The
other aspect I consider important when starting a
garden from scratch is to check the drainage.. If your
garden is very soggy and the rain water doesn't drain away
very well, or worse, it drains away towards your house if
you're on a slope, then it's well worth considering having
your garden land drained. This involves getting the services
of a landscape gardener or builder who will lay a network of
pipes under your soil that will drain the water away either
into the main drain or a soakaway. Yes, you will have the
upheaval, but only once, whereas you will never make a
decent garden out of soggy waterlogged ground..
Now you have tested your soil and made
sure that the land is well drained, you are ready to
start planning your new garden. If you are less mobile than
you once were, it might be worth considering an
easy
maintenance garden with lots of level paved or gravelled
areas and low maintenance planting such as Phormium Tenax
(green and bronze,) Senecio, Viburnum Tinus Variegated,
Fatsia Japonica, Lonicera Baggesons Gold, Dogwoods and hardy
palms, to name but a few..
Your garden design should be
tailored to suit your needs.
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