17 - Friday, April 24, 1987 - North Shore News

as the ‘top soil’ within it

ALL TOO often, I get called out to offer advice to con- will leach out any nutrients in the

cerned homeowners about the poor state of their relatively soil. Sandy soils are said to be
light.

new garden, only to find half dead plants tenaciously hang-

ing on in “‘soil’’ too poor to grow weeds.

Imagine being marooned on a
barren island; nothing but rock,
air and water. The best you could
hope for would be a rather bleak
existence and, very likely, a short
one.

This is precisely what you are
committing your plants to when
you abandon them to a poor
stretch of gravel or pocket of clay.
If they had legs, they would up
and leave you; but instead they
find themselves hopelessly
marooned, totally at your mercy
— until they die.

Dirt is\ the name used for the
choice bits of gossip discussed over
the back: fence or the comments
found in ‘‘the Bulldog’s’’ column;
soil is used to grow plants in. And
not just any soil; it must be top-
soil.

- Now the term topsoil has lost all
meaning in the last~ few years;
thanks to disreputable suppliers
palming off screened sub-soil, half
composted sawdust, or combina-
tions of the two, as “‘topsoil.”’

Originally, the term referred to

the top 12 inches of the earth’s
land mass which could support
plant growth. It is ludicrous to
assume that the enormous amount
of ‘‘topsoil’’ that you see rumbling
along the Upper Levels Highway
could be the real thing.

Of course it is synthetic, a good
or bad blend of materials designed
to duplicate the characteristics of
real soil which enable plants to
grow. In order to know what to
look for in a good soil, you must
understand the nature of these
characteristics.

Soil is a blend of inorganic or
mineral particles and organic ma-
terial of varying sizes; each of
which bring different properties to
the soil.

Clay soils are composed of
super-fine mineral particles; they
generally drain very poorly and
allow an inadequate supply of ox-
ygen to the root zone. Clay soils
are said to be heavy.

Sandy soils are made up of large
particles which allow the moisture
to drain away too quickly and, as a
result, the extra watering necessary

Needle Work
Custom

"The term loam is used to

plants and animals. These will act
as a supply of nutrients to the soil
as well as improving its texture;
making light soils more moisture

over the

garden gate
by Geoff Tobiasson

describe a soil with a balanced
blend of fine and coarse particles,
or one which will provide a certain
amouit of nioisture retention as
well as a sufficient supply of air
to the roots.

The term loam is used to
aczcribe a soil with a balanced
bletid of fine and coarse articles,
or one which will provide a certain
amount of moisture retention as
well as a sufficient supply of air to
the roots.

All soils require the addition of
organic materials which are the
decayed or decaying remains of

and nutrient retensive and binding
clay soils, allowing better drainage
and air penetration.

Good to bad sources for organic
material would be compost, com-
posted mushroom manure, com-
posted steer manure, fresh ma-

nures, peatmoss, composted
sawdust, bark mulch and fresh
sawdust,

There is a danger associated with
the last three; the organisms in the
soil which break down organic ma-
terial require nitrogen and, as they
can’t get it from these materials,
they will strip it from the soil.
Therefore I recommend the regular
addition of a high nitrogen fertil-
izer until these materials are
broken down.

Beware of inexpensive topsoils.
If it’s cheap it probably doesn’t
have quality materials in it. Ask
the supplier to give you a percent-
age breakdown of its contents.

Also, if they claim it to be weed
free, stay away. Any topsoil in-
capable of growing weeds is surely
incapable of supporting good
growth in the garden. Weeds are
an inevitable battle; at least it is a
sign that your soil, on which so
much depends, is fertile.

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