When we become the owners of our own home, we quickly come to the conclusion that it needs an appropriate setting, i.e. greenery. Usually, after construction, the ground around the building is sterile and littered, so you need to start by tidying up the surroundings.
Big Cleaning
First you need to collect all the scattered rubbish and rake out the debris. The most important thing is the place where the concrete mixer stood - we have to remove the remnants of the mortar along with a layer of soil several centimeters. Once we clean up the area, we begin the fight against weeds.Patient ones can dig through the entire substrate, removing undesirable vegetation. The method is quite effective, as long as we carefully select all couch grass rhizomes and dandelion roots. It also has the advantage that we don't have to reach for any chemicals.
We clean the area faster, using herbicides, e.g. Roundup (for monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds) or Starane (for dicotyledons). Remember that these are systemic agents, i.e. they are taken up by the leaves, then they move to the roots, causing them to die and the entire plant wither. It takes 3-4 days, depending on the weather - high temperature, high air humidity and sun accelerate the action of the preparation. We start combating weeds with chemicals only when the plants have several large leaves and the temperature is at least 15 ° C.
Fertile or barren
" After tidying up and clearing the area of weeds, we can check what soil we have around the house.Good soil is one that contains a lot of humus in the top layer of the substrate, because it stores water and is a pantry of easily digestible nutrients for plants. The rapidly heating humus creates a favorable environment for soil microorganisms that break down organic residues and turn them into minerals. It also retains the substances delivered during fertilization, preventing their leaching into the deeper layers of the substrate. "
Equally important for the quality of the soil is the ratio of sand and clay substances. The more sand, the lighter and more permeable the substrate. This favors the development of hair roots responsible for the uptake of water and nutrients dissolved in it. Too much sand prevents water from being stored. It flows to the deeper layers of the earth, washing out nutrients from it. On the other hand, clay substances, although they retain water and mineral compounds needed by plants, are heavy and easily stick together, which hinders root growth and limits gas exchange between the surface and the substrate.Under ideal conditions, the right proportion of sand and clay gives the soil a so-called nodular structure, i.e. it is stuck together into small lumps with air spaces between them.
To find out what kind of surface we are dealing with, just take a handful of freshly dug, slightly damp soil and squeeze it. The clay substrate will compact into a fairly hard ball similar to the touch of plasticine, sandy - it will slip between your fingers. Then we should rub some soil in our hands. Black streaks that will remain on the hands indicate a high content of caries.
We improve the soil structure
In order to provide the plants with the best possible development conditions, the heavy clay soil is dug with a 15-20 cm layer of sand mixed with ground bark and compost. Fertilize light and barren soils in a similar way with a mixture of clay and processed compost or manure.
If the soil is compact and not very fertile, it is best to wait with setting up a garden and first sow the plants on the so-calledgreen manure. It will enrich the soil with humus and also improve the structure of the soil. The best green fertilizer are legumes. On light soils, a mixture of yellow lupine and saradela, oats, field peas, mustard or vetch will work best. For heavy lupins, yellow is better to replace blue as it takes root better. We can also add phacelia to the seed mixture. Cut plants when they start to bloom and dig shallowly, because when they decompose, they should have plenty of air. Zakopane too deep will start to rot and the so-called acid humus, unfavorable for the soil. After a month, garden plants can be planted here.
pH
Another factor that determines the quality of the soil is its pH, i.e. pH. It is defined on a fourteen-point scale: 1-6.5 - acidic, 6.5-7.5 - neutral, 7.5-14 - alkaline. The pH factor has a significant impact on the digestibility of nutrients, and most plant species succeed only in slightly acidic or neutral soils (6.0-7.2).Under such conditions, the most important elements (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) bind into compounds that are easily accessible to the hair roots. Neutral reaction is also liked by beneficial microorganisms that bind nitrogen from the air and decompose dead organic matter.
The pH of the soil is measured with a field acid meter, which can be purchased at any major garden store. A bit of earth is mixed with a special liquid that behaves like a litmus test: in an acidic environment it stains pink, and in an alkaline environment, it turns blue. After a few moments, we can take a reading - the color of the suspension should be compared with the colored samples in the set. We need to lime the soil that is too acidic. Liming light earths is recommended when their pH decreases below 4.5-5.0, and heavy - below 5.5-6.5.
Where to examine the soil
Sometimes it is worth asking specialists to check whether the soil in our newly established garden contains enough nutrients.For this purpose, we prepare a soil sample. In various places of the plot, we dig about 20 holes, 20 cm deep, and take a handful of soil from each. We mix the samples thoroughly with each other and measure 0.5 kg of soil, which we send to the regional chemical and agricultural station. For the test to be reliable, samples should not be taken from freshly fertilized soil and heavily contaminated soil, e.g. with remnants of building materials.
