Lifestyle

Tim's Tips: Getting down to basics starts in the soil

Tim's Tips
Tim Lamprey
Published: January 6, 2009

The winter months are not a time to be doing a lot of gardening. But you can be thinking about gardening and how you can make yourself a better gardener.

Last week, I told you about the proper spacing of plants. Proper spacing in your vegetable garden gives you a higher yield with fewer plants. The proper spacing of your perennials, annuals, trees and shrubs, and rose bushes will also give plants the room they need to grow properly. This is a basic principle of gardening.

I figure the winter months are a good time to discuss some of the basics of gardening. Regardless of your experience level as a gardener, it is always beneficial to think about the basics.

Let's start this off by discussing the soil in your garden. In many cases, people think about soil as "just dirt." If you are lucky enough, the "dirt" you have in your garden is a good quality loam. You will have found that you can grow a variety of plants without much work. The rest of us have to "make" a quality soil.

If you are living in a relatively new home, odds are you don't have quality soil in your yard. Many people come into the garden center with questions about how to grow a lawn. Once we get to talking, I find out that they may have tried to grow a lawn, but it doesn't seem to survive. I often ask them to bring in a soil sample. This doesn't mean just scraping off a bit of soil and bringing it into the store. I tell the customer to take a shovel and dig a sample that will show me the top 6 inches of soil. For a healthy lawn, the roots of the grass need 6 inches of good quality loam. If you have less loam, or if the quality of the loam is not very good, you will have a problem growing a lawn.

The soil you have in your garden is the "home" for the roots of any plant you grow. Not all plants need a rich loam type of soil. Some plants will grow in a sandy soil. But by and large, if you want a good perennial or vegetable garden, you are going to need a good quality loam.

So, how do average gardeners know if they have a good soil? Well, if your plants are growing lousy, you probably already know that the soil isn't that hot. Most independent garden centers in the area have people who can check the consistency of your soil and tell you what to do to make it better. If you have your soil checked in early spring, you will have time to improve it before the gardening season starts.

In some cases, you may need to add organic matter to the soil. This could be compost, peat moss or top soil. Others may need to add sand or gypsum to improve the soil. Truth be told, some people might be better served by removing the top 6 inches of soil and having a better quality loam spread out over their lawns and gardens.

The quality of the soil in your yard can make a major difference in how your plants grow. For some, just amending the soil a bit can make all the difference in the world. For others, it can be a major undertaking to get good soil. Go over to your new calendar and circle April 1 as a time to bring a soil sample into your local garden center. If you find out what you need to add to your soil to improve it, the easier it will be to have that perfect lawn or garden that you have always wanted.

Well, that's all for this week. I'll talk to you again next week.

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Tim Lamprey is the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His Web site is www.Harborgardens.com. Do you have questions for Tim? Send them to ndn@newburyportnews.com, and he will answer them in upcoming columns.