Healthy soil is crucial for our plants and our environment
Where's the soil? It's alive under there: The raised bed is covered with straw mulch, and the ground soil is allowed to be "littered" with straw and leaves. The stepping stones keep the gardener on the path, avoiding compaction of planting areas.
Kathy Morrison
Any gardener who spends time poring over catalogs, debating plant varieties and choosing seeds, yet ignores the importance of the garden’s soil, is limiting the plants’ eventual success.
Soil isn’t just dirt. It’s alive with organic matter and multitudes of organisms, in addition to being about 45 percent minerals, 25 percent water and 25 percent air. Healthy soil gives plants their best life, and every gardener should be well-acquainted with their microclimate’s soil.
During a time of year when gardening activity calms down, California chooses to celebrate Healthy Soils Week, via the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources division, which includes the UCCE Master Gardener Program. The celebration runs through Friday, but the resources are available year-round.
New this year are a couple of excellent 45-minute talks that were presented live on Facebook and now are available on YouTube:
– “Healthy Soil: In nature, sometimes less is more,” by Mike Corby, a UCCE master gardener in Contra Costa County. He discusses the components of soil and why each is crucial. He also explains why it’s important not to disturb the soil environment too much, by tillage, compaction or – here’s a surprise – pulling out the roots of spent plants (such as tomatoes.) Better to cut them off at ground level and let the roots compost naturally in the soil environment, he says.
– “Harnessing the Magic of the Soil Food Web: Turning Dirt into Gold,” presented by Kit Veerkamp, a landscape architect and UCCE master gardener in El Dorado County. She notes how a healthy soil food web controls disease and keeps pathogens in check. She discusses composting and has some interesting things to say about the harm that weed cloth can cause.
I also recommend "Tips to Keep Your Garden Soil Healthy,” a talk from 2020 presented by Dustin Blakey, the Inyo/Mono counties' farm adviser and master gardener program coordinator. He notes that a huge percentage of gardeners load up their soils with excess amendments and nutrients, trying to find the perfect "recipe" for, say, their tomatoes or their cucumbers. "Focus on improving garden soil, and don't fuss about a single crop," he advises.
More soil resources:
This page from UCANR, Healthy Soils - Basics, has lots of great information, including a quick quiz to test how much you know about soils. Links there provide hours of reading material on soil, but here’s a list from that page with a quick summary of what healthy soil is and does:
A healthy soil will:
Clicking on the For Homes & Gardens tab on that page brings up more specific and very useful information for the home gardeners, covering topics such as common home soil problems, practices to improve home soil; soil pH and how to test it, soil texture, and amendments.
A week hardly seems enough time each year to cover the topic of healthy soils. But it’s worth exploring during the dark days of winter – your plants will appreciate it this spring.
Some of our winter garden topics you might have missed:
December rose care: Start pruning now
Garden checklist for week of Dec. 4
How cold is too cold for my citrus tree?
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Dig In: Garden Checklist
For week of March 26:
Sacramento can expect another inch of rain from this latest storm. Leave the sprinklers off at least another week. Temps will dip down into the low 30s early in the week, so avoid planting tender seedlings (such as tomatoes). Concentrate on these tasks before or after this week’s rain:
* Fertilize roses, annual flowers and berries as spring growth begins to appear.
* Knock off aphids with a strong blast of water or some bug soap as soon as they appear.
* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.
* Prepare summer vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.
* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.
* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.
* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit.
To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.
* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.
* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk.
* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and kale.
* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.
* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.
* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.
Sites We Like
Contact Us
Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com