Follow our Chelsea Journey & Get to Know your Soil Better

In Autumn 2022, we will be installing The New Blue Peter Garden: Discover Soil at The RHS Garden Bridgewater, Worsley. Before then, we will launch the garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.

At Juliet Sargeant Gardens & Landscapes’ studio, we have been designing this garden for the last year. Now, I plan to share the experience of the last few months of preparation with you. I’ll explain how we plan, build and plant the garden, ready for the big reveal on Monday 23^rd May.

You can follow the full story of the design at www.julietsargeant.com, but here on the Sussex Garden School blog, I will focus on what I have learned about soil during my research. Soil is so mundane in many ways, and yet it is also so complex – amazing!

I’ll give you tips, insights, ideas and advice on how to get to know your own soil and use that knowledge to improve the health of your garden and the vitality of your plants.

First step ……. go into your garden and have a look at the soil….really look! The topsoil is the upper layer where most of the plant roots grow and most of the animals live too. It is usually darker than the lower layers, because of the organic material that has rotted down into it over the years. This is the area, where, for gardeners, most of the action happens.

Topsoil can become depleted of structure and nutrients, if we don’t look after it. What condition is your topsoil in?

Having had a look at the colour of your soil, try feeling it: rub it between your fingers. If it feels gritty then it has a significant number of sandy particles in it. If it clumps together easily in your fist and keeps its shape, then it is a clay soil. It if has a moist, loosely crumbly texture, like a fruit-crumble topping then it is a loamy soil. Many soils have a mixture of these, but it is the predominant character that you want to note. Also, how moist or even wet is it – not just after it’s rained, but generally, over time. Does it tend to hold water, or drain rainwater away quickly?

Two other clues will tell you quickly how healthy your soil is: firstly, what are the signs of life? Are there worms, bugs and other minibeasts – that’s a good thing😊 And, then the ‘acid test’ is how your plants are doing; do they look happy, or do you struggle to keep things alive? If your plants are pale, thin, flowering poorly and sickly-looking, then the chances are that they are not getting what they need from the soil. You can learn a lot about your garden from just looking.

However, there is one chemical test that is worth doing. This may take you back toy your school days; in science lessons. Every soil has a pH value – that is how acid or alkaline it is. It is important to know this, because some plants need acid soil and others are not really bothered. You need to know the pH so that you can choose the right plants for your soil (there is little point in trying to change the pH – it is what it is).

You can buy a pH testing kit for a few pounds from the garden centre and it is easy to do. Just add the liquid to a sample of your soil and it will change colour. Then you match the colour to the swatches in the pack and it will give you the pH number of your soil. It is worth testing the soil in a few places around the garden, because it may vary.

This basic information from observation and a simple pH test is usually all you need to know about your garden. Now you can look at choosing the right plants for your soil conditions and if necessary, improving the soil to help them grow.