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Adding Organic Matter to Your
Garden
by Jody Taberner
Any soil type-clay, sand or loam-will benefit from the addition of
organic matter. In a clay soil, the addition of organic matter opens up
the tightly packed particles, allowing for water and air to penetrate
easier.
In a sandy soil, organic mater adds nutrients and body to the soil,
improving its capacity to hold water. Loam is what is considered the
ideal soil. The addition of organic matter will keep it in the best
shape, attracting worms into your soil and keeping it rich and healthy.
So what sort of organic matter is best? Any and lots of it. Manure,
straw, hay and compost. When it comes to manure, unlike vegetables,
fresh is not best. Fresh manure might not do much harm to your soil but
it can burn or kill your plants.
Be especially careful of fresh chicken manure, let it age for at least
12 months to let out some of the ammonia and uric acid. Also be careful
of applying large amounts of chicken manure to sandy soil, as it can
possibly cause potassium toxicity. Personally, I like cow manure and
horse manure. They are milder and have a greater amount of fibrous
material in them. If you are collecting the manure yourself, check with
the owner that the manure making machines haven’t been wormed recently,
as parasitic worming chemicals not only kill intestinal worms, but kill
the good old, hard working garden worms as well. Straw and hay are
normally used as mulch before they are dug into the soil after they
decompose somewhat. This is the best way to use straw and hay and you
get two uses for the one price. Most straws and hay add little or no
nutrient value into the soil, but are great for improving soil
structure. If you got for pea straw or lucerne hay, both of these have
the benefit of adding nitrogen as well as structure.
Compost is probably the best addition of all, with the bonus that you
can make it yourself. It has already decomposed, so there is no
temporary lock up of the nutrients or minerals in the soil while it
breaks down. It doesn’t matter if it is home made or store bought, just
keep adding it to the soil year after year. In stores, you are likely to
come across two types of compost-garden mix and mushroom. Garden mix
compost is usually fairly neutral as gar as the pH goes, but mushroom
compost tends to be on the alkaline side, so should be avoided in beds
that contain acid loving plants like azaleas and camellias. Also avoid
it if our soil is highly alkaline naturally. When you feed your plants,
keep in mind the organic fertilisers made from a mixture of manure, bone
meal, straw and hay. They not only feed your plants a balanced diet of
the essential nutrients and minerals, they will also benefit the soil
structure as they break down. Where as chemical fertilisers give no
benefit to the soil, and often give a harsh, sudden feed, leading to
soft growth that is delectable to insect pests. Worm castings are
another great organic addition and are a brilliant way to recycle your
kitchen scraps.
A worm farm is easier, quicker and more practical for many people over
composting and you won’t end up with a pile of sludge or rock hard
rubble if you get the layering, watering or aeration wrong. Organic
matter is the way to go if you want to improve your soil. There are
chemical alternatives that will give you a quick fix for a limited time,
but a natural solution is best to get your soil up to scratch and keep
it that way.
About the author
Jody Taberner
Plantsearch.com
Nursery. Jody has been in the horticultural industry in Victoria for
close to ten years.
She ran her first nursery at 25 while studying horticulture through the
University of Melbourne. From there she moved on to work in three
diverse nurseries in Melbourne and the country, two of which she
managed. Jody also wrote a weekly gardening column for The Weekly
Advertiser for five years while running a small local nursery in
Horsham.
Currently Jody is teaching horticulture at the University of Ballarat,
Horsham campus and is the resident Horticulturalist on ABC Western
Victoria's Monday gardening program.
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