Care for the soil to care for plants

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 614, 28 November 1995, Page 8

Care for the soil to care for plants

Dare we hope that summer has arrived at last? It seems that everyone was making the most of the recent fine warm weather to be busy around the garden. The warmth of the sun and the wind can dry things out very quickly (great for the washing) so watch those newly planted seedlings if we don't get more rain. The tiny roots will be searching for moisture and they will flag very' quickly without aconstant supply of water. Hanging baskets especially if exposed to the sun will need to be kept watered well, maybe two or even three times a day if the weather continues hot and dry and the garden hose will be doing overtime. House plants too will dry out much more quickly and the tender new growth will very soon wilt if left without water. With garden centres displaying a fascinating range of potted perennials, seedlings and shrubs it is very easy to go home with an exciting selection of plants which you never really intended to buy. This weather, new plantings are best made in the cool of the evening or early morning but until they are planted store the plants in a cool shady place and keep them well watered. Hot sunshine on plastic bags and containers can be lethal to the root system of young plants and left to dry out in the hot sun may take a long time to recover. Soil cover An established garden has the advantage of larger trees and shrubs to provide shade, helping to keep the moisture level in the soil, but new gardens with young plantings will need a little help. Provided that the soil has a good soaking first, a layer of mulch over the surface of the soil and around the young plants has the added advantage that the mulch will gradually break down to nourish and improve the structure of the soil. For new gardeners faced with the prospect of a large bare expanse of ground and nothing to put on it this may seem a little daunting but there are a number of things that can be used as a mulch. Well conditioned compost is perhaps one of the best but this will be in short supply in a new garden although it can be bought commercially and has the added advantage that it has (or should have been) sterilised, but for a large area this could prove expensive. Garden waste which has been put through a shredder makes a good mulch and gardeners with one of these useful appliances quite often get more material than they can use themselves at anyone time. Lawn clippings if not too freshly cut can be used, old straw from animal houses, sawdust as long as it comes from timber which has not been treated with chemicals and even thick layers of newspaper can be used. All these things will gradually break down and in turn nourish the soil but in doing so will leach the nitrogen from the soil and deprive the young plants of this. To avoid this leaching add a dressing of a high nitrogen fertiliser such as blood and bone, spreading a few handfuls to the square metre. Bark chestnut Now we come to the old chestnut of bark being used as a weed free mulch. Fortunately the old habit of laying thick plastic sheeting over the surface of the soil before putting on the bark seems to have been replaced by the use of weed matting which allows the soil to breathe and prevents it turning sour. A thick layer of newspapers will act as a good weed suppressant for a time but this of course will gradually be absorbed into the soil and up will come the weeds again. Having to grow up through the bark, the rooting systems will be nearer the surface of the soil and be easier to eradicate. Or a squirt of weed killer as they appear will soon dispose of them. In this area large quantities of bark are usually obtained directly from the sawmill and if this is obtained from freshly milled log it needs to 'weather' for two or three months or more depending on the type of bark before it is used. Fresh bark contains toxins which can be lethal to young plants and these need to be washed away by wind and weather before the bark is spread on the garden.