So you want to start a garden next year. Maybe you\u2019ve landed an allotment or have been saving a particular patch of yard, but beyond that you haven\u2019t given it much thought, yet. I mean, it\u2019s still winter, right? Or perhaps you already have a garden, but now that the growing season\u2019s over there hasn\u2019t seemed like a lot to do beyond clean up.\u00a0 Well, believe it or not, autumn is the best time to actually begin getting ready for your spring garden, and even now in mid-December it\u2019s not quite too late. They key lies with the soil.<\/p>\n
Most gardeners treat soil like an inert material that one simply \u201cpokes\u201d plants into.\u00a0 For others, it\u2019s something to be analyzed, conditioned, and somehow maximized for optimum plant nutrition, but not really seen as a living, active food web working symbiotically with the garden plants above.\u00a0 The fact is, soil is actually quite \u201calive\u201d and has far more life going on in its dark depths than we think. Believe it or not, the amount of life found in healthy soil far outweighs the amount of life going on above it. This life \u2013 worms, fungi, microorganisms, molds, insects, etc. \u2013 can supply a well-tended garden with just about all the fertilizer the plants will need. Effortlessly. All that\u2019s needed is a little understanding of what kind of home our subterranean friends. By adding more life to your soil right now, you\u2019ll be well on your way towards a hugely successful garden in the spring come planting time, regardless of which type of soil you\u2019re working with.<\/p>\n
No matter where you live in Britain, adding organic matter to your soil is the key to creating a healthy, living system, both above and below the ground. Organic matter keeps soil light and fluffy, allows for water retention and proper drainage, and releases nutrients slowly, in a way that plants can maximize. More importantly, organic matter provides the optimal living space for the hordes of soil organisms your plants depend on for full and healthy growth. Lucky for us, it\u2019s not too difficult to find the organic materials needed to create a rock star soil environment, and depending on the size of your garden, applying the materials is a breeze.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably already heard of using compost in your garden beds. That rich, humusy end product of decomposition provides a quick, organic boost to soil fertility that can\u2019t be denied. But if you\u2019re looking to create an entire living environment for soil life to thrive in, you\u2019ll have to do a bit more than sprinkle your beds with \u201cblack gold\u201d from your kitchen scraps. If you\u2019ve ever taken a walk in a forest, you\u2019ve probably noticed the ground covered with all sorts of leaf-litter and plant debris. If undisturbed, this organic matter slowly breaks down over time, both creating a wondrously rich humus and providing the perfect living environment for the soil organisms that help plants thrive. It also protects the soil from driving rain, compaction and extremes of temperature. Mulch in your garden does much of the same thing and can provide that magical element of effortless soil fertility your plants will totally appreciate come spring.<\/p>\n
Simply put, mulch is any organic matter that you place on top of your soil\/bed. \u00a0Unlike compost, you don\u2019t mix it into your soil \u2013 you just leave it on top. It\u2019s nature\u2019s way of composting in place and provides all of the nutrition of compost, while leaving the soil organism undisturbed and free to do their work. \u00a0Mulch can be as simple as covering your beds with a layer of leaves or straw in the fall to \u201cput them to bed,\u201d or as complex as the full sheet mulch approach laid out below. Either way, your soil life will benefit greatly, helping your plants to reach their full potential.<\/p>\n
Sheet mulching does all this plus it<\/p>\n
Sheet mulching is perhaps the quickest and most pain-free method of creating highly fertile new beds without digging, tilling or buying soil. (It can also be used on established beds.) In its simplest form, sheet mulch consists of weed suppressing sheets (usually cardboard or newspaper) with about 24 cm of organic material set on top of it.\u00a0 For a quick and simple sheet mulch, simply lay down sheets of newspaper or cardboard on top of your beds (or area you\u2019d like to create into beds) and cover those with a solid dose of autumn leaves. (If you\u2019re doing this in a greenhouse where it won\u2019t be getting rained on, make sure you wet everything to the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.) If you\u2019d like to create long-term soil nutrition, new beds, or you\u2019re working in a weed-rich environment, a layered sheet mulch will probably serve you better.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of different opinions on how to make the best soil through sheet mulch, but one of my favourites comes from a friend of mine, Toby Hemenway. Out of all the styles I\u2019ve tried, this one has given me the longest-lasting plant nutrition. It\u2019s resource intense, to be sure, and should be done in the fall for optimal spring planting, but most of these resources can be found for free or easily purchased. You can sheet mulch you\u2019re garden at any time, but with this method Fall\/Winter is the best, since it\u2019s easiest to plant into already decomposed sheet mulch. If you can\u2019t find one or more of the materials, don\u2019t worry \u2013 sheet mulch is very forgiving.\u00a0 As long as you have enough cardboard or newspaper and enough organic material you\u2019ll come out with great soil.<\/p>\n
Materials:<\/p>\n
Method:<\/p>\n
Putting this mulch in place in the fall or winter (i.e. at least three months before planting) will ensure that you have beds ready for spring.\u00a0 This type of sheet mulching tends to reach its peak of fertility around after three years or so, but it\u2019s easy to keep going. As it composts down, all you need to do is add more mulch to the top to keep the nutrients rolling. In the end, you\u2019ll have tremendously healthy beds that will keep your garden thriving for years, organically.\u00a0 And while it may be helpful to add compost or other organic boosts now and then, you shouldn\u2019t need to ever add synthetic fertilizers or herbicides \u2013 the rich living environment you\u2019ve just created will give the plants much of what they need and put you well on your way to the garden of your dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So you want to start a garden next year. Maybe you\u2019ve landed an allotment or have been saving a particular patch of yard, but beyond that you haven\u2019t given it much thought, yet. I mean, it\u2019s still winter, right? Or perhaps you already have a garden, but now that the growing season\u2019s over there hasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n