What Does My Soil Need?
Some Simple Tests To Assess Your Land
Good soil is one of the basic requirements of successful gardening. If in doubt as to the nature of the soil in your garden, make a few simple tests. Armed with the knowledge you gain you will know how to care for your plants.
Test for Texture
Take up a handful of earth, or turn over a forkful, and see if the soil is light and crumbly. If it is, roots of plants will penetrate easily, air can enter the earth and sustain the myriad unseen organisms which make up healthy soil. If the soil is hard when dry, and sticky when wet — clay soil — work to get the texture right. Suggestions follow.
Test for Good Drainage and Good Water Retention
Look at the land after heavy rain, or dig a hole and ifil it with water. After an hour, if water is still lying in puddles on the surface of the soil, or the hole isn’t empty, the drainage is badly deficient.
To treat heavy soil, dig in as much organic material (compost, ground bark, well-rotted manure, coconut fibre or peat) up to 50 per cent of the total volume of each flower bed. In extreme cases don’t attempt to plant in the ground at all. Construct raised beds with good soil and good drainage, or use planters. Fortunately soil of this type is rare in Spain.
Perhaps your soil is sandy and water drains away extremely fast: again, add maximum quantities of organic material. This increases the ability of the soil to hold water.
Test for Acidity — the pH Factor
This measures whether soils can be classified as alkaline, neutral or acid.To test, an inexpensive meter is available for home gardeners. A pH of about 6.5 is ideal for general purposes.
Test for Chemicals
Soil test kits are also available, reasonably priced, which test not only for the pH factor but for the presence of other chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorous. Clear instructions make the use of either of these aids easy.
Organic and Chemical Fertilisers
Land that produces good crops, whether flowers, fruit, vegetables or lawn grass, requires added nourishment to make up for what is continually taken away. Organic fertilizers both nourish and also alter the texture of the soil. Chemical fertilizers don’t affect the texture, but only the nutrients that the soil contains.
You may wish to give your garden a supply of both. If tests show special needs, buy a chemical fertifizer to balance the deficiencies. (Remember when reading labels that the ingredient contained in the largest amount comes first, and thereafter components are listed in decreasing order.)
The Tools for The Job
The right tools make gardening easy, and a wide variety, both simple and sophisticated, can be bought in Spain.
Many gardeners, experts in their own countries, are uncertain how to set about getting the tools they need when they start to garden in Spain. Everything you need is available here. It is only necessary to know the Spanish name for what you want.
Go first to a good nursery garden, vivero, or a large store selling garden supplies. If they don’t stock what you want themselves they will be able to tell you where to go. As large gardening items are expensive and take up a lot of room, many firms keep only a skeleton supply but will order what you want from catalogues.
Many larger items are imported, which means that the instructions are often printed in English and two or three other languages. When buying a large item such as a lawn-mower, make sure that you can understand the service manual and also that back-up service facilities are available.
For a translation of most common garden tools see this article
Neem Oil
Neem oil is an environmentally friendly fertiliser, fungicide and insecticide, all rolled together into the perfect package – just one of many of Mother Nature’s miracles!
It is extracted from the azadirachta indica, more commonly known as the neem tree, a native of India, where it is locally known as the Divine Tree or Heal-All-Tree. Indian farmers have traditionally used the neem tree for centuries, extracting its many beneficial properties. It is used on a huge range of crop plants, primarily sugarcane, banana, coffee, tea, citrus, rice, cotton, turmeric, cardamom, pepper and various other herbs and spices as well as ornamentals. Because it is non-toxic, it is safe to use on all types of plants and cropping can take place immediately after application.
In the West we can buy neem oil from most garden outlets but, in India, they make much more use of it...