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Show Page 16 Orem-Geneva Times Home and Garden Supplement March 25, 1992 PREPARING GARDEN SOIL By Duane Hatch, USU Extension Horticulturist A good garden soil is deep, loose, fertile, well-drained, near neutral, and has a lot of decayed organic mailer. The ideal is seldom available, so ihe good gardener may have to improve what is at hand! Vegetables and olhcr plants will grow satisfactorily with a wide range of soil types from sand to clay if certain steps are followed for overcoming their basic short-comings. Utah garden soils are almost all alkaline to some degree. On a scale with pH 7 being neutral, many vegetables will grow quite well from 6.0 to 8.4. Samples submitted to the USU Soil Testing Lab will determine the pH, salts concentration and level of nutrients. You will be sent a fertilizing guide. The cost is $ 1 2 and sampling information is available from the USU Extension office in your county. HAULING SOIL In most instances you arc bctlcr of f to work wilh the soi Is thai you have. You know what their problems arc. Hauled in soil may not be any better than that in your yard. It could be a source of noxious weeds that you don'thave. If you need to cover a rock or coarse gravel bed or raise the level of a yard area, "fill" may be needed. It may or may not improve an area in which you wish to grow plants. TIMING Many gardeners are impatient and damage the soil structure by rushing the season. Soils that gardeners call "gumbo" or "adobe" are usually a loam type that one tries to prepare too early. Test this way: take a handful of soil from a 3 inch depth. Squeeze it firmly in the hand. Drop it on a side-walk. Unless the hall shatters, do not try to rototill. You'll get hard clods and preparing a good seedbed will be difficult. As you use soil improving techniques discussed later, you can hasten the gardening time. MIXING When the soil has dried sufficiently, spade or rototill to a depth of about 6-8 inches. Garden soil doesn't need to be "Hour-fine." Leave marble-sized particles and enisling will not be as severe as wilh over prepared soil. You'll need to use a rake to pulverize clods. Level and compact the soil for a firm seedbed. The final soil surface should be as level as possible for uniform water penetration. SOIL IMPROVEMENT Clay soils have the ability to hold moisture well (often loo well) and usually contain more nutrients than light soils. They dry slowly in the spring so early planting of crops is not possible. Walcr penetration is slow so irrigation water often runs off instead of entering the root zone. Sandy soils arc easy to work but have low water holding capacities, so plants may suffer from moisture stress in hot weather. Nutrients may be lost as irrigation water moves downward through ihc soil. These almost opposite drawbacks of bolh soil types can be corrected by the same technique adding organic matter. Fine clay particles can be physically separated by coarse organic material. Nutrient and walcr holding qualities of sandy soils can be increased. As the organic mailer breaks down, its components continue to have soil improving characteristics. Begin by incorporating 2 to 3 inches of organic matter 6 to 8 inches deep. This application will not last forever and you should plan to add about 2 more inches each year. Wilh heavy soils, you'll need two or three years to see much of an improvement Summer mulching or compost addition will be helpful. SOURCES OF ORGANIC MATTER You will need a lot to do the job so look for abundant, inexpensive inex-pensive materials. Leaves from deciduous trees may be gathered in the fall for composting andor soil incorporation. Needles from conifer trees may also be used. Bark, sawdust, saw-dust, shavings, and other wood products are less likely to contain weed seeds than are manures. Peatmoss is an excellent material, high in organic matter and somewhat acidic. Cost is a major factor for the quantities needed. Manure may be available and is an excellent source of organic matter. If well handled, it may contain substantial nutrients when used in sufficient quantities. It may also be a source of viable weed seeds that survived the trip through the animal's digestive tract. Straw, depending on the kind, may also create weed problems. Grass clippings, green manure crops and kitchen vegetable trimmings may be used. These tissues are mostly water, their cells are not mature and don't contain the lignin and waxes which produce pro-duce long term soil improvement Grass clippings are an excellent material to mulch the garden soil surface to reduce weed problems and to conserve moisture. Don't apply a lot at once. A one-half inch layer will dry out quickly and not get slimy. 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