Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 25, 2009 12:19 pm I am on very sandy land. To improve the soil before planting, I understand I need to add heaps of compost and dig into the soil, right? My questions are: - Do I add compost only to where I place each plant? or I should mix the compost all over the entire garden bed? - Powerfeed and seasol, should I add them before planting as well? - Cow manure and blood and bone, are they needed for natives? Thanks! Building Clarendon Brighton - Done and moved in Sept 2009 Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 2Sep 25, 2009 1:32 pm I'm at exactly the same point. - guy at great gardens workshop says the plant roots go absolutely everywhere across the whole block, so why do they and the compost sales guy suggest digging into + around hole of each plant? - do you get what you pay for with compost? - I'm inclined to think natives don't want the blood&bone, cow poo etc. Wondering if I should just chuck a 1/4 dose of native slow release fertiliser in the hole. - I also want to plant some flowering plums and citrus. Mum reckons they need trace elements as well. Do the natives? information overload!! Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 3Sep 26, 2009 12:58 am I have some flowering plums, Prunus Blireana. I have just added seasol, Olsen's green bio, blood and bone and some molasses to the soil, covered it with some free green mulch and in just over a week, the trees are loving life. They look fantastic! The leaves are a beautiful rich colour and very glossy. As far as natives are concerned, they thrive in the sandy soils anyway. They shouldn't need a native fertiliser as if you have some good organic soil, seasol, molasses etc, they should thrive on their own, without the need for fertilisers. Feed the soil not the plant, as it says in this fact sheet: http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFil ... dMulch.pdf Quote: "Native plants have adapted to these soil conditions and typically need little soil conditioning. To grow other plants such as ornamentals or food crops you need to improve the soil so that it retains nutrients and moisture and allows your plants to develop a healthy root system." Quote: The secret to a flourishing garden is well prepared soil...so be ready to get your hands dirty! The first rule of successful, low maintenance gardening is to feed the soil, not the plants. A well conditioned soil will support plants without the need for regular applications of chemical fertilisers, which can quickly leach through our sandy soils and contaminate groundwater and water ways. Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 4Sep 26, 2009 5:08 pm I used to think the same, about natives not needing much soil improvement (compost/fertiliser) until someone pointed out to me that natives are used to living in sandy soils, true, but ones with a hundred years of bush having grown on them and hence some organic matter, nitrogen etc in the soil - not pure washed sand like my new housing estate! Maybe I'll just stick to a little compost Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 5Sep 29, 2009 12:13 am Natives are not natives Where are they native too? Most you buy in retail garden centres are WA natives that have been hybridised to handle wet summers and heavier soils That means most are not true natives Anyway... Always prep your soil in some way. always The great gardens chap is dead right It is ideal to do the entire garden beds as part of you landscaping. That is what makes a massive difference 400mm or so deep is all you need when planting any plant. The roots do grow out, not down. Poor Horticultural training is why they say otherwise. many will say do it because a taxi driver said that is what you do and cabbies know everything! ...don't they? This business of digging a hole and pooring in soil is rubbish. All you get is areas of comparatively thin rich soil, the roots go straight through it and you may as well have not done it at all Even natives need soil prep. They sure as hell haven't seen local soils before and have lived the resort lifestyle right up until you buy it and chuck it the ground and tell it to grow or else! Like buying a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, then telling it to hunt lions or something because that is what it was bred to do! Many WA natives perform poorly in other states because they rely on our unique soil microbes for a healthy co-existence. In Eastern sandy soils they may still struggle so feed the soil folks and everything happens for you (fertilisers don't feed the soil, they feed the plant) Even local NSW natives will be best planted in wide shallow holes with good soil dug through to about 300-400m. Years of trouble free growth is likely after that In heavier soils, sands or fine gravels may need to be added instead to assist in drainage. I don't recommend the native planting mixes because sold nurseries because, well they are rubbish. Get a good certified organic soil bag or two, maybe some gravel or sand in some areas of Australia, get digging, get mulching and crack open a beer when it's done and watch it grow:) Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 6Sep 30, 2009 4:02 pm I have jsut started gardening so trying my hand at it. While planting my Natives i added gypsum along (as our soil is v clayey) A few months down i noticed one of the natives has started looking v dry and losing color. The lady at the nursery reckons adding gypsum & bloodn bone to the soil may have burnt the roots I hope it will still survive. Just thought of sharing this so it can be helpful. Nonie Re: Questions about soil preparation for natives 7Oct 01, 2009 1:06 am yep and not only that, gypsum will do next to nothing for years! It takes ages to do it's crappy thing. Another reason to use certified organic soils Nothing can beat the powers of humic and fulvic acids and the way it naturally breaks down clay soils and binds sandy soils Certified organic soils can also be planted into straight away and not harm the plants in anyway Blood and bone on the surface is excellent but not in the hole Let the water do all the work for you. It will take the goodies through to the root zone but it also feeds the soil more than the plant Thanks for your reply. I will just wait and see I guess. Trying to get some more information from our builder. 9 11727 I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 8270 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 24824 |