Beginner Gardening Tips Blog

In the past, without really understanding what my soil needed for my plants to thrive, I would spread a few bags of top soil on my gardens in spring and call it a day. But I’ve been reading about pH levels and the importance of composting and mulch that I don’t know where to begin. So I turned to Anne Marie to seek advice on how a budding gardener should prepare her soil.

Here is Anne Marie’s advice:

• For most plants, pH is less of a concern than the type of soil present. Most plants are fine with soil that is slightly alkaline all the way to slightly acidic. It is only when soils are very acidic or very alkaline that some plants will struggle if they’re growing in a type of soil that is not suited for them.
• For example, acid-soil loving rhododendrons growing in very alkaline (limestone based) soils. Most plants are tolerant of a relatively wide range of soil pH values.
• Test your soil for its pH level if you are curious. Horticultural lime or garden sulphur are the most often recommended products applied to alter the soil acidity level.
• PH aside, compost is excellent to add to the soil. Make sure it is from a reliable source.
• Three to five centimetres of compost added each spring is a great soil enrichment program.
• Then place a layer mulch on top of the compost.
• An undyed organic mulch is great if only a small layer of compost can be added or if compost is only added every other year. The organic mulch (shredded pine bark, pine needles, cedar mulch, etc.) will break down over time and become part of the soil. Therefore it should be topped up every year.
• My advice is to leave the existing soil alone and work on adding compost to it each year, with the addition of a mulch topping. This is a much easier task to build a “raised bed” than dealing with clay, for example, and fighting the battle to change the soil composition.

So with this helpful advice, my next step is to apply a layer of compost to my beds.

While looking through reader comments in articles recently, I saw that someone had commented on Lorraine Flanigan’s article Blanket your garden with a cosy winter mulch. The question was whether or not you can use sawdust to cover your bulb beds. I wasn’t sure how to answer this question, so I consulted Anne Marie. Here is what she had to say:

The sawdust will add another layer of insulation in addition to the soil and protect the bulbs during winter.  However it should be removed or amended in the spring. Sawdust is a high carbon source (almost 40%) and when it decomposes in the garden it can divert microorganisms from helping plants obtain valuable nitrogen fertilizer. It can easily cause a nitrogen deficiency when it is breaking down as a result. This can be compensated for by adding additional nitrogen from fertilizer (for the plants) while the sawdust decomposes.  The estimated carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio for sawdust and wood chips is 500:1 while composted manures are usually in the 17-50:1 range. A C:N ratio of 30:1 is considered ideal.  Sawdust can be used in the garden, but after it has been composted. Use it in a compost pile with lots of “greens” to provide the offsetting nitrogen source.  The nitrogen sources can be lawn clippings, vegetable kitchen waste, garden refuse but not leaves which are another carbon source.  Some gardeners just pile the sawdust in the back corner of their yard and let it sit for a year and then it should be safe to use. So, remove it before it robs too much more nitrogen from the soil, put it in a pile in an out of the way place and add a high nitrogen fertilizer throughout to help with the decomposition process.

There is a monster tree next door that loves to wait until the very last minute to drop its leaves. Last year we waited and waited and raked as much as we could and then that last big deluge happened just as we got our first snowfall. I was wondering if this is bad for my grass and gardens or if the leaves make a good mulch.

Definitely no leaves should be left on the lawn, says Anne Marie. They will smother the grass and could contribute to more overwintering diseases. Particularly bad are wet clumps of maple or oak leaves (we’ve got a maple!).

A layer of leaves (about 7 cm) can be left on the vegetable garden over winter and worked into the soil in the spring. A 5 cm layer of leaves can be left over the soil in the flower garden as long as no perennials are covered. Shredded leaves would be better, if available.

So lesson learned for this year. Even if we need snowsuits, I should still try to get as many leaves up off that grass as possible—and be sure not to drown my perennials.