Essentials for any delightful garden

The basic essential of any delightful garden is healthy soil, and there are generally four different types of soil a garden has; clay, sand, silt, and chalk. You must first determine the type of soil that your garden has and then you must treat the soil according to reliable Gardening Advice.

Clay soil is the most likely kind of soil in the UK, and once most people discover that they have clay soil they automatically think it is not particularly good. Well that is quite the opposite clay soil is one of the best types of soil that you can have provided that it is managed properly. The key to having great clay soil is to add lots of organic matter. There are several products that you can buy to help the soil, and soil activators which have all the nutrients that your soil will need and it comes in a convenient 25kg sack. The best product, I find, is spent mushroom compost, this product contains massive amounts of lime which help the soil break down. If you find that your clay soil is extremely heavy then you may need to add some grit sand, which will help with the breaking down process.

Sandy soil is another problem, and as with clay soil organic matter is top of the Gardening Advice list. And again the best product would be the spent mushroom compost.

Silt soil is similar to clay but can contain high concentrates of acid and alkaline, so it is essential to determine the soil's pH first before you decide your first course of action. Although being a little tricky, Silt soil has the ability to grow a staggering array of different plants and flowers.

Chalk, is the most difficult soil to manage, it seems to be alright with perennial plants but, it does have a problem with acid-loving plants such as magnolias. Chalky soil is free draining so for this reason you need to add compost or peat.

Another crucial factor is soil drainage your garden should drain properly if you are finding little puddles of water then treatment is required. Digging can often solve drainage problems, but also adding organic matter or sand is an excellent tip.

Every garden needs worms they are the soils little helpers, and if you find you garden is lacking a few of these natural tunnelling machines you can try placing a few of them in the compost heap, after a couple of months you should have a very lively population.

Written by Matthew Thorns, an expert in vegetable gardening. For more great gardening advice head on over to www.organicvegetablegardening.co.uk