Good soil?

[harryandmarv]

We’ve done a lot of planting in the garden over that last month, a lot!

We made a rather large flower bed (12ft long, 2ft deep!) and filled it will soil that DH got from his farmer friend. I scattered some pebbles in the bottom. We’ve planted hostas and put our acer in and a cordyline and a couple of other plants. The soil is full of debris, stones, bits of bricks, twigs small rocks. Quite a lot of it actually. DH reckons it’s good soil, but I’m not so sure?

In another part of the garden we have a rose plant and while I was planting it, the soil was so compact, hard, again quite gravelly, I think it has sand or clay also.

I have seen worms in the soil, this is supposed to be a good sign? I’m just a bit worried as we’ve spent a lot on plants recently and I don’t want them to die!

It would take forever and a day to pick all the stones and stuff out the soil, so hopefully the plants will be ok and thrive!

I’m thinking of getting some bark to put on the flower bed, just so it looks a bit better !

Good soil has humus for water retention and a high level of nutrient. It’s possible in theory to have good soil in combination with debris. But debris could be indicative of soil that hasn’t been looked after.

Lack of worms would indicate a lack of humus and would be a warning sign

Don’t put bark on flowerbeds. It’s fine as a mulch under established woody shrubs, as it lasts a long time and is good at suppressing weeds, but it’s bad news on a flower border because the decomposition process takes nutrients from the soil - the opposite of what your border needs.

Better to mulch with composted manure (although don’t use this around plants that need a low nutrient soil, like lavender or sedum), or Strulch. This will suppress weeds, help with moisture retention and gradually add nutrients as it decays.

No need to pick out all the gravel and stones as these are good for drainage.