Service difficulties
and emergency
service: 13 20 90
Improve Your Soil
So you've checked the soil in your garden and discovered it's sandy or clay - or a mixture of both.
It's easy to improve sandy and clay soils to make them more like loam soil - the best soil for your garden. One of the simplest ways to do this is by adding well decomposed organic material such as compost or composted manure.
Improving sandy soil
Sandy soil is usually easy to work with - all you'll need is a garden fork and some good quality fine compost. Fine compost particles tend to stick better to sand particles, and it's easy to separate the finer particles from your compost using a sieve. Keep the leftover coarser particles as they're perfect for use as surface mulch.
To work out how much compost to get (if you haven't made your own!), begin by measuring the soil area in square metres and dividing that by 20. This will give you the amount of compost you need in cubic metres. Once you have your compost, simply spread it over your soil area in a layer about 50 millimetres thick.
All you need to do now is to dig it in to a depth of about 25 centimetres. To protect your soil even more from moisture loss, add some mulch to the surface when you've finished.
Improving clay soil
Clay soil can be difficult when it comes to digging, so you may need to wait until it's moist enough to break up easily with a hoe or mattock.
It's important to gauge the right moisture content before digging - too wet and it will turn to mud, too dry and it will turn to powder.
Check the moisture content by taking a handful of soil and squeezing it firmly. It should be moist but if water drips out, it's too wet. Once you've loosened your soil, the next step is to add a good quality coarse compost. Clay soil will also benefit from gypsum or hose-on liquid lime, clay breakers or other groundbreaking agents, which help to aerate the soil.
To work out how much compost to get begin by measuring the soil area in square metres and dividing that by 20. This will give you the amount of compost you need in cubic metres. Once you have your compost, simply spread it over your soil area in a layer about 50 millimetres thick.
All you need to do now is to dig it in to a depth of about 25 centimetres. To protect your soil even more from moisture loss, add some mulch to the surface when you've finished.