Here’s the Dirt: Picking the Right Soil for Your Garden

Are you a plant lover or a person that enjoys gardening? Growing plants successfully starts from your choice of soil going all the way to how you maintain your plants. Healthy soil will provide nutrients for your plants, promoting healthy growth. The first thing you need to do is ensure that the soil is optimized to grow plants. So how do I choose the right garden soil? If you have a home testing kit, it will tell you the pH or the nutrient levels of your soil. Here are a few gardening tips from a florist on picking the right soil for your plants.  

Garden Soils

The first basic ingredient for your garden is the soil. Your current soil most likely lacks the right components or nutrients for a prosperous garden. Adding garden soil will help rectify the issue. Garden soils are ideal for many different types of plants and gardens, including herbs, flowers, lawns, fruits and vegetables. Specialized garden soils can improve drainage, soften hard clay or buffer the pH.

Potting Mix

Plants that grow in raised beds or pots have different needs than plants that grow on the ground. You have to ensure you pick the best potting soil for outdoor plants if they are to do well. The advantages of potting mix include:

  • Providing enough air for roots to breathe and grow.
  • Helping retain moisture around the roots of the plants.
  • Supporting the plant by providing anchorage for the roots.

To help perform the functions mentioned above, a potting mix will contain materials like rice hulls, perlite and coconut fibers.  

Planting Mix

When planting a bush, tree or shrub, you will want to enhance the quality of the soil in the planting hole. However, remember that a planting mix is not a replacement for soil but rather a soil amendment. It will help improve the structure of your soil and give your plant a good start for successful growth.

Fertilizers

Maybe your home is standing on unfertile soil, meaning it does not have enough nutrients or balanced pH levels. Fertilizers can help rectify the issue. It will improve the fertility of the soil, hence providing nutrients for your plants. However, you need to choose your fertilizer carefully. There are fertilizers that will do more harm than good, depending on their ingredients. Chemical fertilizers can leech the soil of any beneficial organic matter needed for sustainable growth. On the other hand, organic fertilizer has natural materials that will enrich the soil with the necessary nutrients.

Organic Mulch

Do not just use any type of mulch. Go with organic mulch that will discourage weed growth, keep the soil cool, enhance the look of your garden and reduce the watering needs. And when that organic mulch starts decomposing, it will add even more nutrients to the soil.

At The Delicate Daisy – House of Flowers, we understand how nutritional soil plays a role in producing healthy plants and flowers. We are a floral shop that only supplies healthy flowers and custom bouquets for any occasion. You can give us a call, and we will be glad to serve you.