• Blog
    • General Gardening
    • Vegetables & Fruits
    • Gardening for Children
    • Gardening Videos
    • Trees
    • Landscape Design
    • Insect Pests
    • Weeds
  • Events
  • Gardening Videos
  • Resources
    • Gardening Guide
    • Online Resources
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • The Learning Garden
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • How to Become an Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
    • The Association
    • Contact Us
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
      • Sponsors: 2019 Garden Tour
      • Sponsors: 2019 WNC Gardening Symposium
  • Donate
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

soil content

A Recipe for Gardening Success: Start with Good Soil

January 19, 2017

In South Carolina Low Country kitchens, there is an inviolate rule when it comes to making shrimp and grits: Start with good shrimp. What does this have to do with gardening in Western North Carolina? Everything. To make a healthy, productive garden, start with good soil. 

Contents of good soil

What is good soil?
Think of soil as a mixture of solid material (minerals and organic matter), air, and water. The ideal soil contains 50 percent solid materials, 25 percent air, and 25 percent water.

Plant nutrients
Healthy plant growth depends on 18 nutrients in this mix. The primary nutrients include carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. Micronutrients are iron, chlorine, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, nickel, and cobalt. 

Fertilizers
Think of fertilizers as supplements. There is no substitute for starting with well-balanced soil, but fertilizers can provide elements that may be lacking in the soil and can stimulate plant growth. All fertilizers, synthetic or natural, slow or fast release, are labeled with three numbers:

  • N for nitrogen, responsible for foliage growth and color;
  • P for phosphorus, which promotes early root growth and the production of flowers, fruits and seeds; and
  • K for potassium, which helps with hardiness and disease resistance.

Use a soil test to determine what nutrients your soil may need. For more information about soil testing, see https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/testing-soil-advantage-free-testing-december-1-soil-sample-form-gardeners/.

Regardless of what kind of fertilizer you use, be sure to read the directions, use the proper proportions, and follow the manufacturers’ safety guidelines when applying.

Amendments
Compacted soil has too little air. Poorly drained soil holds too much water. Adding organic matter can help remedy both. North Carolina Extension soil specialists recommend adding about 2 inches of organic matter—compost, manures and pine bark (less than ½ inch in diameter)—to make up about 25 percent of the top 8 inches of your garden soil. For clay soils, they say composted leaves (leaf mold) and pine bark are best—they do NOT recommend hardwood bark, peat moss, pine straw, sand, or wood chips.

Putting it all together
When soil texture and nutrients are in the right balance, plants, beneficial insects, and bacteria thrive. Think back to that bowl of shrimp and grits. We’ve got fresh and flavorful shrimp, but what about the grits? The best grits are smooth and have a consistent texture. The same holds true for soil.

This means removing clods of clay and breaking up large clumps of dirt. The amendments and fertilizers are evenly distributed. Like a cake batter, your ingredients are well-mixed. Finally, rocks and debris are raked out and removed. The product is a luscious soil that is easy to turn, well-drained and rich in the elements that create a welcoming environment for your garden and all the organisms that support it.

Worth the work
When the days lengthen and temperatures moderate, our heads fill with spring dreams of fresh lettuce, rosy radishes, and sugar snap peas.  But before putting a seed in the ground, think of shrimp and grits. Work from the ground up: test the soil, then (like a good cook) add the necessary ingredients to make your soil the best it can be. It’s time well spent and your garden will show its appreciation all year long.

Article written by Janet Moore, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Resources
Useful NCSU Extension publications include:
“Soils and Plant Nutrients”
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/1-soils-and-plant-nutrients
“Soil Facts: Modifying Soil for Plant Growth around Your Home”
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/modifying-soil-for-plant-growth-around-your-home
“A Gardener’s Guide to Soil Testing”
http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/a-gardeners-guide-to-soil-testing
“Vermicomposting for Households”
https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/vermicomposting-north-carolina/vermicomposting-for-households/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Soils & Fertilizers Tags fertilizer, soil, soil content, soil test

Making Great Soil: Compost, Worms and More!

November 7, 2016

When gardeners meet, they greet each other with an endless flow of questions: “How are the tomatoes over your way?” or “Are your roses doing okay in this drought?” But you never hear “How is your soil doing?”Soil

Soil tests identify mineral content
Fortunately, one way to find out how your soil is doing is to do a soil test. Most gardeners think they need to add fertilizers to their soil to feed their plants. Experienced gardeners know that a soil test will help them pinpoint which specific nutrients—if any—their plants need, and in what proportions. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services provides free soil test boxes, instructions, and soil analyses for North Carolinians between April and November. There is a $4 charge per sample for those received December through March. Pick up boxes and instructions at the Buncombe County Extension office and then ship your samples to the lab in Raleigh.

Soil as a living organism
But soil tests only give you information about the mineral elements essential for plant growth. Mineral elements are a small part of what soil scientists, biologists, and plant specialists call the “Soil Food Web.” This web is an intricate interrelationship of earthworms, insects, arthropods, and microorganisms, such as beneficial nematodes, protozoa, fungi, and bacteria. Their job in the soil is to make mineral nutrients available to the plants, preserve soil moisture, improve soil texture by opening spaces for air, and continually replenish the soil through the decomposition and recycling of organic materials.

Be a composter!
The $64,000 question? How do we increase the organic content of our soils? One of the most common answers is through composting. Composting involves recycling of organic materials— grass clippings, leaves, small twigs, weeds, garden refuse, and vegetative food scraps—from your yard, garden, and kitchen. 

“Chop and drop”
In addition to creating a separate compost pile with such materials, you can use an in-place composting technique called “chop and drop.” Simply cut weeds, leaves, vegetable scraps from the kitchen, and so forth into small pieces. You can do this by running your lawn mower over them or chopping up things with a knife or shears as you gather them. Pull back the mulch in your planting bed, put down the chopped up stuff—cover with a sheet or two of newspaper if you want to help conceal the contents—water, and then put the mulch back over the drop spot.

Be a worm whisperer!
It’s possible to do double duty to improve your soil: recycle organic matter and become a worm whisperer! Two types of worms help improve our garden soil: Nightcrawlers  (Lumbricus terrestris), which dig deep vertical channels, aerating the soil and allowing for water penetration, and red wigglers (Eisenia foetida), which dig more horizontally, speeding the decomposition of the organic matter they eat. Both pass worm castings that are rich in nutrients for the plants and for the tiny microbes working within the soil. You can purchase red wigglers if you want to set up a worm-composting bin (also known as vermiculture).

Further reading
Useful Extension publications include “Soils and Plant Nutrients” https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/1-soils-and-plant-nutrients
“Soil Facts: Modifying Soil for Plant Growth around Your Home”
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/modifying-soil-for-plant-growth-around-your-home
“A Gardener’s Guide to Soil Testing,” which you can find online at http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/a-gardeners-guide-to-soil-testing
“Vermicomposting for Households”
https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/vermicomposting-north-carolina/vermicomposting-for-households/
A comprehensive book on the subject is Keith Reid’s Improving Your Soil, 2014 Firefly Books.
For fun, read Amy Stewart’s “funny and profound” The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earth Worms, 2004, Algonquin Books.

Article written by Mary Hugenschmidt, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Soils & Fertilizers Tags compost, earthworms, soil content, soil test

What’s the Dirt?

January 19, 2015

Seedling

Have you ever wondered what soil is and if that dirt in your yard is any good for gardening? Although Buncombe County has dozens of soil types, understanding soil basics isn’t that hard. All soils have the same ingredients: minerals, organic materials and the spaces between them, which are filled with air and water. Minerals—mostly weathered rock—make up the bulk of any soil. The smaller amount of organic matter comes from the decay of any living thing, plant or animal! In an ideal soil, half is solids, with equal amounts of air and water filling the space that’s left. This perfect soil provides support for plants’ roots, and the water and nutrients they need to grow.

Ideal Soil:soil piechart

Of course, it’s unlikely your patch of earth is faultless! The types of rock on a site, the land contours, and climate and biological processes combine to produce soil’s texture, mineral content and acidity (pH). For a plant, these soil characteristics may mean the difference between life and death.

Soil Image

Soil texture is related to the mix of sand, silt and clay particles and affects the ability of the soil to contain air and water. Buncombe County soil types tend to have more clay particles, making them finer-textured, able to hold too much water and susceptible to compacting.

On the plus side, minerals in clay particles are more chemically reactive than those in sand and silt, making them better able to hold nutrients. Buncombe County soils do tend to be acidic (low pH).This makes some of the nutrients, such as phosphorus,  unavailable, while releasing others that may be toxic to plants, such as aluminum.

Using plants that prefer the soil you have is an efficient and effective approach to gardening. You can improve your soil by increasing organic matter through mulching and adding lime to raise very low pH to more hospitable levels.

If you want to learn more about soils, a low-cost online course is available from NC Cooperative Extension at:
http://www.cvent.com/events/soil-101-introduction-to-soil-online-/event-summary-9ca01fc0ee194131b4bd580e097c692b.aspx

And 2015 is the International Year of Soils:
http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/infographics-details/en/c/271187/

Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Soils & Fertilizers Tags dirt, soil content, soil test

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,553 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Introduction to Botanical Dyeing, June 23
  • Wednesdays in the Learning Garden, June 22
  • Online Seminar: Heavenly Hydrangeas June 16
  • Gardening Video: Turf – Truth and Transformation
  • Gardening Video: Building a Wattle Gardening Bed

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Info Table
    • Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic
    • Garden Tours
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • NC Mountain State Fair
    • Plant Sales
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • Gardening Videos
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2022 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.