As we round into Autumn it’s the perfect time to give your soil a little TLC. I thought that this month’s blog was timely to talk about preparing and maintaining your soil to ensure the best yield from your garden. It’s important to start caring for your soil before any plants enter the ground.
My garden is now 3 years old and have found that it’s the preparation that makes all the difference for a successful plant. Planning on how you’re going to maintain nutrients in your soil is also important to remember. Our coir fibre mats can help with this key step.
To begin, we brought in some fresh garden mix soil and put it down where the trees were to be planted, then set up drippers, planted the Ornamental Pear trees, and put coir fibre mats around them to protect the soil and stop erosion.
The next rows that went in were small Hinterland Gold Lilly Pillies and some other shrubs; they have mats around them too. Then I scattered Cosmos seeds everywhere (I love cosmos, they are such happy flowers) and planted sunflower seeds. This was to have an instant garden display while waiting for the other trees to become established. We have trellis for roses and tomatoes and a veggie garden amongst it, but the cosmos act as a windbreak and nice colour while it's all getting established.
When the Cosmos look tacky, I chop and drop them back into the garden, where they self-seed, but in some patches, I put lawn clippings and animal manure on top of them to let it sit and break down, the sunflower stalks go to the chook pen for the chooks to pulverise it then it goes back out onto the garden bed of cosmos stalks.
I'm finding that under each cosmos crop, there are fewer and fewer weeds, and the soil is holding water better. The coir fibre mats are looking after the trees and shrubs that will grow and fill in, then there won't be as much room for the cosmos to grow, but the trees will create a protected area.
Why Cosmos - they grow in full sun from spring through to autumn and give beautiful colour. Kosmos in Greek means beautiful. They provide easy nectar & pollen; they are magnets for beneficial insects: lacewings, parasitic wasps, tachinid flies, & hoverflies that feed on many pest insects. They are easy to grow even in poor soils. Choose open-pollinated varieties, not hybrids.
A fantastic resource for all gardeners’ beginners or seasoned is Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA). They have numerous workshops, gardening tips and information about all things gardening.
This great article from SGA ‘To Chop’n’Drop or Not’ (https://www.sgaonline.org.au/to-chopndrop-or-not/) is a great article on the pros and cons of what to do in your garden when pruning.
We are of course here to help guide you in your gardening journey and have many products available to help with preparing your soil, as well as caring for the plants in it.
Our coir fibre mats are the perfect protectant for both plant and soil and will help to see your plants happy and healthy through all seasons.
If you have any questions about any of our products or would like some assistance on how to prepare your soil correctly for usage, please reach out.
Yours in growing,
Karen