Hello! I’m having a bit of trouble deciding what exactly to do at the moment in terms of our front verge (West facing in WA). I know that soil preparation is key, but I would love some ideas of how you would go about it. Thanks so much :)
Loosen the soil as deeply as you can manage (fancy way of saying dig it up). What you do beyond that probably depends on what kind of planting you are going to do. There are different requirements in terms of nutrition, organic matter and so on but allowing rapid deep root exploration is essential.
I’m with Peter. First step is deciding what kind of planting you want to do, as this will determine soil prep.. Actually, no. First step is finding out if your actually ALLOWED to plant your verge. Over here, in some cases, you’re not! Back to soil prep – if you want to plant local indigenous flora, you might not have to do any soil prep at all. If you want to plant tall, juicy perennials, you’ll need to dig in as much organic matter as you can muster. The first option sounds infinitely more sustainable. Tell us more about what you’re wanting
WA has gutless, sandy soils prone to hydrophobia; once the soil is hydrophobic no amount of compost or preparation will just simply sort that out. So first determine if water is actually capable of penetrating your soil and wetting it (rather than just running through). If it is that’s a great first step. If not a wetting agent is the best next step (easily available through places like Bunnings). The best next step to soil improvement in WA is the addition of clay in the form of Calcium Bentonite. Sandy soils are low in nutrients, organic matter and have very low water holding capacity. In WA a lot of people use a products such as Soil Solver (kaolin clay) to sort this out. You can also buy calcium bentonite to add clay to the soil (avoid sodium bentonite, which some people use, because it also adds salt to your soil) . Calcium bentonite works well. It is readily available in WA. After that composts and well rotted manures are also added to improve texture, structure, water holding capacity and nutrients. Some people go a step further and also add zeolite and spongolite (also used for amending soil texture). Some products you can buy contain all these ingredients. Just read the labels before use. Here is a link to a document that will also help. https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-constraints/soil-conditioning-non-commercial-growers (PS I don’t live in WA but have worked as an academic in the field of horticulture for many years).
All good suggestions, without a doubt. I would add a generous layer (75-100mm depth) of COARSE bark mulch to the list, to insulate the soil and help regulate the moisture levels. Avoid that shredded rubbish – it compacts down and repels water. Your dilemma will be made infinitely easier if you give careful consideration to the effect you want to achieve and the plants used to achieve it. We are blessed here in Perth with our free-draining soils/sands (stay with me here, I know many would sell their eye teeth to have more organic matter…). I have clients in Melbourne who would LOVE to grow WA natives but the soils are too heavy. (Conversely, I have clients here in Perth who would equally love to have a lush, green English-style garden. Sigh….). I think the trick is to spend time curating your plant list with species well suited to your site conditions – the initial labour and ongoing maintenance will be minimised and there’s the added benefit of creating habitat for local fauna species. There are extensive plant lists available for different areas of Perth available from SERCUL (South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare) as well as from our many local, independent nurseries. Most local councils are amenable to verge plantings, with conditions.
I would go for a few walks around the local area armed with picture this or similar plant ID app, see what you like that’s growing well and get planting. As to the soil you can’t go wrong with coarse leaf mulch after digging in some compost, manure or both. This will get it and your plants off to a good start. Right plant, right place will take care of the rest.
I agree with all the previous posts! Digging in compost and legume hay, then mulching made an enormous difference when I gardened in Perth. Now that I’m back on the farm near the coast we have deep ripped to alleviate compaction and amended hundreds of hectares of sandy soil with clay. The improvements have been dramatic.
Loosen the soil as deeply as you can manage (fancy way of saying dig it up). What you do beyond that probably depends on what kind of planting you are going to do. There are different requirements in terms of nutrition, organic matter and so on but allowing rapid deep root exploration is essential.
I’m with Peter. First step is deciding what kind of planting you want to do, as this will determine soil prep.. Actually, no. First step is finding out if your actually ALLOWED to plant your verge. Over here, in some cases, you’re not! Back to soil prep – if you want to plant local indigenous flora, you might not have to do any soil prep at all. If you want to plant tall, juicy perennials, you’ll need to dig in as much organic matter as you can muster. The first option sounds infinitely more sustainable. Tell us more about what you’re wanting
WA has gutless, sandy soils prone to hydrophobia; once the soil is hydrophobic no amount of compost or preparation will just simply sort that out. So first determine if water is actually capable of penetrating your soil and wetting it (rather than just running through). If it is that’s a great first step. If not a wetting agent is the best next step (easily available through places like Bunnings). The best next step to soil improvement in WA is the addition of clay in the form of Calcium Bentonite. Sandy soils are low in nutrients, organic matter and have very low water holding capacity. In WA a lot of people use a products such as Soil Solver (kaolin clay) to sort this out. You can also buy calcium bentonite to add clay to the soil (avoid sodium bentonite, which some people use, because it also adds salt to your soil) . Calcium bentonite works well. It is readily available in WA. After that composts and well rotted manures are also added to improve texture, structure, water holding capacity and nutrients. Some people go a step further and also add zeolite and spongolite (also used for amending soil texture). Some products you can buy contain all these ingredients. Just read the labels before use. Here is a link to a document that will also help. https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-constraints/soil-conditioning-non-commercial-growers (PS I don’t live in WA but have worked as an academic in the field of horticulture for many years).
All good suggestions, without a doubt. I would add a generous layer (75-100mm depth) of COARSE bark mulch to the list, to insulate the soil and help regulate the moisture levels. Avoid that shredded rubbish – it compacts down and repels water. Your dilemma will be made infinitely easier if you give careful consideration to the effect you want to achieve and the plants used to achieve it. We are blessed here in Perth with our free-draining soils/sands (stay with me here, I know many would sell their eye teeth to have more organic matter…). I have clients in Melbourne who would LOVE to grow WA natives but the soils are too heavy. (Conversely, I have clients here in Perth who would equally love to have a lush, green English-style garden. Sigh….). I think the trick is to spend time curating your plant list with species well suited to your site conditions – the initial labour and ongoing maintenance will be minimised and there’s the added benefit of creating habitat for local fauna species. There are extensive plant lists available for different areas of Perth available from SERCUL (South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare) as well as from our many local, independent nurseries. Most local councils are amenable to verge plantings, with conditions.
I would go for a few walks around the local area armed with picture this or similar plant ID app, see what you like that’s growing well and get planting. As to the soil you can’t go wrong with coarse leaf mulch after digging in some compost, manure or both. This will get it and your plants off to a good start. Right plant, right place will take care of the rest.
I agree with all the previous posts! Digging in compost and legume hay, then mulching made an enormous difference when I gardened in Perth. Now that I’m back on the farm near the coast we have deep ripped to alleviate compaction and amended hundreds of hectares of sandy soil with clay. The improvements have been dramatic.