New England Land Design

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The interface between soil and roots is the source of plant health. Poor soil conditions discourage a living environment. If the existing soil is poor or gardening is planned for an area, we need to work the soil. We prepare two types of soil, "Landscape Soil" or we will build "Garden Soil".

Landscape Soil is the soil we use for shrubs and trees. In these beds the existing soil is ammended with organic marterials such as peat moss or compost, sand to increase drainage or clay to increase the soil's water holding capacity.

Garden soil is developed for areas where perennials and annuals will be planted. These soils are more intensive with the addition of mico- and macro-nutrients, lime stone, bloodmeal, bonemeal and baterial inoculant. Producing these conditons now create a much healthier soil and make it much easier to change out and refresh the garden later.

The first step in landscape or garden soil preparation is to do a soil analysis. As New England soils tend to be acidic, a (ph Test) is done to determine if it is within the 6.2 to 7.0 ph range, where nutrients are most available to the roots.

Earthworms serve as a good barometer for healthy soil, the more the better. Soggy ground tends to become compact and compacted soils will shed water as well as prevent oxygen and fertilizer from reaching the roots. The opposite situation occurs where soil is too granular allowing water to flow through quickly parching the plants.

Living organisms from earthworms, soil fungi and bacteria all have a roll in feeding plants and each type does its part to transform the organic particles into nutrients for plants. When finished a garden soil will have a granular texture to allow water to easily pass through it without getting too soggy.

The result along with some followup gardening work is a wonderful, flourishing garden.