Improve your soil By Dorothy Dobbie
Fall is a good time to revitalize your soil.
W
hat to do now for springtime planting depends on what and where the planting is taking place. Requirements for container planters versus veggie growers versus perennial gardeners can be quite different. Container planters Perennials planted in pots can find a home in the garden at this time when it is easier to see where the open spots are. If your perennial is in a liner pot, plant the liner pot with the perennial in it; then you can simply lift the whole thing in the spring and put it back in the decorative pot. Annuals can be discarded on the compost pile or wherever. If there are garden beds, simply put healthy spent material on top of the gardens. The dead plant will break down over 12 • 2021
winter and add nutrition to the soil. Clean the pots. Get rid of any residual fungal or other unwanted residue. When was the last time the planting medium in pots was replaced? Chances are it has been two or three years or even more. Smaller blooms and more disease may also indicate that it is time for a change. This fall, empty all containers. Or, if they are very large, remove the top one-third of the material. Don’t discard all that valuable soil. Spread it on the lawn or over the garden beds. The earth fauna will soon regenerate the spent material, adding microbial life and bringing up nutrients from far below the surface. Lusher lawns and better plant growth will result. Either refill the containers now or Issue 1
wait till spring. Doing it now will allow the soil to settle over winter and leave plenty of potting room next season. Consider adding some natural garden soil to the pots, about 25 to 30 percent of the total. This will inoculate the material with life that will help plants grow next year. Adding compost to the mix will be even better. Perennial gardens The “perennial” discussion is whether to cut back plants in fall. To some degree, this will depend on the gardener’s sense of aesthetics and where they live. In Zone 3 gardens, the advice is to leave this chore till spring, but this advice is useful to more benign climates as well, unless you have had severe fungal or other disease this season. In that case, remove spent foliage and discard or localgardener.net
