When reading up on what soil your plants need, you have probably come across the impossible phrase 'moist but well-drained' and puzzled over what that could possibly mean. The soil all gardeners want is loam, which has a mineral fraction of about 10-20 per cent clay, with the rest consisting of roughly equal amounts of sand and silt. The other major component of soil is organic matter, some of which is added to soils directly by plants, both from chemical exudates from roots and from the death of roots themselves. Dead organic matter also arrives at the soil surface, either directly from plants or via the compost heap.
Space, the final frontier
But arguably the most important part of soil is space, usually full of a mixture of air and water. Loam will typically have a pore space of about 50 per cent, but sandy soils are about 35-40 per cent space, while clays are 50-70 per cent space. If it seems paradoxical that poorly drained clays have more space than well-drained sands, the explanation lies in the size of the pores. Most pores in sandy soil are large transmission pores, which fill up with water when it rains, but quickly drain when it stops. In clay soils, however, a high proportion of pores are very narrow residual pores, which hold on tenaciously to the water they contain. A loam has a nice mixture of pore sizes, including plenty of intermediate-sized storage pores, which are good at both storing water and giving it up to plants when needed.
Esta historia es de la edición December 2023 de Gardens Illustrated.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 2023 de Gardens Illustrated.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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LAZY DAYS
Alice Vincent has had a hectic 2023, but for next year she's come up with a cunning plan to give herself more time and reduce her carbon footprint
SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPE
Charlotte Rowe's elegant design for a country garden in Hampshire fuses modern and traditional styles and captures the Zeitgeist for naturalism with a contemporary edge
Flavour of the seasons
Smallholder and former chef Julius Roberts suggests three easy, warming recipes for a winter feast with seasonal produce
JOINT ENTERPRISE
In southwest Germany, a couple have combined structural grasses and perennials with good seedheads in their garden to great effect, especially when touched by winter frost
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
There is a biodiversity loss crisis, but research into the wildlife found in gardens has made it clear just how important these spaces are as habitat. Discover how much you can learn, and gain, by identifying and documenting what you find beyond your back door
MATTHEW BIGGS
Horticulture's nicest practitioner on his journey from sweeping playgrounds to Gardeners' Question Time via offering gardening advice to insomniacs
YOUNG AT HEART
The garden of the late, great landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, which is more than 50 years old, is now being renewed by his children
PITTOSPORUM
These evergreen shrubs come in a multitude of sizes and shapes with shiny, often variegated or colourful leaves and small scented flowers
Festive flourishes
Entertain in style this Christmas with ideas for natural decorations from Swallows & Damsons
LUKE SENIOR
A former Ruth Borun scholar at Great Dixter, Luke is now one of the garden's full time gardeners