Improving soil quality in Autumn months?

The soil in my garden was not the best when we moved in. Its changed vastly in appearence over the years though as Ive grown plants & shrubs as well as mix in compost and sand.

In the Autumn/Winter months is there any value in my treating the soil further by applying blood, fish & bone as well as general composts?

With a lot of garden centres selling off compost and fertilisers to free up shelf space from xmas decorations is it worth while buying them to throw in your borders?

Thanks,

 

Well IMHO it would be worth buying them, for the fact that they will be cheap

Now when to actually use them would be answered by a Gardener, of which I am only a beginner

My guess would be to buy them now and use them in Febuary.

Jack McH

 

Just last sunday I dug 3 sacks of mushroom compost into one soil along the front boundary of the house. The soil there is not so bad, but I'm putting a hedge in as soon as bare root seasons comes, and figured the compost (which is more nutrient rich that ordinary general purpose compost) will just help the young trees to settle in when I plant them.

 

What about leaves? Are they ok to be swept from the lawn and allowed to decompose in borders or should they be set aside in a heap to cure before being applied to borders?

Leaves are the bain of my parents life in their garden with high trees all around them- but the soil is lovely and black in texture- so much so that Ive stolen a fair bit from their garden

 

If you've got perennials in there, the leaves will just act as a nice cosy blanket to protect them, and ultimately break down to give the lovely rich dark compost you describe.

However, it should be noted that some leaves take longer to break down than others, and some affect the pH of the soil. I think as a general rule of thumb, non-waxy leaves of deciduous trees are good. Waxy leaves take longer to break down and can turn the soil acidic.

 

I'm proud my Son, I remember when you were dangling your toes into the Gardening pool, fully fledged Gardening Jedi you are now

 

I use well rotted organic manure in autumn, and also use it as a thick mulch around the roots of plants/shrubs

I have planted several palms at some of my client's homes ... (fortunei and a few chamaerops) ... I have already added a thick mulch of bark and added a 3-4 inch thick mulch of well rotted organic farmyard manure around the bases

this is all the winter protection I do on the palms ... and have not lost one in 3 years

on another forum, some guys are using fleece, lights, etc ... I have also stopped feeding all the shrubs/plants with fertilizer so as to harden them off for winter, and have reduced watering

today, (if it stops raining here in Cambs), I will be giving a small lawn one last treatment before spring ...

I will mow, scarify, mow again to clean up, ... then aerate with a garden fork, and I have bought 2 boxes of bonemeal which I will add to the grass (3,5-17-0) ...

from what I understand, lawns need very little or low nitrogen and high P at this time of year so as to strengthen the roots

I will (hopefully) not mow this lawn again until spring

 

winter will be here in week (or so I understand from what I have read) ... I'm not too concerned about the nutrients, but am more concerned about the cold, so I mulch with a thick layer of manure

as for lawns, I am only using bonemeal (not fish/blood and bone) ... I'm still learning, but what I understand is that lawns need a low nitrogen and high P fertilizer in autumn, so as to strengthen the roots ... bonemeal is 3.5 - 17 -0 and is slow release

 

So can I use virtually any compost as a mulch? Will I concentrate it around the base of shrubs or does it have to cover the entire border to be effective?

My parents burn all their leaves throughout autumn because they have so many- its a daily job- could I just use them as a cheap mulch or would compost be better as its already degraded?

 

as far as I understand:

mulch (when used as a winter protection from the cold) is used around the base/roots of the plant and compost is better than newly fallen leaves ...

some use bark chips as a mulch to supress weeds

for mulching (for the cold), I prefer manure ....

if you are looking at improving the soil quality, it may be better to add compost or manure over the whole bed

 

Hi Kriss

To note , using multi purpose compost to mulch around plants be careful as the multi purpose will realy hold the water and for some plants will hate this , so depending on the plant use bark instead, still has all the qualities you want but drainage will improve .

Didt wont to jump this thread as you have been given realy good answers.

Spruce