Category: Outdoors

Dig some holes, see what you’ve got

Most gardeners know that success in the garden depends on many factors: You can’t grow a sun-loving plant in a shady area, for example. And a shrub that loves wet places won’t do well in dry soil. But the key to success is really the quality of your soil. Not only that, any soil can be improved with some help from you, the gardener.

Ten thousand years ago the glaciers made a final pass over New England, grinding rocks into sand and smaller bits that became sandy, clay and loam soils. Soil is made up of roughly 45 percent ground rocks, 5 percent organic matter, and the other 50 percent is air. Surprisingly, plants get their oxygen through their roots, not leaves.

Of course if you have been driving your car over the lawn, it is compacted and has much less air. Even walking regularly over the ground will compact the soil, which you should avoid, especially when the soil is wet. Compacted soil not only has less oxygen, but also is tough for roots to penetrate, and it is more likely to be waterlogged. Crabgrass does much better than planted grasses in compacted soil.

An easy test for soil compaction in your lawn is to take a screwdriver with a 6-inch shaft and see if you can easily insert it into your soil. If not, the soil is seriously compacted. A lawn with compacted soil will improve if you spread a half-inch layer of compost over it every year. Earthworms and other soil organisms will slowly move it into the soil, improving it. Flower and vegetable beds can be loosened with a fork or hand tool.

It makes sense to get a soil test done every three years to see if your soil is improving with your efforts. Your state extension service has a lab that will test your soil for a fee. Get the home garden test, which will tell your soil pH (acidity), mineral content, organic matter content and soil texture. If your vegetable garden is near the house and it was built before 1978, get the soil tested for lead (the law prohibiting lead in paints passed in 1978). Some states include testing for lead for free in the standard test.

By adding compost or aged manure to your soil in the garden, you will increase the percentage of organic matter and improve soil texture or tilth. You should have at least 4 percent organic matter, and 8 percent is terrific. I add compost every time I plant anything, even though my soil is excellent. Good compost contains lots of living bacteria and fungi that help plants.

Your soil test will not tell you how much nitrogen your soil has, as that number varies daily according to moisture levels and temperature. But if you have plenty of organic matter, it probably has adequate nitrogen. Still, I add some slow-release organic fertilizer when planting anything except annual flowers. Organic fertilizer (unlike most chemical fertilizers) provides nitrogen and other nutrients slowly, rather than all at once. This encourages healthy growth, not a fast spurt of green growth.

Two simple tests you can do involve digging holes. Dig a hole with straight edges down at least a foot to see the soil profile. The top layer will be darkest, as that is where the topsoil is — maybe just 2 inches, or maybe as much as 6 inches. The deeper the topsoil, the better. Adding compost and working it in will increase the quality of the soil; the top 6 inches of soil is where most plant roots are (except for trees).

The next layer is subsoil, which is a different color, perhaps a light brown or reddish brown. Finally, you may get to a layer of sand, gravel or clay. Sand or gravel will help your soil drain well; clay will act like a barrier, holding water. If the soil stays wet much of the year, it will be gray.

Drainage is important for most plants. You can test this by digging a hole 24 inches wide and about 8 inches deep. Fill it with water. If it drains out right away, or within 20 minutes, you have very good drainage. If it holds water for a few hours, especially if there has been much recent rain, you are fine. If it holds water overnight, you have a drainage problem.

If you have a drainage problem, you can build raised beds, either with wood sides or just mounded up. There are plenty of companies selling raised beds or corners for making raised beds with lumber you buy locally. Most lumber stores will cut your lumber to length.

Another simple soil test you can do for free is to moisten some soil, then rub it between your fingers. If it is sticky, it is a clay soil. If you feel grains of sand, it is a sandy soil. If it is neither, and is a nice brown color, you have a good loam, which is what you want.

The last test is to take a handful of moist soil and try to form it into a cylinder. Clay soil will hold together well. Loam, which has some clay, will hold together but break apart if you touch it with your other hand. Sandy soil will fall apart when you squeeze it. The remedy for sandy or clay soil is a generous dose of compost.

Rome was not built in a day, the saying goes. This is true for soil, too. It takes years to get your garden soil in optimum condition everywhere. So work on the places where you are planting for quicker results.

Featured photo: Raised beds are great for areas that flood or stay wet. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

An idea for more pollination and less pollution

In 2019 a British nonprofit called Plantlife coined the term “No Mow May.” They proposed that gardeners leave their mowers in storage for the month of May in order to let wildflowers and weeds bloom and provide pollen and nectar for pollinators. And of course the caterpillars of many pollinators feed all our baby birds, so the ramifications are vast.

Early spring is a tough time for pollinators, especially here in New England as there are not many flowers to visit. I like the idea of a simple action that can have positive effects on so many species of wildlife.

The most obvious advantage to you is that you have a few extra hours to do other things in your garden. Next, you are not spending any money on gas or electricity. Most gas-powered mowers do not have the emission controls that are required for cars. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one hour operating a new gasoline lawn mower emits the same amount of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxide as driving a new car 45 miles.

According to the EPA, lawn mowers and other garden machines like leaf blowers, string trimmers, etc., contribute as much pollution as our cars and homes. The statistics on lawns are deceiving; two percent of the land mass in America is lawn. But that is more square miles of land than all the corn grown here. Roughly 80 percent of homes have at least some lawn.

If we mow our lawns from May to the end of October, that’s six months of mowing. Eliminating one month of mowing reduces those emissions by 17 percent. Good for the environment, good for the wallet.

For the last two years I have been installing trees in what was a 5-acre lawn in Hanover, N.H. So far we have planted about 150 of them — and we largely stopped the mowing, just leaving pathways throughout. The owners now have their field mowed everywhere just once every two years to control growth of unwanted woody plants like poplars, which spread by root.

We were delighted last spring to see the field come alive in spring. At least a dozen species of flowers bloomed, probably more. And the bees and other pollinators just loved it.

What happened when we just stopped mowing? Grass grew, and largely flopped over as it got taller. It was nothing like the unruly 2- or 3-foot-tall mess that the mowing guys predicted. We were always able to walk anywhere in the field even though it was not mowed. Of course, when the mowing crew shows up soon, they have big, industrial-scale mowers that will chew up anything.

For your home lawn you may want to pay attention to how tall the grass gets in May. Presumably your push mower or electric mower will not mow tall grasses as easily as the riding mowers used on the field described above. If you can only avoid mowing for two or three weeks, it’s still better than mowing it short every week in May.

Another advantage to No Mow May is that you will probably end up with a better, more resilient lawn in times of drought. The longer your grass, the more food it produces for the roots, allowing them to grow longer and deeper.

Your lawn might complain about being mowed short on June 1. So put the blades up as high as they go. The lower parts of blades of grass may be a little pale in color as they were shaded out by the taller parts. Leave your lawn a little longer this year — it doesn’t have to look like the infield of Fenway Park.

What about bare spots on the lawn? These are often filled in with crabgrass, an annual weed. For large areas, you will need to plant new lawn seed — the sooner the better. Filling in empty spots can be done in May by scratching the soil with a short-tined rake to loosen the surface. Add half an inch of compost and mix it in with the soil. Then spread seed over it — just broadcast it with your hand in small areas. I use a lawn/leaf rake to mix the seed in with the soil: I flip over the rake and drag it lightly over the area, which mixes in the seed well. If you have a metal tamper, use it to press down the planted area. If not, use a small board and step on it.

I never fertilize my lawn, and it looks fine to me. If your lawn is a little feeble, check the soil pH. If it is too acidic, you can spread some limestone. Lawn grass prefers nearly neutral pH.

So take a break from mowing this May.

Featured photo: Drumstick primroses. Photo by Henry Homeyer.