Soil test results - intepretation and plan for the bed

[Sibley]

I have a large garden bed in the front of my house that has been something of a disaster, and it is the soil. So I got the soil tested, results are attached. There were 2 samples, "Judy" and "John", so labeled because that's which side of the bed that they're on and my mom did the labeling and doesn't know north and south.

The same plants are on both sides. On the "John" side, the plants do not thrive or just die. Things do better on the "Judy" side but also not wonderfully. Water, sun, etc are similar. The bed was previously covered with plastic, that was removed about 5 years ago.

The soil tests came back that the soil pH is high, or alkaline. I'm guessing this is a good chunk of the problem, but not sure if there's anything else I should be concerned about.

Functionally, the bed looks terrible. My vision for what I wanted has completely failed and I basically need to pull everything out and start over. I need a new vision. It is front and center for the house, and at the moment I like none of it. So I have a lot of options in terms of what to do about the soil. So, people with more gardening experience and chemistry knowledge, please share your thoughts and ideas.

I want something that looks good, is drought tolerant, lower maintenance, etc. I'm ok with pulling out every single plant. I can reuse, or trade, or buy new. Zone 5, between partial and mostly sunny. Bed as is gets quite dry, but it also has a lot of unshaded area.

Old pic attached, it doesn't really look this good now but gives you an idea.

So, best way to fix the soil? And any ideas on what do to?

[affordablehousing]

Wait, didn't you just get the soil tested? I read it and they made pretty clear recommendations. Wouldn't you start with that first?

[RetiredAt63]

First your pH is ludicrously high.  That needs to be fixed.

Then follow the fertilizer recommendations.  You have lots of organic material so you don't need more of that.  Fortunately none of your minerals are massively excessive, since they can be hard to bring down.

What I didn't see (and is really basic) is your soil composition.  % sand, % silt, % clay.  Look up soil triangle. This is easy to measure yourself - and I am surprised your soil test company did not do it. The other thing is orientation to the sun.  The wrong plants for your orientation and soil type will do badly anyway no matter how technically good soil conditions are.

I would also recommend Steve Solomon's book The Intelligent Gardener.  He is discussing soil amendments for vegetable gardening, but it would be equally useful for flower beds.

Good luck with it!

[Sibley]

Affordablehouse, it's winter. I'm not doing anything until spring, and frankly, I can read all 12 pages or whatever it is, I am not a gardener and don't have the background that you clearly have. I'm struggling. Also, this is a MASSIVE bed. Doing anything will be a lot of work.

Retiredat63, thanks for the recommendation. Off to youtube as well because I've never heard of the soil triangle.

[Sibley]

Based on youtube and my recollection of the soil, its not clay. I will need to get a jar and do a test however.

Also, I need to add sulfur and potash. It's best to do it in the fall, which I didn't even do the test until too late. Oh well. I will add in the spring, and then probably add more in the fall. The bed will look terrible for another year. This year I'll also start transplanting some plants. Then, next year hopefully the soil pH will be more reasonable and I can reinvent the bed.

[RetiredAt63]

Doing pH changes can take a few years, don't push it.  The whole soil biome needs time to adjust.

Quickly about the soil triangle - it is the % of clay, silt and sand that your inorganic soil is made of.  Clay grabs ions (like fertilizers and sulfur) and sand lets everything run through.  Silt is in between.  So the amount of anything to add really depends a lot on your soil composition.  What would be fine for a sandy soil is hardly going to make an impact on a clay soil, while what is great for clay is way too much for sand.  This is why I am really surprised your soil test did not include this.

It's only January, there's time to read Steve Solomon's book a few times - it is clearly presented but not a way we normally think of soil prep.

[Sibley]

My library doesn't have the book, am still looking.

I don't expect it to be perfect, just hopefully better enough so that I can plant in 2024 and things will do ok while it continues to adjust. Also, if I can clear out enough plants that I can till, that would be good for the existing compaction, and might help the pH adjust. I will be removing most/all of the plants anyway because none of what's there is working. Most everything will be fairly easy to transplant, we'll just have to do the bulbs this spring so we can find them. The bigger challenge is going to be where to put everything.

[lhamo]

If you want long-term improvement you would benefit from learning about soil health.  No dig approaches are your friend.  Tilling is not necessary and destroys much of the soil microbiome.  If you need to deal with compaction you can use a broadfork -- you stick it down deep and rock back and forth, but leave the soil in place. 

If you really don't care about the existing plants, what I would probably do is clear everything out, level out the existing soil (you can fill holes with compost or a mix of compost and good quality soil, treat with whatever is recommended to adjust the ph balance (I don't have to do this with my soil so not sure what to recommend), cover everything over with cardboard (brown only, all tape removed -- easy to get lots of cardboard on recycling days if your community does recycling) and then top with a good layer of organic compost.  See Charles Dowding's Youtube channel for multiple videos showing how this approach works. 

Other good resources for no-dig methods are Richard Perkins (more commercial farming oriented, but lots of good advice) and Huw Richards.  Oh, the Epic Gardening channel is also amazing.

In terms of plant choice, I would also start out with things that LIKE the more alkaline soil, since changing the balance sustainably is going to be a longer term process.  Here is one list from Gardener's World (another great gardening show from the UK -- you can find it on Youtube)

https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/best-plants-for-alkaline-soils/

Phacelia is ridiculously easy to grow, and has nitrogen fixing qualities.  If you do the no dig approach I recommended above you could just cover the entire patch with phacelia seed to start with -- it grows fast and blooms early and the pollinators go crazy for it.  Chop and drop it (before it sets seed if you don't want it to be the dominant thing in that patch) and then plant other stuff into the bed for the next phase of your season.

If you REALLY want to go crazy and/or feel like a mad scientist, you can look into some of the methods used in Korean natural farming.  They do all kinds of stuff with compost teas and fermented additives that are supposed to be great for jumpstarting the growth of beneficial organisms (living soil is healthy soil).  There is a guy who used to guest a lot on Epic Gardening whose name I forget who has a bunch of videos about this on his channel.  I haven't really needed it so haven't dug into that stuff much.

[Sibley]

How do I handle the network of old roots that are about 1-2 inches down? The entire bed was covered by plastic for years, so the bushes and surrounding trees had some weird root growth under the plastic. It's basically matted, and has made digging difficult in the past. That's why I was going to till, just to break that up. I've broken up sections here and there, but not the entire bed.

[lhamo]

Once you remove the parent plants the roots will decompose and help build soil.
I would just leave them for now, and use the no dig technique I suggested above (cardboard topped with a thick layer of rich compost.  For the first year plant mainly cover crops (like the phacelia I suggested -- clover is another one that likes alkaline soil).  Throw some flower seeds into the chopped and dropped phacelia and see what survives.  The cardboard will probably be fully decomposed by next fall.  You can poke around a bit and see what is happening with the root mesh at that point -- selectively remove any areas you need to if you want to plant trees and shrubs in the fall to start getting them established.  But you will save yourself LOTS of time and effort if you just let nature do its thing and decompose the roots itself rather than trying to dig them out.

If you can broadfork the whole area before you top with cardboard/compost that should create pockets that will allow for things to better penetrate the root mass and speed up the decomposition process.

https://charlesdowding.co.uk/faqs-no-dig-charles-dowding/

[Sibley]

I think a good chunk of the roots are from the bushes, and the bushes are eventually going to come out. I will be digging out the bulbs this spring/summer and replanting them elsewhere (we'll see how much survives), add in sulfur and potash, and will do some poking of the ground then. Then am letting it marinate for a while. If I have energy in the fall I'll pull out the bushes. Otherwise, it can sit. (and pull weeds of course)

[herbgeek]

That garden has some potential to be really cute! 

I don't have much to add to what others have said, other than to reiterate you need some sulfur now, because it takes a while to work itself into the soil.  That will over time bring down your pH.   You have great organic matter percentage and a good TEC- think of that like a sponge where excess nutrients can be stored to be accessed when they are needed.  (not technically how it works, but the metaphor is useful).    I'd likely take out the plants, put them in pots for the year, while you work on the soil and come up with a design.    There are infinite possibilities depending on how much time and money you want to put into it.  Lowest time input would be some groundcovers, on the other end of maintenance would be a cottage garden.  Maybe a few shrubs in strategic places for some structure.  Lots of possibilitie4s!

[Sibley]

That garden has some potential to be really cute! 

I don't have much to add to what others have said, other than to reiterate you need some sulfur now, because it takes a while to work itself into the soil.  That will over time bring down your pH.   You have great organic matter percentage and a good TEC- think of that like a sponge where excess nutrients can be stored to be accessed when they are needed.  (not technically how it works, but the metaphor is useful).    I'd likely take out the plants, put them in pots for the year, while you work on the soil and come up with a design.    There are infinite possibilities depending on how much time and money you want to put into it.  Lowest time input would be some groundcovers, on the other end of maintenance would be a cottage garden.  Maybe a few shrubs in strategic places for some structure.  Lots of possibilitie4s!

I kill potted plants, so that's not a good idea unfortunately. But some things will get moved around this spring and be out. Right now, I could sprinkle sulfur around but if it needs to be dug in that will have to wait for spring. It's January, and there's only so much I'm willing to do outside in the cold.

[herbgeek]

Sulfur does not need to be dug in.

[Sibley]

Sulfur does not need to be dug in.

Oh cool. I will pick some up this weekend then and get it sprinkled around, assuming it doesn't snow.

[Linea_Norway]

These are some plants that I noted down that like alkaline soil:
Dianthus caryophyllus
Lavandula
Myrtus communis
Origanum vulgare
Rosmarinus officinalis
Salvia
Satureja
Cichorium intybus, wild cichory

It is very relevant to find out whether the beds point north or south.

I would add more organic matter to the beds. And otherwise follow the advice in the soil analysis.

[Sibley]

These are some plants that I noted down that like alkaline soil:
Dianthus caryophyllus
Lavandula
Myrtus communis
Origanum vulgare
Rosmarinus officinalis
Salvia
Satureja
Cichorium intybus, wild cichory

It is very relevant to find out whether the beds point north or south.

I would add more organic matter to the beds. And otherwise follow the advice in the soil analysis.

Faces due east. Partial sun. Big tree nearby gives morning shade but also diverts water. House shades part of the afternoon. Its winter, it snowed, and I'm letting it sit. Oh, and trying to figure out if I'm rebuilding the porch this year or next.

[Frugal Lizard]

@Sibley -Just going to revive your question.

The soil type test is a separate test called particle size distribution and has to be requested separately from a nutrients test. In most residential garden situations is totally unnecessary.  If your soil cracks when it dries out - it is high in clay.  If it dries out quickly it is more sandy.  For the average home gardener: if your soil is more clay you have to be careful to stay off it until it is dry. No gardening in wet or damp soil. It will be far easier to keep the fertility up. If it is sandy - be generous with the fertilizer.

I disagree with the soil scientist who did the evaluation about the high PH. Soils in my area are typically very high and plants are fine - unless you are trying to grow rhododendrons. My area soils can hit an 8.3. All the soils started out as limestone - which contributes the calcium. Perfectly fine for almost all the plants. As the recommendation was to remove the soil and start again, your testing facility is not likely in the Niagara escarpment area and a 7.8 pH is uncommon. But it is not. Most of southern Ontario is growing vegetation just fine.

Most likely your soil is alkaline because of the concrete adjacent. Concrete will leach calcium and alter soil pH. Forever and ever. You could replace all your soil with new soil and
bam
it will slowly shift back to alkaline.
I wouldn't bother.

The great thing about your soil is the organic content - anything over 4% is good. Which means either clay or sand soil type is fine. I would not actively work to increase it. It will decrease over time if you remove all the vegetation instead of leaving fall debris to compost over the winter.  Use a healthier method of leaving the stems / leaves/ roots for overwintering pollinators. And your soil will maintain organics.

And the low sodium is great too. Sodium really stunts plants. Don't you be spreading a bunch of de-icing salts on those concrete walks.

I would purchase the straight potash fertilizer, and apply it in the spring at the rate recommended. A good garden center will have a variety of fertilizers with the numbers in the same ratios as product 1 or 2.

This spring, purchase a couple of packs of flower seeds: sunflowers, asters, zinnias and plant them as recommended on the seed packs. They are all annuals and will look super pretty. Don't do a mix, just plant large blocks of each seed type and it won't look messy.  Buy a couple of flats of portulaca or alyssum, one or the other, not both and plant along the walkway edge of the bed.  Water as needed. Protect from squirrels.

[Sibley]

The concrete makes sense. The issue is, things aren't growing well. I will probably try to address the pH, just because it can't hurt and might help, and will get potash in there as well.

Long term, the porch needs to be rebuilt. It's fine for now but there are cracks and things are moving. When that happens I'll probably reconfigure the front yard entirely, and the concrete problem will be addressed.

The only good thing is the current appearance of the bed annoys the hell out of my neighbor, and since she is incapable of being nice to me I'm perfectly ok with annoying her.

[Frugal Lizard]

The potash will likely be causing the poor plant health. It is a key nutrient.