Soil and Things

Soil and Things

Carrying on with the site survey of the new garden – which pretty much applies to the entire palace garden, I’m taking a deep dive to examine all of the extenuating circumstances that impact the garden that need to be acknowledged and really can’t be ignored.

Today I’m not in the garden thanks to the weather.  It is technically winter so I should expect that it will be less than ideal for the most part.  I just need to make the good days count.  I don’t mind a bit of wind and a bit of cold, but strong winds and the rain are a deal breaker.  Fortunately, today is just the rain getting in my way and the forecast promises it will pass soon enough. 

If we are to look at our climate it could be considered sub-tropical, but this is quite a stretch on the outer limits of that description.  It is our proximity to the ocean that provides a frost-free advantage, however the end of our 1km long driveway is subjected to a hard frost several times throughout the winter and into the spring. 

For the temperatures, on average it is the lofty heat of 28°C in summer, however in our little microclimate with the black sand on the paths in the garden it can get so much hotter.  Humidity is a common issue in our area the summer months, however, the gentle sea breeze can alleviate this, making things a lot more pleasant than in our nearest small town.  Our low never sinks into freezing conditions, but you’d think it was by the way we moan about the cold during winter.  I have to say we’re probably a bit soft.

We seem to have a couple of prevailing winds to deal with.  The worst one is anything coming from west or southwest as that is coming straight off the ocean and is laden with salt.  It can do so much damage to any plants or lightweight structures in its path. Wind breaks can slow its pace, but that salt can travel quite some distance.  The other wind comes from across the land from northeast but at least that doesn’t have the salt.  We are generally protected by the lay of the land from the wind from other directions, so we have to take our blessings where we find them.

We get a lot of rain – the most we had was 150mm in 24 hours with 50mm of that coming in one hour – but that was extenuating circumstances during the devastating Cyclone Gabriel last year that affected a lot more people a lot worse than what we experienced.  But we can get rain as a light drizzle but other times it comes down in buckets.  Last night was quite heavy, providing a comforting sound on the roof to fall asleep too. 

Looking at the historical data we get about 1000mm of rain a year – give or take with most of it falling in the winter and spring.  Some seasons we can dip into drought conditions, but for the most part supplemental irrigation isn’t necessary except for the needy vegies in the height of summer. 

So, with all that rain, I am grateful for the soil type we have.  This comes after gardening for 10 years in a drained swamp. That soil could hold 20 times its weight in water so every time it rained it took at least two weeks before it was workable again.  But in the spring, you could get a good down pour every 10 days, so it seemed like the soil never dried out, and was only workable for a window of about 3 weeks before it set like concrete.  Having said that I did bring six truckloads of soil with me when we moved, because not only did it hold moisture well, but it was really nutrient rich!

Here we have sand, and the water disappears within hours after a heavy storm.  But I have been surprised to learn that the sand I have does hold water well enough for the plants planted in it not to require constant watering except in the height of summer.  I’ve also through chance as well as planning, grown plants that don’t require a lot of water.  The ones that do generally don’t stand a chance and die out quickly, never to be replaced.  I can’t be dealing with high maintenance prima donnas. 

So, I don’t need to do the sausage test to try to roll my damp soil into a ring to know what kind of soil I have – know it probably won’t even form a sausage.  Doing the jar test to see what proportions of sand / loam / clay I have won’t reveal any surprises – it would be all sand and a touch of organic material floating on the top.

Having said that I’m repeatedly surprised with how well the plants that do grow in it, thrive. So, I decided to do a quick soil test to see what I’m working with, with interesting results.  The pH was – according to my interpretation was between 6 and 7 so no complaints there.  The nitrogen surprised me a little with a decided blush in the solution putting it somewhere between medium and low.  Given Nitrogen doesn’t really hang around it is a good result for me.  The Phosphorus had a blue tinge I am happy do chalk up to the lean side of medium and the Potassium looks most comfortable also in the medium range.  So, all things considered, and I was hoping for the worst, this is a good result.  The soil isn’t great by edible standards, however with the addition of some compost, maybe a dash of blood and bone and other organic goodies, there is more than enough to sustain life.  The key will be to look for plants that don’t mind it dry, don’t mind a bit of wind and have a light appetite.  This soil will be the perfect home for someone.

Finally, the last environmental impact the garden will have to face is the creatures.  We get deer here and there have been footprints in the clean soil in Room Three.  Not many, but enough to be aware of the threat.  We also see hares and rabbits, but I’ve never seen them in the garden.  The worst pest is possums – who ate all of the buds on my roses last season.  But we have processes so deal with them.   So aside from the usual plant pests and diseases, this garden is probably the most exposed for the larger threats to the garden.  But fore warned is fore armed.

With this knowledge secured in the foundation on the garden we can get on with the fun part – translating my vision onto the ground.

Come again soon – this winter doesn’t seem to be waiting around and the days are racing by.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)