Gardening and Horticulture - amending soil for herb gardens
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mduncan
03-09-04, 02:02 PM
I live in the Houston, Texas area where most soils tend to be clay, which means I have just the opposite soil required for many herbs. In deciding to amend my wet, clay soil, I have purchased sand, rocks, gypsum and lime to mix with my existing soil in order to create better drainage for herbs such as lavender, rosemary, sage, etc.. which require well draining soil in full sun. I will be planting some from seed and others from small starter plants. Does this sound like a workable solution and can anyone offer any advice on successful herb gardens?
marturo
03-10-04, 08:27 AM
Hello & welcome mduncan.
It sounds like you are off to a good start. I believe that some compost or 2 large 3 to4 cu foot bags of a quality soiless potting soil, would be good for feeding the Bactieria. Clay soils are often low in humus & that leads to poor water control, to hard & dry, or to wet so humus can help a lot.
You must be careful with your choice of herbs, some can grow very large. We took out 4 old azalia bushes & planted 10 Rosemary plants 4 years ago. The base stems are 1 to 2 inches thick now & we keep them cut back with hedge trimmers.
Allways try to use a flexable edging to design & keep seprate the plants by variety. You can make an outline of your choice with the egding, & then make compartments inside with the edging for a nice designed look. Some herbs if not kept in check will take over the whole Garden & smother the smaller plants.
Most Herbs like a netural soil Ph & low in Nitrogen, this will give you smaller more potent plants. For many years this type of Garden has been called the Kitchen Garden. A few clumps of chives & even a few small Tomatos like tiny Tims grown in 10 inch pots, add color & taste to our cooking.
The idea was to have a small Kitchen garden near the house in order to have some fresh herbs & spices to cook with from Spring to late Fall. Use your imagination & have fun, keep in mind some are perennial & will need devided every two or three years.
Marturo
It sounds like you are off to a good start. I believe that some compost or 2 large 3 to4 cu foot bags of a quality soiless potting soil, would be good for feeding the Bactieria. Clay soils are often low in humus & that leads to poor water control, to hard & dry, or to wet so humus can help a lot.
You must be careful with your choice of herbs, some can grow very large. We took out 4 old azalia bushes & planted 10 Rosemary plants 4 years ago. The base stems are 1 to 2 inches thick now & we keep them cut back with hedge trimmers.
Allways try to use a flexable edging to design & keep seprate the plants by variety. You can make an outline of your choice with the egding, & then make compartments inside with the edging for a nice designed look. Some herbs if not kept in check will take over the whole Garden & smother the smaller plants.
Most Herbs like a netural soil Ph & low in Nitrogen, this will give you smaller more potent plants. For many years this type of Garden has been called the Kitchen Garden. A few clumps of chives & even a few small Tomatos like tiny Tims grown in 10 inch pots, add color & taste to our cooking.
The idea was to have a small Kitchen garden near the house in order to have some fresh herbs & spices to cook with from Spring to late Fall. Use your imagination & have fun, keep in mind some are perennial & will need devided every two or three years.
Marturo
mduncan
03-11-04, 10:54 AM
Marturo,
Thanks for your assistance, I really appreciate it.!
Thanks for your assistance, I really appreciate it.!
marturo
03-11-04, 11:05 AM
Your Welcome mduncan, Please feel free to ask anytime. We are not very large, but we love to Garden & help others to join us :)
Marturo
Marturo