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Fall Soil Preparation for Spring Planting 
Question…
What do I need to do this Fall to prepare the soil in my flower garden to be ready for Spring planting? Soil preparation in the Fall is an important part of the Spring planting process. It may seem like a long way off but here are some good reasons for the early start: Tilling & Spading: 
First: Soil is often damp and wet in the Spring which makes deep spading difficult. If you till soil that is too wet it makes clods and these are very hard to break down into the crumb state that is ideal for planting. Furthermore, you may be amazed to know that working soils that are excessively wet can destroy soil structure which may take years to rebuild. Solution: Tilling & spading in the Fall allows for the natural winter conditions of freezing & thawing to naturally break your soil into smaller particles. Of course if you are in the tropics such as Florida or other areas warm climates this is not as dramatic. Other advantages to fall tilling are: * It allows you to plant earlier in the spring. * Organic matter has better decomposition if done in the fall versus spring.
* Insects, disease organisms, and perennial weeds may be reduced or eliminated because you are exposing them to the elements of winter.
Organic Matter Introduced: Tilling in the Fall also allows for the addition of organic matter. Compost and matter such as leaves are great for your soil preparation and add very important nutrients. In most areas there is an abundance of leaves coming down in the Fall so this is perfect for your compost base material.Rake the leaves into your garden area and spread them. It is actually best if you are able to shred the leaves but not mandatory. Spade your leaves into the soil as deeply as possible with 6-10 inches being an ideal depth. You could also add a small amount of all purpose fertilizer to help in the decomposition process. Organic matter in the soil is a golden answer for the spring time. Soils with plenty of this are easy to till as the soil will naturally break apart when working it. Another important benefit is that your soil will do 2 simultaneous important things… It will retain moisture while at the same time have good aeration and drainage capabilities. Fall Soil Testing: Fall is a good time to test your soil. This is important because it will tell you what else to add to your soil for optimal growth potential. In general, adding phosphorus and potassium to your soil will adjust the pH levels appropriately. This can vary however depending on your region and what you will be growing.
This may seem like an easy way out, but the best way to test your soil is to collect 1 cup of random samples from around your garden. Then bring that in to a local county extension agent for testing. These people are easy to find and are very willing to test your soil as well as provide advice and information that is pertinent to your local area.
Flower Fertilizers  Make your Flower Gardens Explode with Color.
Flowers need proper nutrients just like you do. One way to help your flower gardens come alive is to give them what they need… Flower Fertilizer.
Understanding Fertilizers in General:
Fertilizer is plant food (nutrients) for flowers, trees, shrubs, and other flora. Nutrients are available in various amounts in nature, and plant life needs these nutrients to survive and grow. The primary big 3 of the nutrients that plants need large amounts of are: Major Plant Nutrients:
[1] Nitrogen – This is the main nutrient for new green growth. This is especially important for plants that are mostly all leaf such as grasses. As a result the ratio for lawn fertilizers has a higher 1st ratio number meaning more nitrogen in the mix.
[2] Phosphorus – This nutrient promotes good root development and strengthens the flower or plant. It also results in increased blooms on flowers so lots of phosphorus is great for bulbs and perennials. Fertilizers higher in phosphorus have a higher 2nd number in the ratio.
[3] Potassium – This builds strong and healthy plants & flowers and improves the overall health of the flora.
These 3 are the ones that fertilizer manufacturers focus most on and they are known as “macronutrients”. There are also nutrients that plants do need but in much smaller quantities and these are known as “micronutrients”. The more important secondary nutrients are: Secondary Plant Nutrients:
1- Calcium – Improves general plant vigor and promotes growth of young roots and shoots.
2- Sulfur – This nutrient helps to maintain a dark green color and encourages more vigorous plant growth.
3- Magnesium – This nutrient helps to regulate uptake of plant foods and assist in seed formation. It is also important in the formation of dark green color and encourages vigorous plant growth.
After the major and minor nutrients there are sometimes “trace elements” that play a role in plant nutrition. Trace elements play a role in helping to develop dark green color and healthy and vigorous plant growth. These “trace micronutrients” are:
Trace Micronutrients:
Manure was once the dominant fertilizer and is still used but less frequently. Fertilizers in modern times are made either synthetically or organically (manure and or compost). The Macronutrients are given a ratio on the fertilizer bag to represent the proportions of the “big 3” that are present in a particular fertilizer mix.
For example, a 5-10-20 fertilizer would have 5% Nitrate, 10% Phosphate, and 20% Potash. If a particular flower or plant needed higher phosphate levels for healthy growth the middle number would go up on the package (for example: 5-15-20).
Law of Minimum:
This law states that plant growth is controlled not by the total resources available, but by the scarcest resource needed by the plant or flower. In other words, extra amounts of plentiful nutrients do not increase a plant’s growth if the scarce nutrients needed were still lacking. Only by increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient can a particular plant or flower have improved growth. Getting your Flowers to Explode with Color & Blooms: One of the macronutrients is potassium and it has a special function with flowers. It causes them to bloom more. Potassium is a nutrient that leaches easily out of the soil and so it is common to have less than needed. Even if you applied fertilizer one day, if it rains the potassium may leach off before your flowers absorb enough to make a difference.
Bottom line… The more Potassium that’s in your flower fertilizer the better for blooming!
The pro’s use time release potassium and apply it evenly over the soil. This way if it rains the potassium only releases a set amount at a time instead of all at once. Pro’s also watch the ratio of nitrogen to potassium. Extra potassium makes flowers grow, extra nitrogen causes flowers to become vegetative and lanky instead of plush and full of colorful flowers.
A great fertilizer mix for best flower production is the fertilizer ratio of 10-10-17 which means:
Use a time release 10-10-17 fertilizer every 6 months and it will be absorbed gradually over that period for great blooming flowers. Note: The 10% Phosphorus will assist in developing a strong root system which allows nutrients to get to the rest of the flower.
Extra Tip: Magnesium works especially well with potassium and should also be included in the fertilizer mix. It helps to maintain balance between the green foliage and the flower.
3 Forms of Fertilizers for your Flowers:
This could be a very long section if all the brands were included here and what they claim to do. Most are very good and do what their labels say if you follow the application instructions. There are 3 basic forms common fertilizers take:
Granular – This is the most common bagged fertilizer product. It is best applied with a spreader and is long lasting. This is the version you’ll find in time release and can last in the soil up 6-9 months.
Water Soluble – This type of fertilizer is designed to dissolve in water and is more readily absorbable to your flowers and plants. This version only last I the soil 1-2 weeks however and need top be re-applied often to be as effective as granular fertilizers.
Natural Organic – This consists mostly of manures and bone meal. Yes they are natural, but they are lower in nutrient levels than synthetic versions mentioned above. Tips for Challenging Soils:
Fertilizing Clay Soils – Clay tends to hold-up the movement of water and nutrients and results in the plants not getting sufficient food and moisture. Clay tends to stay wet and packed down so you’ll need to help your plants by:
Fertilizing Sandy Soils – Sand has the opposite challenge that clay has. The nutrients and water pass too quickly through it and nutrients often leach out before feeding the plants. In sandy soil time release fertilizers are best.
Soil pH Levels:
This is the measure of soil acidity and affects the ability of soil to release nutrients in fertilizers. If the nutrients are too high or too low nutrients can get blocked or locked up ad are not available to the plants. This is why the soils pH levels are important to the topic of fertilizing.
Different flowers and plants require varying degrees of pH levels for maximum health. Soil pH is measured by a scale of 1 to 10. A pH level below 7 means the soil is acid and a pH level above 7 means the soil is alkaline. As a general rule of thumb, most plants thrive in pH levels between 6.0 and 6.8.
Your soils pH level is easy to check by taking samples to your local county extension agent or sending samples to a qualified lab. pH level Adjustments:
* For Acidic Soil – Add extra lime to your soil.
* For Alkaline Soil – Add extra sulfur or gypsum to your soil. Composting  Composting is Nature’s Plant Food Supply
Composting is easy to do and will add incredible nutrients to your soil. Gardening with compost will increase flower and plant production, and give you a place to put organic waste such as table scraps and yard debris.
Composting Defined
The act of composting is the controlled decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms. This can occur naturally of course but for gardening purposes it is called composting. Compost is used as a fertilizer, mulch, or as a potting soil mix and its benefits include: * Helps to return organic materials to your soil. * Helps to buffer your soil from chemical imbalances. * Will help to support living soil organisms. * Increases the soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients.
* Improves the tilth of your soil (tilth is the condition and fluffiness of the soil so plant roots can grow easily). * Helps buffer the soil from chemical imbalances. * Can help control some soil pest.
What Makes Composting Work
Your flowers and plants thrive with compost because it is full of living microorganisms. These organisms digest materials through metabolic activity (eating it) and turn that into living matter with nutrients and other benefits for your plants. The 6 Key Components of Composting: To foster proper composting you need to create an environment that is microorganism friendly. The key parts to this are:
[1] Moisture:
Moisture is important to microbes thriving and working faster. The ideal moisture levels should be between 40-60%. You can tell it’s right if the compost feels wet but water can’t be squeezed out of it (like a damp wash rag).
You may need to add water occasionally to your compost pile to keep it at the best moisture levels. This is especially true during dry hot spells or when you are adding more compost and when turning the pile.
The reasons for not having too much moisture in the compost is that it will compact and restrict airflow through your pile. Since the microbes are living organisms, oxygen is important for the composting activity. If the compost is too wet turn the pile to help dry it some and add oxygen.
[2] Aeration (oxygen):
These are living organisms and they need oxygen to do their job. If there is a lack of oxygen the composting (degradation) process will slow down and your pile will have a foul odor to it.
Microbes reproduce very quickly if conditions are right and they deplete oxygen levels rapidly as a result. This is the reason you will want to aerate your compost pile by turning it on a regular basis.
Turning compost is as simple as taking a shovel, rake or pitch fork and literally turning the pile over a few times. Another way is to take a pole of some type and ramming it through the pile to create air tunnels.
[3] Pile Temperature:
The temperature of your compost pile is a result of the biological activity occurring inside as well as exposure to the sun. This is a good sign the microbes are working hard through their metabolism, reproduction, and turning the compost materials into energy.
Composting occurs at all temperature levels but hotter is usually better. In the beginning, or when adding substantial new compost, it’s a good idea to get your compost pile to a temperature of 131 degrees F for 3 days to help kill weed seeds and plant pathogens. You can buy composting thermometers to measure compost pile temperatures.
[4] Particle Size:
By breaking your compost up into smaller pieces there are many more surfaces available for the microbes to work on. On the other hand, you can make your materials too small (like sawdust for example). If the materials are too small aeration is substantially decreased through clumping and compacting. This results in very slow composting activity and bad odors. [5] Ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen: All plant matter contains a mixture of carbon and nitrogen and this matter will eventually compost over time. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen affects the speed of this process. The ideal ratio is 30 to 1 (30 parts carbon – 1 part nitrogen).
The basic way to look at ratios of compost is to view them as green materials versus brown materials. Green materials contain much higher nitrogen levels than brown materials. As a result the greener the material the faster it will generally compost.
Grass (green material) for example has much higher nitrogen levels than wood chips (brown material). Some of the following examples show various carbon to nitrogen ratio levels:
[6] Time:
Over the course of a season you’ll end up with good compost materials for your garden but you need to be patient. The microbes will go to work immediately after you start building the compost pile.
Methods of Composting
There is more than one way to compost including finding natural compost in the woods. The 2 basic man-made types of composting are:
[1] Cold / Slow Composting: This composting process is slower than the heat method described below. It is typically done when more brown materials are available or used for your compost pile. This method’s advantages are:
A couple of the disadvantages are:
There are 4 basic methods of Cold / Slow Composting.
Heap Composting – This is basically where you create a pile anywhere in your yard or the woods. It is easy to do by just choosing an area and continue to dump matter there whenever it is collected and discarded.
Cold Bin Composting – This is a more controlled method than simply heaping into a pile somewhere. You can use a barrel or can with plenty of hole for aeration or create a bin with wire or mesh. If you throw in table scraps you should cover them with other compost materials to hide from the scraps from pest.
Trench Composting – This is a more direct method of composting. You dig a trench about 8 inches deep in your garden. Put in 4-5 inches of table scraps and backfill with your soil. After a few months the scrap materials will have decomposed enough to plant right above the compost trench. An ancient method for doing this is to bury fish scraps underneath where plants and flowers are to be planted.
Sheet Composting – This is the simplest method because you just spread the compost materials around our plants where they are. As the matter decomposes it releases nutrients to the ground and filters to your plants root systems. The composting rate is slow and you can’t use table scraps or pest will be digging your garden up.
Earthworms – Earthworms are great for composting especially if you are putting in lots of table scraps into your compost pile. [2] Hot Fast Composting: Like cold composting, this method can be done with or without the use of a bin. It is simply a collection of highly compostable green materials piled together. The best combination of elements for Hot Composting are:
Build a Compost Pile:
This is how you create the good stuff for the plants and flowers in your garden. Following are some general steps to follow in creating a compost pile on your property:
Location for Compost Pile – This can go about wherever you want but should be at least 2 feet away from any structures. Other tips include: * Make it easy to get to or you won’t use it. * Make sure the ground is level. * A well draining soil location is important as well.
* Try to out close to some type of tree or structure (2 ft. space) to block wind which can dry out your pile.
* Shade if you are in a dry, hot climate to keep it from drying out in the sun and heat.
Compost Bin – This is a luxury because your pile can just be on the ground. It does make it more controllable however if you build a bin. Some things to consider:
* A compost bin can keep the neighborhood dogs out of the pile (especially if you are putting kitchen scraps into it).
* Other Pest – There are more to worry about than dogs, other varmints will pilfer off this pile as well.
* Make sure the bin is easy to get into so you’ll use it.
* It’s easier to control when you are turning the pile; it keeps it in its place.
* The appearance of a bin is better than a loose pile.
Material Preparation – This is not a mandatory step but it helps to speed up the composting process. There are all sorts of things you can add to the pile to get it going good. Some of the better starting materials are:
Organic fertilizer (the extra nitrogen will help the pile to compost faster).
Building the Compost Pile – This is where you actually start to throw it together. Here are the crucial components for a good compost pile:
Let’s Build…
1- Wet the ground under where the pile will go to help keep the soil from taking the moisture away from your compost.
2- Put sticks in the bottom of the bin for aeration.
3- Add nitrogen and carbon materials in alternate layers along with water (up to 50% of the compost weight should be water).
Cover on your Pile / Bin – This can keep critters out and help keep moisture in.
Routine Check of the Pile – Mother Nature will most likely take care of your compost but checking is a good idea if you are up to it. You’ll check for heat with a compost thermometer and make sure it’s between120-160 degrees. If your pile is not hot, add more nitrogen to the compost.
Also, check your moisture levels. When you turn the pile it should feel heavy like it’s 50% water. If not, add water.
Turning the Compost Pile – This means to stir it up because turning the pile allows all the material to be exposed to the hot center and this also increases aeration.
Composting is easy to do, will add nutrients for your flowers and plants, and is a way to get rid of organic waste such as table scraps and yard debris. |