When it comes to gardening season, there are many decisions to be made. What to plant, where to plant it, when you’re going to start, what type of soil you’re going to use, how you’re going to divide your available gardening space; the list goes on. But, one of the most important decisions you can make is in your choice of soil.
Not only does the right soil help accelerate plant growth and ensure great results, but it also retains moisture and nutrients to promote the long-lasting health of your garden. By contrast, the wrong soil can lead to poor concentrations of the wrong nutrients and may lead to premature death or lacklustre growth.
What is Soil?
We will get into specific mixes of soil in a little bit, but first, it is important to determine just what soil is. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, soil is classified by the percentage of three main components: clay, silt and sand. Depending on the concentration of each of these in relation to the other two, a name and classification for the soil are determined.
Check out the organization’s Soil Textural Triangle for more information.
Screened Topsoil (Loam)
We offer high-quality loam topsoil, which is filtered through the tightest screen available to Calgarians. Our process uses a ½” screen compared to the typical ⅝” screen size.
Unscreened Topsoil (Raw Loam)
We also offer raw loam, which is unscreened and perfect for many applications.
Garden Mixes
Garden mixes are special formulations designed to encourage more vigorous plant growth. They include a percentage of compost (30-50%) mixed with our loam. The premium garden mix also includes a fine mulch to further increase the nutrient density for optimal garden soil conditions.
Soil Classifications
You can also augment the soil with several great additions, including worm castings and castings tea. If you’d like more information about which soil is right for your garden, contact Soil Kings today.
While the Soil Textural Triangle is a good basis for understanding the difference between soils, it is far from the only method. This mainly has to do with the utility of soil for different industries, from safety to agriculture and engineering to actual Soil Science.
Organizations and standardization boards within these industries have developed their own classification systems. The criteria for classification can include:
- Particle size
- Density/compaction
- Composition
- Age
- Morphology
- Behaviour
- Genesis
- Plasticity
As you might suspect, the more you look into just what soil is, the more you begin to see that the answer is rather nebulous. The complexity of the subject is sure to be the start of a lengthy dinner conversation, so make sure you study up about all the possible soil classification systems here.
And, when you’re ready to get back to the garden, don’t forget to buy in bulk from Soil Kings and save yourself some money!
