Prepare the soil for planting

October to February is the ideal time to start working with soil improvers and lime so that they have enough time to penetrate the soil before the planting season starts. You can buy the most expensive plants of the best quality, but if the soil is not balanced, they will not flourish.

First of all, you need to find out what your soil needs. This can be done by a soil test and pH measurement.

Dry sandy soil or heavy clay soil?

• Dry sandy soil

If the soil is dry and sandy, you can use bentonite to weigh down the soil. This is a natural clay material that allows the moisture in the soil to be retained better. This not only means that you will have to water less, but also that fertilisers will be absorbed better. You can combine it with compost.

• Heavy clay soil

Do you suffer from a very heavy clay soil? Then there is perlite to make the soil more airy. You probably know this best in the form of the white balls in the better potting soil. However, the quantity present in this potting soil is not sufficient to improve a problem soil. For this you have to add perlite in larger quantities. Perlite is a volcanic rock and therefore 100% natural, which means that you will not disturb the existing soil life. You can also buy it in a finely ground version.

Lava dust can help with a heavy soil. This soil improver is slowly broken down and released, and will drain the soil, making it lighter. Another plus is that you can never add too much of this product. Always use lava dust as a soil improver and not lava meal. The latter is used to spray the plants against unwanted insects (such as the boxwood caterpillar).

Also Terracottem is highly recommended. It stores the nutrition and water present in the soil for up to 8 years. And protects your plants against irregular watering or water shortage. This means that you need to water up to 50% less, which is no luxury with the dry summers of recent years when water has become increasingly scarce. It also saves you a lot of time and money. This soil improver provides the necessary nutrients during the first growing season, so there is no need to add fertiliser. Terracotta will also benefit the soil life and structure, which ensures that the fertilisers will be better absorbed by the soil in the coming years. For the (vegetable) garden you need about 100 gr per m². In short, a somewhat more expensive product, but you will certainly reap the benefits.