EXPERTS' TIPS TO MAKE YOUR SOIL FERTILE
Bill Carlos, horticulturist at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park: One thing Carlos preaches, especially to Nevada newcomers, is the need to add organic matter to soil. He suggested well-rotted horse manure, meaning it has been set out for at least a year and some salts have leached out, or chopped up leaves or any other organic material.
Jamie Nielsen of Turfpro landscape contractor: Topsoil and humus "” decomposing organic matter "” add nutrients to soil that help plants' roots become established. Double mix is composed of topsoil and humus; triple mix includes peat. Both provide nutrients to establish roots. For gardens or lawns, use double or triple mix, for trees double mix.
Jim Steelman, district nursery expert for local Home Depot stores: Mix the fresh soil or organic matter about half and half with the soil taken out of the hole to be planted. When a plant reaches maturity in all-fresh soil, the roots can tangle as if the plant was in a confining pot and they won't grow into the old soil.
If you were living in, say, Florida or New Jersey or Virgina, the following suggestions -- well, let's just say you'd have little need for them.
Improve your soil? What's to improve if you live in a state with tons of trees and other plants that drop vegetation, such as leaves, to the ground where it quickly decomposes, thanks to plentiful rainfall, and adds nutrients to the already robust soil from which it grew?
If you live in Nevada -- and not along a waterway -- chances are the basic soil around your house is clay, well-studded with rocks, at least below the few inches of top soil put in place on most home lots. Just digging a hole deep enough to plant anything can be a serious endeavor.
But one look around the Truckee Meadows and adjacent valleys with their well-tended gardens and flourishing lawns and desert landscaping will tell you that nothing is impossible.
"One thing we always preach -- especially to newcomers into Nevada -- about our soil is to add organic matter. Well-rotted horse manure, meaning it has been out at least a year and some salts have leeched out, or chopped up leaves, anything organic that you can get in," said Bill Carlos, horticulturist at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park.
"Living in Nevada, about a half percent of soil is organic matter," Carlos said. "Back east, it's 5 to 6 percent because of all the rainfall and leaf debris."
With rainfall of only 4 to 8 inches a year in Northern Nevada and little organic matter in the soil because there's relatively little vegetation, it's imperative to add organic matter, Carlos said.
For a base for a new lawn, for instance, put down 1 1/2 to 2 inches of organic matter and till it into the soil to a depth of 6 inches or so, he said.
"It pays a dividend. The roots will be able to penetrate deeper and tap into the reserves down in the soil," Carlos said.
Nothing grows without great soil, said Jamie Nielsen of Turfpro.
Topsoil mixes and humus -- decomposing organic matter -- add nutrients to soil that are necessary for plants' roots to become established, he said.
Double mix composed of topsoil and humus, and triple mix, which includes peat, provide nutrients to establish roots, he said.
"Then feed with nitrogen," he said. "For gardens or lawns, use double or triple mix, for trees double mix."
With gardens, mix up the old soil with the new, he said.
"All plants live in competition," Nielsen said. "They all try to take what they can from the soil. If you have a well-developed tree and you're trying to put in a lawn, you have to improve the soil and aerate because trees are greedy to take in all nutrients.
"If you have great soil, it's one thing, but if a tree is well-established it will suck things from the soil," he said.
Planting mixes to enhance the soil exist for almost anything people want to plant, said Jim Steelman, a district nursery expert for local Home Depot stores.
"For trees and shrubs there is planting mix to mix with the existing soil. There is rose soil as well, and there is flowering plant mixture with more fertilizer for those types of plants," Steelman said. "There are all different kinds of soil. There is compost mix with no nutrients, but it will break up the soil. There are amendments you can mix with soil about half and half."
Steelman also stressed not to use just fresh soil when putting new plants into the ground. Use about half new soil or mixture to half soil taken out of the hole to be planted.
"That's a big mistake people make," he said. "It does not help the plant when it reaches maturity and creates the pot effect. The roots tangle up and do not go into the old soil."
A root stimulator will help new plants' roots become established, Steelman added.
For new grass, there are peat moss-fertilizer-starter mixes that can be added to existing soil and combined with a rake. When the seed takes off, the nutrients already are in the soil to help it grow, Steelman said.
Sometimes people like to use gypsum, a chalky calcium substance found in sedimentary rock, to break down particles in clay soil, but that process takes a long time, Steelman said.
"Just make sure you have soil amendments and mix them with with the soil when planting," he said. "Some soils you can use for anything, but there are some that are specific for the types of plants that you want to work with. Figure out what you want to do and talk to people in the store and have them help you.
"Soil can change from one spot to another so if you're going to have soil testing done at (the University of Nevada, Reno) or wherever, they'll tell you to take different samples (from different locations in the yard)," Steelman said.
For lawn and garden, stay away from mixes created specifically for potted plants, Carlos said.
He recommends regular soil testing for vegetable growing to determine the soil's PH or the balance between its acidity and alkalinity. Some plants prefer more acidic soil, while others require more alkalinity.
"For vegetables, I recomment adding 2 to 3 inches of organic matter a year," Carlos said. "I would have the soil tested every two to three years. Include a nutrient test, with a PH and salt test, tests for phophorus, calcium, iron and other nutrients."