Healthy edibles from the ground up
Lucy explains how to make the most of the next few weeks
At last – soil care is becoming mainstream! Teaching gardeners that the brown stuff beneath our feet is fundamental for good root health is so important, it’s the lifeblood for our edibles and happy edibles give abundant harvests.
For fruit (as with most plants) soil should be well aerated (roots actually need air), and moisture-retentive, and contain the right nutrients.
Worms and other larger soil-dwelling creatures help aerate soil, so we can leave plots to their own devices to an extent. But if parts have become compacted or waterlogged (when clay soils get walked on in wet winters, for example) we need to remedy the resulting lack of airspace. Gently levering up the soil with a fork alleviates small patches of compaction, and creating gravel-filled ‘soakaway’ trenches helps relieve waterlogging. Strawberries, cherries and grapes, in particular, hate wet soils.
To make soil moisture retentive, add bulky organic matter (e.g. composted bark or well rotted garden compost). The large chunk size opens up the soil, but the chunks themselves soak up moisture like a sponge. Lay materials on the soil surface as a mulch (which also helps suppress annual weeds) or work it into the soil if you prefer (especially helpful on light sands). Moisture-loving fruits like raspberries and rhubarb love a good mulch.
Potash is the main nutrient loved by all fruits – when did you last top up your plot’s levels? It’s more important to do this regularly on light sandy soils, whereas clay plots are naturally more nutrient-rich. Wool-based composts and comfrey pellets are two great organic sources of potash, whereas sulphate of potash is a good non-organic form. Target the fertiliser around the root zone, following application rate instructions.
Tend to these tasks now and I promise you, your fruit trees, bushes and canes will reward you deliciously for all your efforts!
Start a nectar ‘bar’ for pollinators
We are all so much more mindful these days that our fruit blossoms need pollinating in order to produce fruit, and that our pollinators need helping, too. So, why not sow or plant up a border that will not only look fantastic but, with the right plants, also attract all manner of bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, hoverflies and other pollinators to ensure bumper fruit harvests, year on year.
Nectar is an important sugar-packed fuel to help insects complete their work – think of it as the ultimate energy drink! Not all plants produce it abundantly, so choose plug plants or seeds of nectar-rich flowers such as muscari and primrose (early-flowering), lavender and toadflax (mid-seaso
