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Old 17-03-2008, 10:03 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Ornata Ornata is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2004
Posts: 109
Default How to create the perfect soil for annual flowers

On 17 Mar, 09:22, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
Having a small garden with sandy/stony soil, I've decided to start
from scratch on a couple of raised beds by ditching the existing soil
and replacing it with something better. As this is a small project, I
don't care about the cost of materials but they need to be available
from the garden centre in 25kg bags.
Am I right in thinking that general purpose compost and sharp sand
should form the bulk? Things seem to grow well enough in that medium
but for how long? As a compost bin isn't practical for me, can I buy
the equivalent as a commercial product? Maybe a Phostrogen type
liquid feed would be as good?
Any advice appreciated


As you have sandy/stony soil, I do not understand why you need to buy sharp
sand to make up your growing medium. *Why not get twice as much decent
compost or manure, and mix your current garden soil with that?

If you don't have enough composted material in your soil, you'll be forever
watering if we have a dry summer.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)


Maybe I have the wrong impression of the conditions in your garden..
but sandy/stony soil sounds the perfect growing medium for lots of
annuals - most don't need a rich soil. I'd just keep adding plenty of
organic matter to the existing soil.