Start with Soil Simple steps for a thriving garden

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780711289390
• ISBN10: 0711289395
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-04-29
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• More Book Details

Summary

Transform your garden from the ground up with this practical guide to soil. 

Any thriving garden starts with good soil: whether you're growing vibrant herbaceous borders or bountiful vegetable beds. And while gardeners all appreciate the soil beneath their feet, many are still perplexed by how it works.

In Start with Soil, award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant challenges you to take your soil seriously, reveals its hidden wonders and gives you the tools to improve your soil health and harness its power. 

• The science of soil is explained without the jargon: learn how soil works and how climate change is impacting its health.
• Get to know your own soil with easy at-home testing, explanations about how soil changes throughout the year, and quick-guides to the types of growing mediums we use in gardening – from composts to house plants, hydroponics to sand gardens. 
• Follow Juliet’s advice for gardening for better soil, with tried-and-tested methods for making simple compost, feeding your soil, protecting your soil, and introductions to No Dig gardening, Hugelkultur and rain gardens.
• Understand how plants help the soil and choose the perfect plants for your soil type.

With step-by-step projects, plant profiles and troubleshooting pages – by starting with soil you will not only be gardening in a way that is kind to the planet, but you will also be ensuring that your garden flourishes.

Created in collaboration with the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and written by leading garden designer and soil expert, Juliet Sargeant, this is the must-have guide for a thriving garden. 

Author Biography

Juliet Sargeant is an award-winning garden designer. Juliet’s presenter experience includes BBC Gardener’s World, regular coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show, BBC Inside Out and Channel 4’s Village of the Year. Juliet teaches garden design and horticulture at her Sussex Garden School.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous centre for botanical and mycological knowledge. Over the past 250 years Kew has made innumerable contributions to increasing the understanding of plants and fungi with many benefits for humankind.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART ONE: WHAT IS SOIL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR OUR GARDENS AND FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?

• How soil works
• Soil structure and biodiversity
• Soil and climate change
• Soil in our gardens

PART TWO: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SOIL

• Different soil types
• How to test soil
• Soil through the year

PART THREE: GARDENING FOR BETTER SOIL

• Mulch and compost
  • How to make leaf mulch
  • Different types of compost
  • How to make compost
• No-Dig Gardening
• Container Gardening
• Raised-Bed Gardening
• What to Plant for Healthy Soil
  • Companion planting
  • Ground cover
  • Water retaining plants
  • Plants for soil type (chalky, clay, loamy, peat, sandy and silty; poor soil and woodland environments)
  • Plants for soil PH (acid-loving plants and alkaline-loving plants)
  • Top Ten Soil Saving Plants

PART FOUR: SOIL TROUBLESHOOTER
Quick reference guide to key soil problems