For growing a successful garden in Texas, you literally need to start from the ground up. That is to say, you need to work your soil so that your plants have a healthy medium to grow in. Texas has a huge range of soil types and soil qualities. It’s rare that you’ll start off with good soil for gardening. Thus, it’s worth it to learn how to improve your soil so that your plants will grow healthy and strong. If you’re not familiar with soil types and how to work you soil, this section is a basic introduction to creating healthy soil for your garden.
Soils are generally divided into several different types, including clay, sand, silt, loam, and peat. Soils also contain differing amounts of organic matter, large and small rocks, minerals, etc. For this reason, there are practically hundreds of varieties based on the specific content of the soil.
When working your soil, you generally want a soil that drains well and has a good amount of organic material. Most experienced gardeners look for soil that has a combination of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter.
Soils also have what is known as pH. Soil pH is a term chemists and gardeners use to define the soil as acidic or alkaline. The pH of your soil has a lot to do with what will and won’t grow in your garden. Thankfully, you can easily adjust the pH if your soil is out of balance. You can help your plants grow healthy and strong if your soil pH is well balanced.
Soil pH is measured on a scale from 0 to 14. Acidic soils have smaller pH numbers and alkaline substances have larger pH numbers. Soils that have high limestone content are generally very alkaline. Arid regions of Texas tend to have alkaline soils. If your area gets lots of rain, you may have more acidic soils.
Note that the pH scale is a logarithmic scale that helps to measure large differences in soil pH. While a pH of 7 is neutral, a pH of 6 is actually ten times more acid than a neutral 7. It follows then that a pH of 5 is a hundred times more acid than a pH of 7. A pH of 4 thus is a THOUSAND times more acid than a neutral 7.
Many gardeners look for soils that have roughly a pH of 6.5, as this is the soil pH where nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and the trace minerals are most easily absorbed by plants.
Now, if this business of pH sounds confusing, not to worry. There are many simple soil pH testers that can help you determine what your soil pH is. There are also electric garden soil testing kits available out there that will test soil pH, light intensity, and total combined potash, phosphorous and nitrogen levels.
Adding organic compost is one of the best ways to adjust the soil and correct pH and drainage. Please see this site from Clemson University for more tips on adjusting the pH of your soil. Check out this website written by soil scientists from Texas for some good information on the specific kinds of soils you’ll find in Texas. It can be a bit technical, but may be helpful for many gardeners.
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