The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Small Home Landscaping

In flower gardens, for vegetables or similar plants which obtain their food materials from the top twelve to fifteen inches of soil it is essential to dig or plow below this depth and incorporate organic matter which will in time increase the depth of the top layer. Digging especially will effect this. The subsoil itself is poor and usually it contains a lot of sand, gravel, clay and such, probably compacted.

But this depth is not sufficient to grow fruit trees or other trees and shrubs. When planting these, dig a hole several times wider than the spread of the plant roots you are setting out, discard a foot of the subsoil if it is very poor or is mostly clay. Replace the bottom soil with good soil and some organic matter, set the tree and fill around the roots with topsoil mixed with organic matter. This will get the tree or shrub off to a good start and support growth for several years.

The soil around many new developments is mostly subsoil, the topsoil being stripped off before construction began. In planting permanent trees, shrubs and hedges, follow the method above. In some cases, part of the existing soil may be used and mixed to half its bulk with topsoil before the organic materials are added. Peat moss or commercial humus is recommended for use in such plantings. To these are added fertilizers to provide food materials (see Fertilizers).

In growing flowers and vegetables, it is possible to get good results the first year by the use of peat moss or humus and the fertilizers, unless, of course, you are fortunate enough to get farm manure or good compost. A covering of from three to six inches of any organic materials on the surface is worked into the top twelve inches, taking care to break down all lumps until all is in a crumbly state. Finally, by adding fertilizer and water, quite good gardens and lawns can be made.

This question of drainage is important. Healthy growth is not possible in a water- logged soil no matter what sort of feeding is done. Water excludes all air, holds uproot growth and invites disease. The mere breaking up and pulverizing of the soil may be all that is needed to give drainage. Gritty materials are a good help and in the great majority of soils they will suffice. But there are soils which have a hard impervious subsoil through which water cannot penetrate.