The Gardening Year Apr 2022

March

Preparing the soil

Spend regular time in your garden from March onwards and you will be rewarded the whole year. The range of attachments and handles from the multi-change® system make light work of soil tillage.

What type of soil does your garden have?

Light sandy soil

This is fine-grained, light and lets water through. It can be worked without too much effort and should be watered regularly.

Medium-heavy loamy soil

This is made up of a good mix of clay and sand, allows roots to obtain a good hold and quickly takes in air and water. Most importantly, it is easy to work.

Heavy clayey soil

This type of soil tends to form a hard crust if it dries out. Water penetrates it slowly, so roots have to fight to get through. To improve the quality, work in some sand and loosen the soil up well.

Working the soil in 6 steps

 

 

1. Breaking up
After the winter the top crust of the soil needs to be broken up to allow air and water to penetrate it easily again.

multi-change® Cultiweeder 7cm
You can easily loosen up and aerate the compacted earth with the three sharp, hardened blades. Then simply turn it over for weeding.

multi-change® Grubber (BAM)
Use the grubber to break up stony soil with ease.

2. Tilling
Only finely tilled earth provides optimal conditions. The loose layer retains moisture in the soil and allows the fine roots of seedlings and young plants to gain a hold.

multi-change® Bow Rake (DOM40)
The bow rake can be used for two functions when tilling: first loosen the soil with the steel tines, then turn it over and smooth down the soil with the bow.

multi-change® Soil Miller (DAS)
Easily loosen, break up and weed light and heavy soils with minimal effort. This tool helps you to save time on large areas.

3. Sowing & planting
Sowing and planting is the creative part of work in the garden. Always ensure that the spacing is correct to allow for optimum plant growth.

multi-change® Small Seed Sower (EAM)
Save time by sowing seeds with this convenient tool which rolls through the soil and ensures that no seeds are wasted.

multi-change® Hand Trowel (LUSM)
Whether used as a hand tool or with a longer handle, this trowel enables you to easily plant in heavy soil.

4. Loosening up
The soil requires regular loosening up until the harvest so that it can breathe and the young seedings are supplied with nutrients.

multi-change® Aerator (BIM)
This tool allows you to effortlessly loosen up and aerate even the narrowest rows in beds.

multi-change® Double Hoe (ILM3)
A tool for three tasks: loosening up, ridging and making furrows.

5. Fertilising
Growth requires energy. When you apply fertiliser you provide soil with the strength that it needs to supply the plants. You can either use a commercial fertiliser, or a well-rotted compost which may take longer to show an effect, but will supply the required nutrients to your soil on a long-term basis.

6. Weeding
Weeding can be carried out effectively with a number of tools in the multi-change® range.

multi-change® Small Draw Hoe (HUM10)
You can effortlessly clean closely grown weeds out of beds with the narrow draw hoe. The extra sharp blade slices through the weeds with minimal effort and the angled arm is well suited to working in trenches.