ᐅ Topsoil or planting soil: which is better for a new garden?
Created on: 23 Jul 2023 09:13
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Pinkiponk
Greetings to the forum; the house is built, we have moved in, and we are now starting with the landscaping. 🙂
I haven’t found clear or really satisfactory answers elsewhere, so I’m asking the experienced members here in the forum: From your perspective, is topsoil or planting soil better for establishing a new garden? Should I also buy and introduce worms, or wait to see if they settle on their own? For now, I’m mainly concerned with the base soil; once I know which plants will go where, I’ll prepare the soil in each planting hole accordingly.
I haven’t found clear or really satisfactory answers elsewhere, so I’m asking the experienced members here in the forum: From your perspective, is topsoil or planting soil better for establishing a new garden? Should I also buy and introduce worms, or wait to see if they settle on their own? For now, I’m mainly concerned with the base soil; once I know which plants will go where, I’ll prepare the soil in each planting hole accordingly.
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Pinkiponk25 Jul 2023 18:13This is how the area behind our house looks at the moment. According to a plant identification app, the white wild plants (?) are called "Daucus carota," which is wild carrot, but no matter how many I pull out, none of them have a carrot attached. :-(
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chand198625 Jul 2023 21:51Pinkiponk schrieb:
This is what the area behind our house looks like right now. According to a plant identification app, the white wild plants (?) are called "Daucus carota," which is wild carrot, but no matter how many I pull out, none of them have a carrot attached. :-(Is the photo missing? Or is it just me?
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WilderSueden26 Jul 2023 07:48Pinkiponk schrieb:
So far, besides dandelion and chickweed, I have gathered the following:
Alyssum ovirense, Karawanken stonecrop
Biscutella laevigata, buckler mustard
Delosperma congestum 'Golden Nugget', yellow ice plant
Glaucium flavum, yellow horned poppy
Potentilla erecta, tormentil
Potentilla fragiformis ssp. megalantha, strawberry-leaved cinquefoil I think you might be putting the cart before the horse here. First, you should consider the site conditions you have and the maintenance concepts that should come with them. You can also modify the site, but working with the existing conditions usually requires less effort and is more cost-effective. Sometimes modifying the site makes sense, though—for example, with the dry stone wall, I now almost automatically create several dry spots that would be difficult to realize with our clay soil otherwise. Then, in the second step, you can select plants that match these site conditions. Ideally, you aim for the flowering times to be well distributed throughout the year. I took the easy route for the second step and bought ready-made seed mixes.
PS: which plant identification app are you using?
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Pinkiponk26 Jul 2023 09:31WilderSueden schrieb:
PS: What plant identification app do you use?I use "Flora Incognita" from the Technical University of Ilmenau. It is free and developed within the university (so funded by taxpayers), which is why I hope I can mention it here without it being considered advertising and risking a ban.chand1986 schrieb:
Isn't the photo missing? Or is it just me?You’re right, I forgot to include the photo. Please excuse that and thank you for pointing it out. (Also, thanks for considering that it might be on your end; that is not common. Sometimes I remind myself, “It’s not always someone else’s fault.” 🙂 )