Understanding Growing Conditions
- artfulgardensnz
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Different plants require different levels of light, moisture and nutrients in the soil to thrive.
You will need to understand the conditions of each garden bed to be able to choose the plants that are best suited to grow in that spot. It will say on the plant label or in my book Plants for Garden Design Aotearoa what conditions a plant will need to thrive.
Planting the right plant in the right conditions will enable them to be more resistant to pests and diseases and to grow without hindrance.
LIGHT
Full Sun is defined as 6 or more hours of direct sun per day
Part Sun/ Part Shade is defined as 4 to 6 hours of direct sun per day
Full Shade is defined as less than 4 hours of direct sun per day
SOIL MOISTURE
Pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it in your hand.
Moist soil: If the soil sticks together forming a ball that breaks easily then your soil is moist
Wet soil: If the soil holds together and doesn't break apart if you drop it, you have wet soil
Dry soil: If the soil doesn't hold together at all, it is dry
SOIL TYPES SOME PLANTS MAY REQUIRE
WELL-DRAINED SOIL
Well-drained soil is soil that lets air and water pass through at a steady rate.
If, after a rain, it takes a while for the water to drain away, you do not have well-drained soil. If your soil is always drying out, due to being very sandy and porous, you do do not have well-drained soil.
To improve soil drainage, add mulch in the form of compost, shredded leaves, rotted manure or tree mulch to the top of your soil, it will eventually break down and will introduce organic matter and aeration to the soil which will create better drainage flow.
Or you can just choose plants that are suited to the soil you do have (i.e., wet or dry soil).
NUTRIENT-RICH SOIL
Some plants are gross feeders, meaning they need lots of nutrients to grow, these nutrients will need to be added to the soil regularly. You can add nutrients to soil using fertilizers, compost or rotted manures. A thick layer of mulch on top of your soil will help keep moisture in as well as eventually breaking down to add more nutrients into the soil.
ACIDIC SOIL
Some plants need acidic soil to thrive, if a garden bed already has rhododendrons, camellia or azalea thriving, it probably has acidic soil. You can buy a soil test from hardware shops to test the acidity of your soil. If you need to add acid, to plant any of the acid loving plants in this book, the best way is to sprinkle sulphur on the soil and turn it in using a spade or fork before planting.
For more advice like this see Plants for Garden Design Aotearoa or book an on-site garden consultation with Artful Gardens today.
