With summer just around the corner, GeoCatch hosted a series of Summer Loving Gardens workshops to help residents prepare their gardens for the warm dry weather.
The workshops were held at Soils Ain’t Soils Busselton and featured Paul and Linda Mitchener from The Green Life Soil Company, who shared their tips for healthy summer soil.
“Fertiliser is like fast food for your plants,” said Linda. “It doesn’t build soil health.”
“Organic matter, like composted manures, is more like the veggies your mum used to make you eat!”
The workshops emphasised building soil health to increase the water and nutrient retention of sandy soil. Actions such as adding clay to improve soil structure, using soil wetter to reduce water repellency and organic matter to support microbial activity are key to healthy summer soil. A good layer of mulch on top will also protect the soil from summer heat.
“Use a coarse chunky mulch such as pine bark and apply a layer of up to 10cm depth,” said GeoCatch Bay OK Officer Lisa Massey.
“This will prevent your soil from drying out and keep those soil microbes happy!
“You can protect our Bay if you garden this way.”
GeoCatch’s Bay OK Gardens project and Garden Guardians of the Bay campaign helps gardeners garden successfully on the region’s sandy soil, while protecting Geographe Bay from nutrient runoff.
To learn more about getting your garden ready for summer visit geocatch.asn.au.
This project is supported by the South West Catchments Council, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. It is also part of Royalties for Region’s Healthy Estuaries WA and Revitalising Geographe Waterways programs. These State Government initiatives aim to support the long-term health of our south-west estuaries.
