Happy Urban Dirt

Spring is coming soon, so it’s the perfect time to start planning your garden. The location of your planting site is the key to a prospering garden and one of the first things to consider!

Below is an excerpt Frigid-resistant fruits and nuts By Scott Serrano and Allyson Levy. It has been adapted for utilize on the Internet.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best place to plant your plants.

1. Determine the soil content at the planting site

Does the soil in your location contain high amounts of clay, sand or stone, or is it clayey? Depending on how much space you have for planting, your property may contain many different types of soil.

Taking soil samples from several places you want to plant can support determine this. Many good sources of information about soil types can be found in university agricultural programs.

2. The pH (acidity) level in your soil

Another factor to consider is the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of the soil. Most plants can live in a slightly acidic pH range of 6.5 to 5.5. However, some plants require nutrients that can only be absorbed by the root system based on a certain pH level in the soil.

Soil testing is one of the best ways to determine what type of soil you have.

You can do this by contacting your local university agricultural advisor or agricultural research labs in your area.

These organizations can sometimes provide soil testing services, in addition to selling basic soil testing kits with instructions that allow you to test your own soil and can advise you on what to do if you need to change the acidity level of your planting site.

3. Soil depth in the planting area

It’s also a good idea to understand how much topsoil you have to work with.

Some planting areas have deep soil 5 feet (1.5 m) or more deep before they hit the rock. Other areas may have shallow soil that can only be worked with 1 foot (31 cm) deep.

Sometimes digging test holes in several places can support determine the depth of the soil to determine the best place to plant trees on your property.

If you have a wide choice of planting location, choose a site with deep soil, although most plants are adaptable and will tend to have horizontal root structures if planted in shallow areas of soil.

If you have soil that is only a few feet deep, it may be beneficial to plant your trees in immense, spreading mounds.

These may be 6 to 10 feet (1.8–3.1 m) wide circles that gently rise up a 1 foot (31 cm) high slope. The plant is buried in the center of the mound to give its roots more room to spread. The only drawback to this planting method is that every few years you have to add soil the width of the mound to give the roots more room as they grow outwards.

4. Determine your lightweight exposure

The amount of lightweight falling directly onto the planting area determines the lighting conditions, which can range from full sun to full shade.

This is called the planting aspect and helps determine what type of plant will grow in a given location.

For best results, place a planting area with plenty of sunlight facing south that can be easily located with a compass.

Below are general guidelines for evaluating various aspects of sunlight exposure to determine which plants will grow well in a specific planting area.

If the sun only shines for three hours, but it’s the hottest part of the day (noon to 3 p.m.), that may be better sun exposure than four hours in the cooler part of the morning.

It is also vital to remember that the intensity and amount of lightweight exposure change at different times of the year.

Here are some general tips for sun exposure:

Full sun: 12 to 8 hours of direct sunlight.
Shadow part: 6 to 4 hours of direct sunlight when the sun is hottest (noon to afternoon).
Sunday part: 4 to 2 hours of direct sunlight, usually early morning or behind schedule in the day.
Full Shade: No direct sunlight; filtered sunlight for complete shade.

5. Determine your hardiness zone

Most plants are rated by their hardiness index, which is defined as a plant’s ability to survive the coldest winter temperatures. In addition to frosty, it measures a plant’s ability to tolerate heat, drought, flooding and wind.

A hardiness zone is a geographical area defined to encompass a range of climatic conditions vital for plant growth and survival.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is a standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive in a given location.

The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 6°C zones, and was last updated in 2012.¹

6. Microclimate

The microclimate in the planting area can also play an vital role in the plant’s ability to survive. Microclimate is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in surrounding areas.

This may be as little as a few degrees, but may be immense enough to allow a less resistant plant to grow in an area where it would not normally survive. If you live in an urban area, tough surfaces such as asphalt and concrete absorb solar energy and can make the planting environment warmer.

South-facing areas are more exposed to direct sunlight and may be warmer for longer periods of time.

Also remember that frosty air is usually found in the lowest parts of the planting site, so these areas may remain colder for longer periods of time. Growing the plant in these locations may be more hard than in a warmer location just 30 feet (9.1 m) uphill from this location.

7. Identify your water source

The first year you plant a tree or shrub, it will generally need 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water per week to stay fit. Therefore, another vital factor taken into account when choosing a planting site must also be convenient access to water.

Notes

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