The New Year is here and spring is just around the corner. But before you buy new plants, I want to remind you of some beautiful gardens we visited, and the one thing they had in common, good soil preparation.
First there was Ms. Rhonda’s Delta garden in Sumner, Mississippi. Her garden featured island beds, long sweeping beds and those designed in a Parterre style. There were beautiful flowers in all shapes and sizes.
We also visited Ms. Barbara’s turn of the century cottage garden in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She packed in sweeping beds of colorful foliage and flowers that dazzled in the sizzling, summer heat.
And a couple of months ago we took you on a tour of Ms. Sandra’s woodland wonder, which was also in Kosciusko. She had tropical bananas, ferns and hostas in her backyard paradise.
But as I told you they had one thing in common-good bed preparation. All of them used a byproduct of Mississippi’s cotton industry, composted cotton burr.
This product from the Mississippi delta has undergone rigorous composting for over 3 years thus eliminating weed germination fears.
Composted cotton burr is sold by the bag or in bulk. Once shoveled in your soil, it creates the perfect home for your new plants’ roots to grow and expand. It helps loosen the soil structure for good aeration and perfect drainage.
Whether you choose this product or some other form of organic matter, the choice is yours. But improving your soil structure will give you the green thumb. I’m Norman Winter for Southern Gardening.