Soil test and soil test results

Click here to download the soil test results

With your soil it’s a very sandy loam, we had assumed because of this the soil might be quite acid, as the lime content in the soil would be wash through the soil making it acidic.

We have clients in such places as Bagshot in Surrey with a sandy soil and this is exactly what happens and every year they have to apply a dressing of garden lime to raises the soil pH known as keeping the soil sweet.

However in your case although you soil is sandy the soil pH is slightly above neutral, this is likely to be down to the soil having quite a lot of organic matter.

The organic matter being plant material that is breaking down in the soil with the help of soil bacterial and worms etc
Organic mater is important in soil because it acts as a buffer to hold moisture, soil nutrients and balances the soil pH in sandy soil. Plus it also supports mycorrhiza in the soil which in turn helps plants.
With your soil, the plan is to maintain the soil pH slightly lowering it with an application of fertilizer and add more organic matter, spent mushroom compost as a mulch and some additional lobworms. Although organic mater is high in lime it will break down quickly.

In the spring we will be conducting a more in-depth soil test to see what effect the mulching has had on the soil