Epsom Salts: Secret Gardening Ingredient

LEON: Last month we introduced you to the new article directed toward people who might want to start home gardening, or just like to dream about the gardening they might do if only….

The premise is that Anne Craven, assistant editor of Country Roads, and her husband, Michael, recently bought a house that once belonged to someone with horticultural interests, but the backyard has been neglected for a few years. Together we are getting the backyard back in shape.

So I am beginning with a progress report from the Craven Gardening Research Facility. We have completed most of the massive pruning effort that was needed for the citrus trees and muscadine vines. I have convinced us that the nutrient deficiency problem with the citrus trees was lack of magnesium. Maybe imbalance of the potassium/ magnesium fertility is a better term. Talking with experienced citrus growers, I found that this magnesium deficiency problem is becoming common with several plants. The “why” behind this is rather interesting; it is rooted in the politics of global terrorism.

Down here where it rains a lot, nitrogen is the primary fertilizer nutrient that we need to add. The most convenient, and inexpensive, source of nitrogen is ammonium nitrate—but that chemical can be used as a component of an explosive.

This doesn’t mean that ammonium nitrate is no longer used as fertilizer, only that it must be diluted into a balanced fertilizer such as 13-13-13, meaning equal parts of N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus), and K (potassium). Most of the nitrogen is being used by plants and some of it is washed out of the soil by rainfall. Plants use some of the P and K but much of it builds up in the soil. The excess phosphorus doesn’t affect the plants much, but the extra potassium (K) throws the potassium/ magnesium balance out of whack. (There was a time when I understood that balance problem, but now I don’t—and you would be bored with the explanation anyway.) The result is that our well-fertilized soil sometimes needs a good dose of Epsom Salts (potassium sulphate). The name comes from a small English town that had bitter spring water, though I don’t know what the commercial source is.

Back to the report. Anne went to several garden centers, asking for Epsom Salts and none of them were selling it—although they were getting repeated requests for it. It is readily available at drug stores and is inexpensive. She sprinkled a little around every citrus tree and we expect to see a difference when the new growth begins. She also got two bags of 13-13-13 fertilizer that is labeled as “plant food.”

That seems to be a good advertising gimmick, but plants make their own food—using fertilizer in the process. A few weeks ago the Burden Research Center gave a symposium on growing plants in pots and emphasized that people often add so much “plant food” to the potting soil that it becomes toxic to the plants.

Now for a summary, you really do need to use a balanced fertilizer in your garden and lawn. Most of the time this will work well but some plants are more sensitive to an imbalance of potassium and magnesium so you may occasionally need to give your garden a good dose of salts. Don’t get excited over this imbalance problem; I am using it as interesting coffee talk. Most plants will tolerate a large imbalance and, also, the soil type plays a big part in it. Clay particles and organic matter will help to buffer the situation.

We, at the Craven Center, haven’t yet started planting the spring garden in the raised beds, partly because there was so much pruning to do but also because April is a safer month for starting one. We will probably set out some tomato transplants and maybe some beans or squash.

Now I want to suggest that April is also a good time to start working on a new fall garden. I think it is much easier to kill the weeds before you plant the crop instead of fighting weeds and growing a crop at the same time. In April you should begin by deciding where you will want the garden to be, and how large it should be. If at all possible, the garden should get full sun. Some plants do pretty well in partial shade but plenty of sunlight is better. How large should it be? That depends on you, it is better to start small than to find that your garden is too large for your spare time.

Because rows four feet apart are convenient, plan for the width to be in multiples of four. For my illustration, I am using a garden 20 feet wide (five rows) and 22 feet long. The logic behind this size is that we came from a farming society.

Gran’pa had a farm and talked in terms of pounds per acre, so we still do. My plot is 1/100th of an acre, to make for easy calculations. If your land has a slight slope, arrange for the row length to take advantage of that for water drainage. If it is level, don’t worry—we will put a very slight slope into it later. The only thing for you to do in April is to rent or borrow a power tiller and till the soil to a depth of about six or eight inches. If practical, you might till it parallel with the rows first and then repeat by tilling across the rows. At this time you want to assure complete tillage. Now, just wait for the weeds to grow so that you can kill them next month. Take your time. Gardening is a hobby that should be fun rather than demanding.

ANNE: That last thought from Leon is one that he has repeated to me several times, and in my heart I know that gardening is a hobby. But in reality I feel as though my mom, wife, and editor roles might soon be overtaken and replaced by one title: full-time gardener. Our backyard to-do list is long enough; add to that our backyard wishlist and you’re looking at one mighty collection of tasks.

With Leon’s guidance, I am learning to not be overwhelmed by the big picture; instead, we are as a family enjoying the step-by-step rehabilitation of the garden. For example, helping to sprinkle Epsom salts around the citrus trees was a perfect chore for my fifteen-month-old daughter, who so enjoyed the sensation of dipping her hand into the bag of salts. To my surprise she didn’t try to eat the salt, but she tossed it around the yard with abandon. Harmless, I hope. She also helped me pull a few weeds, and she used her pink mini-shovel to assist while my husband tilled the soil in our raised beds.

There will be a lot of things going into the ground in April—vegetables of course, but also the camellia, fig trees, blackberry and blueberry bushes that Leon has so generously donated to our backyard. Welcome Spring!

Leon’s Gardening Tips for April

“Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote…” Why did we have to learn that silly poem in high school? There is now a good modern translation that starts something like: “When the showers of April have pierced the March drought.” March is usually fairly dry, then just at planting time, April showers get in our way. Overall, April is a beautiful gardening month.

If you planted annuals early, the ageratum, amaranth, bigonia, hollyhocks, snapdragons, and such should be blooming. Bulb-like plants such as amaryllis, gladiolus, and Louisiana iris will begin to bloom. In the vegetable garden you can plant beans, cantaloupe, cucumber, and okra. It is time to plant sweet potato slips. Strawberry harvest will continue, producing berries that are smaller and sweeter than the earlier crops. You might want to fertilize the lawn now—or maybe not. Fertilizer will make the grass greener but you will have to mow more often.