Soil for my native plants (New York)
How I make soil mix
For germination, I use bagged potting mix from the Big Box store. The reasons for this is are:
Does not contain unwanted seeds.
Less likely to contain pathogens like Verticillium Wilt fungus which kills some plants.
Ease of use during the winter sowing season during which I'm extremely busy.
I also give the seedlings a few waterings with fish emulsion fertilizer.When I am up-potting a seedling to a larger pot I create my own soil mix. If you have a planter and want a soil mix without doing a lot of work, you should use a top soil mix. The reason is that potting mix may not contain sand and clay which the native plants require. Without clay and sand, the health of the plants will be impacted very negatively.
Shown above are some of the sources for my personal mix this year. They are:Construction fill
Kitchen compost
Not shown: topsoil from a landscaping job, leftover bag of wood chips.
The result looks like a very poor soil, which is actually what you are after for most native wildflowers. It depends on the plant, though. You can look your plant up on https://www.nativeplants.info to find the suggested soil type.
I know many of my customers will want to grow the plants in pots and planters. This type of soil described above is best. But you will need to keep them watered maybe every other day in the heat of the summer. If you are lucky enough to be able to grow the plants in ground, watering will only be suggested during drought.
Which is preferable? Raised bed or ground level? For plant health, ground level is preferable. Raised beds are more appropriate for growing vegetables. Raised beds also can get too hot and dry in the summer.
