Improving my planter soil

Your soil is probably exhausted of nutriments and in need of replacement. I have a couple of troughs for polyanthus/geraniums and reckon to change the soil every three years

Where will I find some good soil to replace it with? Is it the sort of thing you can buy at a garden centre?

Thanks very much for your answer.

Depending on how big your raised planters are then it may not be practical to replace all of the soil, but that is the best suggestion. What you can do is take half of it out and replace with a mixture of compost and topsoil and manure, dig it all in. You can use the soil you have taken out as a mulch for the rest of your garden. You have to remember that as it is not soil attached to the larger garden you will have to provide your plants with the food they can normally get to grow from the soil. Add bonemeal (organic) and some long term plant food (Miracle grow) and even chicken manure is a good source of food (although it stinks!). You can incorporate some green manure which you can buy from seed next Autumn, you can cut this down when it's grown and dig it back into the soil. Use your vegetable peel and dig it under the soil. This should rot down providing nitrogen and essential elements to the soil, I've even used seaweed off the beach after washing off the salt water. Cover the soil with an old piece of carpet or old compost bags held down with bricks to keep the soil warm and weed free. Make sure you feed your plants whilst they are in the growing stage with tomato food when in flower and seaweed liquid food, you can use Miracle Grow and keep deadheading. I'm not surprised last year was a disappointment the weather was lousy. Most things you will get from a garden centre and the independant ones have people that are pretty clued up and will advise you if you ask. Best of luck Andrea

Thanks very much that has helped a lot.

Regards

David (Glumpy)