Soil Types and Soil Conservation

 Soil Types and Soil Conservation

Soil Types: Wildflowers seed mixtures can be organised by soil type, however there are species which will thrive on most soil types and others that require very specific conditions.  The MM range contains both, the common native species that will grow everywhere, (unless the soil type is totally unsuitable) and the targeted species to suit the exact soil conditions.

Designing wildflowers by soil type may seem at first to be overly simple, but our customers understand 'their soil' far more than their 'vegatation classification'.  
By phone or by email, 'Soil matters', and mostly it matters to the better landscape gardeners and private gardens, all of who practice 'the right plant for the right place'. Ultimately it is with professionals and gifted 'green fingered' amateurs that wildflower growing will get its greatest promotion, therefore this range as much for them as it is about soil suitability.

The MM range is about assisting the wildflower grower to create the conditions for their particular soil as it is matching the species to the soil type. 
In using 'Soil Types' we start a discussion that leads to our customers establishing Native Irish Wild Flora. 

After all, we actually are - Irelands Wildflower Growers.

Soil Classifications:
Soil Classifications used in the 'Meadow Mixture' MM range of wildflower seed mixtures are abridged from Teagasc Soil information and The National Soil Survey Maps. 

When a customer contacts DBN, we try to asses where there site is located on the soil map of Ireland. We currently use the 2nd edition.
Geological information is also requested.

Peat, Podzols, Gleys and Brown Earths are all accounted for in our choice of flora to suit the soil types of Ireland. The pH consideration ranges from 4.5 to 7.9.
Silt, Clay, Loam and Sand, Light, Heavy, Basic and mixed soils have been considered. Upland, cool and North facing, Wetland, poorly drained, Heaths, soils with iron Pans, degraded soils, new soil, sub and second soil have also been observed. 
Dry soil, drained soil, warm soil, soil with attitude, aspect and places where there is no soil at all have, to date, have been sown, the cliffs off the Old head of Kinsale are testimony to that. If we have missed your soil type or cant match a flora to it, we have other choices in other ranges. 

Soil Conservation

The Conservation of soil goes hand in hand with the conservation of flora, In the 20th century, Soil was one of the few issues that the UN, The EEC, now the EU and The world bank could agree on. The worlds soils are being depleted at an unsustainable rate.

Through our customers, DBN is helping to re-enrich the seed/soil genebank spreading wildflower seed throughout the soils of Ireland for another generation.

After 50 years of indiscriminate chemical herbicides and monoculture, after 70 years of over heavy beasts and tractor that are too big for most Irish soils, we are reclaiming soil, through the biological action of wildflowers.  All our wildflower farmers tell us so. After a wildflower crop on farms where once food production was halted, or 'set-a side', we regained the natural fertility and biological life that was present 60 years previous. Why, because the fullness of nature is present, bird and bird droppings, worms and worm casts, roots and enzymes, fungi and microbes. 
We provide nitrogen fixers (legumes), deep rooted species (often biennial) and species that can aerate soil, lock up excess fertility and slow release nutrients such as Yarrow. 

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