Aesthetic soil for vegetable growing

[Gillykat]

Mix up flowers and veg together as they would be in nature.....you don't see bare soil in the wild!

[Logunner]

I’m confused.... Surely it’s how it performs more than it’s look?

Still class myself as a newbie so I may be missing something

[jdlondon]

Is there an edible ground cover? I tried land cress but it was just too peppery for me and also, disappeared! I think I read perennial and forgot that didn't mean constant and evergreen.

[veggiechicken]

Most gardeners would be happy to see "dark brown naked soil" at this time of year - ready for sowing.
The last thing you want to do is strip off the top soil and replace it with something "pretty".

I think I'm missing the point of this.

[mcdood]

I think I'm missing the point of this.

And don't mention astroturf again someone might take you seriously :-)

[Teds Mum]

You're over thinking this, soil is soil coloured, as long as it's tidy and not full of weeds it's all good.
Also re the astro turf - I suspect they are pulling your leg.

[Penellype]

I am looking make the top layer of soil in my vegetable growing area more attractive layer. Nearly all of my garden is used for growing fruit and veg, so I’ve gone to quite a bit of effort to make the garden look nice as well as producing plenty food for me.

However, one element which brings down the aesthetic of the garden is the dull dark brown naked soil which is on show throughout the year. Quite a bit of soil will always be on show, for various reasons, so I was thinking a good way to improve the attractiveness is to make this soil a nice dark golden colour. I have seen this done in show gardens and it looks great.

I was wondering what people thought was the best way to achieve this sustainably. The show gardens I’ve seen have just used fresh golden peat compost.

I was thinking to just strip off the toplayer of soil in the most visible parts of my garden and replace it with a mixture I buy in. For the mixture, I was thinking of using yellow/reddish fine sand mixed in with mature straw manure. This I think would give a nice colour initially, but what would happen over time! Has anyone else tried to do something similar or has any advice for my vain pursuit 😉?

The mixture may also be too free draining for my brassicas so not sure what to do with them. They prefer a bit more clay in the mix.

I would be very,very reluctant to strip off the top layer of soil, particularly if you are growing vegetables. Most of the nutrients and life of the soil that supports the plants is in the topsoil and replacing some or most of this with a mixture of sand and manure is not going to be good for the plants. If you want to cover it with something to look nice, you would be much better off leaving the soil and adding a layer on top.

Anything you add will soon be disturbed by worms, birds and when you harvest your veg. Expect any mulch to need replacing at least once a year, probably more often if the main aim of it is to look nice.

[Martin H]

What Penellype says. The top couple of inches of soil are the most valuable. A mulch of woodchip or bark chippings will look nice and will enrich the topsoil further by next spring when you will need to replace it.

[veggiechicken]

And don't mention astroturf again someone might take you seriously :-)

You're over thinking this, soil is soil coloured, as long as it's tidy and not full of weeds it's all good.
Also re the astro turf - I suspect they are pulling your leg.

I "planted" some artificial flowers in the garden once, just to confuse my neighbour. He actually commented on how early they were that year. Looked nice and never needed deadheading.
One day someone will make a fortune selling "roll out gardens" that are laid like carpet and have pop-up flowers or vegetables. Remember, you read it here first.

[mcdood]

One day someone will make a fortune selling "roll out gardens" that are laid like carpet and have pop-up flowers or vegetables. Remember, you read it here first.

Nope I've read it before Well nearly.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Garden-on-a...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[veggiechicken]

Don't like the paper over the soil - I think Astroturf would look better.

[rary]

I am looking make the top layer of soil in my vegetable growing area more attractive layer. Nearly all of my garden is used for growing fruit and veg, so I’ve gone to quite a bit of effort to make the garden look nice as well as producing plenty food for me.
I was thinking to just strip off the toplayer of soil in the most visible parts of my garden and replace it with a mixture I buy in. For the mixture, I was thinking of using yellow/reddish fine sand mixed in with mature straw manure. This I think would give a nice colour initially, but what would happen over time! Has anyone else tried to do something similar or has any advice for my vain pursuit ��?
.

Personally I don't understand the need for trying to change the colour of soil, I think a good tilth on a veg bed is nice to see, but each to their own, if I felt the need for trying what you want I would go for course rather than fine sand, why not try some nasturtiums, in a veg bed I think you would get more leaf than flower, but it would cover the soil and can be eaten