Sarah Raven reveals how to turn clumpy clay soil into the perfect 'apple crumble topping' to help gardens thrive

Soil is often overlooked as one of the most important parts of gardening in fact knowing your soil type can make all the difference when it comes to helping your garden thrive. Gardening expert Sarah Raven is here to help you make the most out of what you've got and how to improve it.

Whether you've just started vegetable gardening for beginners or have been running your allotment for years you might be unaware of what your soil type is. There are several soil types, each with its own perks and problems so finding out what you have is the first step to bettering it.

There are soil types that are better than others especially when it comes to edible farming and growing impressive flower beds. However, just because you don't have the best soil type doesn't mean you can't improve what you have. Sarah Raven's recipe for perfect garden soil is here to help you with just that.

Sarah Raven's soil improvement tip: crumble recipe

Sharing the advice on Instagram @sarahravensgarden, the reel celebrating World Soil Day explains that the quality of soil is imperative to how well your plants grow. You can't grow the best winter bedding plants without working on your soil first.

"For every garden, great soil will help your plants and flowers grow well. Unsure of what good soil looks like? The best soil has the consistency of a crumble. Sarah shows you how to go from butter-like clay to crumbly soil," reads the caption.

The method is extremely simple and as Sarah describes it, it's exactly like making a rather delicious apple crumble but of course, using soil instead.

"As a gardener, the fundamental to success is your soil, whether you're moving to a new garden and you’re a seasoned gardener or you're a brand new gardener. Start with your soil," begins Sarah.

The gardening expert explains that the soil at Perch Hill where Sarah and her team tend to the magnificent garden, the soil is very heavy clay. She asks showing the lumps of clay, "Can you see these great sort of seams of clay? It bakes to concrete in the summer and gives you platform heels in the winter when you walk across it."

"“How do you get from this to this, this is what I want,” she says pointing from the large clumps of clay soil to the smaller crumbly type. “And that’s what I think of as apple crumble topping and it’s got a lovely fine tilth," adds Sarah.

So if you have a similar clay-like textured soil in your garden and you want to sort your garden out here's what you need to do.

"So what you do, you’ve got your clay, which is like butter you add flour which in this case is organic matter. We use our own compost here, but it could be green waste or leaf mould. And then finally you add grit and it’s 5 to 6 mm pea shingle which I always think is about the size of my little fingernail," says Sarah.

All of these materials are the ingredients for your crumble, the butter is your clar, compost or organic matter is your flour and then the grit is granulated sugar. You don't even have to put this type of crumble in the oven, you can get to planting your winter tulips right away!

Garden Tutor Soil pH Test Kit: £12.99 at Amazon

If you need help finding out your soil type this kit will provide you will accurate soil test results in 60 seconds and it is incredibly easy to use again and again. It includes a detailed coloured handbook with lime and sulphur application charts.

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Once you've aced your soil texture we'd also recommend you learn how to properly protect your plants from winter frost. Soil can easily freeze over the colder seasons so having some cloche or fleece can help your plants survive.