Somme Valley loam soils for home garden, Glisy, Picardie, northwest France
Description: alkaline chalk (calcium carbonate) under a fertile ‘limon’-a fine loess based material (clay and silt),
together forms a loose light brown loam
Location: sloping; lower land of the Somme Valley near Amiens, Picardie, France
Values for this soil:
Home gardens – fertile alluvial soil over chalk of the lower valley grows trees, lawns, vegetables and flowers
Relaxation – The green gardens are a great aid to health with their good food and refreshing places
Memories– the famous red poppies remind us of the Great War sacrifices (nb anenome in photo).
Challenges- and the managements for this soil:
– Alkaline soils make it hard for plants to access much of the soil’s fertility- acidifiers can be used to lower pH
– Fertile soils grow good plants and weeds– stop the weeds with a mulch layer, like one of bark chips.
For another Soil Selfies from the Somme, see Somme loams from the Bois du Sart and Heath Memorial Cemetery, north of Harbonnieres,
for a Soil Selfies with flowers and trees in a 50+ yr old urban backyard garden, see for plants and memories from Colloroy, New South Wales, Australia
Credits Jeanie Clark, Warracknabeal, gives permission for her photos and information gathered in the Somme to be used under a (cc) license 2015
Edited by Guillaume Fournet, France. Page created by Jeanie Clark, enviroed4all®, Australia, for use in education under a (cc) licence 2015
Go on to visit other Soil Selfies
page published 9 November 2015, updated 8 January 2016