Tuinen Brouckaert always gives plants a good start with DCM VIVIMUS®

"When creating a garden, you only have one opportunity to improve the soil and get it back into shape. I pay a lot of attention to this, because the success of a garden starts with the soil. If you save on soil improvement from the start, this will inevitably have repercussions later on. When creating a garden, I therefore use various soil improvers to bring the soil into optimal condition. People often try to save money on this step, but that’s not the way we work. If you have to return to a customer several times, it is often at your own expense, so a good start is important. The downside of modern garden design is that everything has to be done quickly and that larger machines are used. In the time span of one month, the soil is often moved several times, without really knowing which soil ends up where. After that, a tree of 1000 euros is planted in the soil and then we expect it to start growing straight away. You shouldn’t take that for granted … You actually have to respect the soil, improve it, stimulate it and give it time to recover. But often we’re under pressure to do things quickly in order to meet customer’s expectations, which usually doesn’t lead to the best results."

How to proceed?

"We always mix DCM VIVIMUS^® into the planting hole or trench, when replacing plants such as yews and special or valuable plants. Especially with more expensive plants, it is important that the planting is successful right off at the fist go. For the planting of acid-loving plants, we use DCM VIVIMUS® FOR HEATHER/RHODO in order to create an ideal acidity level in the root zone and allow the planting to proceed without any problems. When laying out lawns or planting hedges and flowerbeds, we systematically use a home-made mixture based on DCM COPRON, DCM VIVISOL® MINIGRAN®, DCM MIX 2 and DCM AQUAPERLA® - WATER CYRSTALS. We incorporate it into the soil with a rotary cultivator or add it in the planting trench. Creating a garden always means collaborating with nature. A lot of people think it's like building a machine, but it's not. The soil, the grass, the plants... they're all living things, which doesn’t make it easy. Therefore, thorough soil preparation is very important. As I already said, customers sometimes tend to save on soil improvement and fertilisers. But that’s not our way of working. I first make sure that the soil is in optimal condition and, if necessary, return only one year later to do the rest."

To find out more about the benefits of a good soil structure, click here.