If you want to grow beautiful, healthy plants, you need good soil for them. Unfortunately, it’s rare to find a garden with good natural soil. It’s often depleted of many nutrients, making it easier for weeds to grow than the plants you want. That doesn’t mean you’re stuck with poor soil, though. Here’s how to improve what you have.
Turn It Over
Aeration is good for the garden and it also helps to break up clumps so your plants can spread their roots easily. Consider hiring someone with a plough or with a rototiller so you can thoroughly turn over the soil and blend in any of last year’s dead plants. This helps add plenty of air to the soil and makes it lighter, as well.
Add Organic Materials
Organic materials are the perfect way to put nutrients back into the soil so it can nourish your plants. There are many options to go with and they’re all helpful, so you can use one or several of the following materials:
- Compost
- Topsoil
- Aged manure
- Leaf mould
By adding these to the soil, you help improve aeration, drainage and prevent compaction. Organic matter also helps add organisms to your garden beds that will build up the soil over time.
Top With Mulch
Mulch is a good way to reduce the amount of watering you need to do. It also helps keep weeds to a minimum and over time, if you’ve used organic mulch, it will break down and become part of the soil itself. You can use anything from chipped wood and tree bark to newspaper and even hulls from edible nuts to top your soil. Add a thick layer to protect the soil and to lock moisture in.
Rotate Your Crops
Planting a vegetable garden? Make sure you switch up plant locations each year to prevent disease and to ensure the best possible growing conditions. Every plant requires different levels of nutrition and can deplete the soil over time if the same crop is planted there year after year. Switch it up each year and don’t plant the same crops in the same location for at least three years.
Test Regularly
When you test your soil, you’ll learn if it is acidic or not. This is important because some plants like soil that has some acidity in it, while others do very poorly in this kind of environment. You can test the soil each year and then adjust it as needed with additions such as lime. Over time, the soil will become more stable, and you should see an improvement in plant growth.
It’s possible to improve your garden soil with just a few easy steps. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration if you just take care of the soil.
Whether you’re looking for plant hire to overturn your soil or topsoil to add extra nutrients, PR Weldhen has what you’re looking for. Call today to learn more.
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