My parents love gardening and so naturally I have heard lots of conversations about how exactly to maintain the numerous tomato and cucumber plants we grow in our backyard. Surprisingly, little things such as temperature, weather and even soil can affect plant growth. One of these important factors is garden soil – from the type of soil that is used to how the soil is being treated can be the reason for success or failure for a home garden. Soil is essentially the foundation of a beautiful garden so hopefully, the tips below will help you to build and maintain a wonderful garden!
Avoid walking on soil
By avoiding making footsteps in soil, you will be making sure of proper root growth and water flow. If this is difficult to avoid, consider building a pathway around your garden so that you can walk easily from one side of your garden to the other.
Compost
Continuously adding compost to soil can improve its health since compost contains essential nutrients for the soil. Compost will feed the soil as well as improve soil structure. There are multiple other advantages of working compost in the soil, but hopefully, the few listed above are enough to encourage you to use compost in soil.
Soil test
There are soil test kits that are easy to use which you can find online or in stores. Conducting soil tests every few years can help determine what other nutrients are needed for plant growth. By being aware of missing nutrients in your soil, you can take the necessary steps in order to further nourish and care for the soil.
Mulch
Mulch is a layer of organic material that is added to the surface of soil. This is a crucial component for a healthy garden since it prevents weeds and can help the health of soil.
Pesticides
Try to stay away from pesticides! Although it can be very tempting to use pesticides to get rid of insects, pesticides can at times also be harmful to the soil since it has the ability to kill earthworms which are important for healthy soil.
