Well-Drained Well-drained soils allow water to seep through and drain to the deeper water table. They also keep plants from partially suffocating or even completely drowning after massive rains. What we want, as gardeners, is evenly moist soil, not waterlogged soil. Well-drained soil accomplishes this, even after heavy downpours. We Read more…
Full of Organic Matter Even those who know the importance of the organic matter in our soil might not know all of its benefits. There are many! Organic Matter’s Origins First, where does the organic matter in our soil come from? Organic matter in our garden soil comes from all Read more…
Rich In the past, to gain richness, gardeners and farmers have typically added plenty of macronutrients to their soil—the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) found in most fertilizers—for their plants to grow large. However, they haven’t always taken into account the availability of micronutrients that make plants truly healthy and Read more…
Perfect Soil Perfect soil: Deep. Rich. Full of organic matter. Well-drained. And well-loosened. It’s a gardener’s dream. Deep. We all have a line where our topsoil meets our subsoil. It’s where, as you dig, the soil changes color, usually from a darker brown or black to lighter brown, brownish-red, tan, Read more…
A Gardener’s Relationship with Soil As gardeners, we feel like we grow plants. But we don’t. At least, that’s not the whole picture—or even the most important part of it. The wisest insight green-thumbed gardeners possess is knowing they don’t grow plants; they grow soil. Plants are merely a byproduct, Read more…
What’s the Best Mulch? If done correctly, the best mulch is the plants themselves, followed by straw. Using Plant Foliage as a Living Mulch It’s possible to let plants’ foliage aid their roots by casting enough shade to keep the soil moisture that’s necessary for themselves and all of the Read more…
Contrasting Alliums Two of our alliums (the onion family) give us contrasting stories about mulch: Onions and Garlic Onions Some old-timey gardeners will tell you to never mulch onions, claiming it will spoil the crop. Onions, however, are one of the garden’s thirstiest crops and do quite poorly in dry Read more…
The Biggest, Best Green-Thumbed Gardening Secrets to Giving Your Plants the Right Amount of Water You may be wondering: Do I really even need to water? Aren’t there gardeners who rarely, if ever, water? We’ve discussed how garden plants need about an inch of water per week. However, not many Read more…
Building Healthy Soil by Adding Organic Matter and Loosening It As we’ve seen, healthy soil is rich, full of organic matter, well-drained, well-loosened, and deep, but how do we create such soil in our garden beds? We add these things ourselves. While rich and full of organic matter or well-drained Read more…
An Introduction to Amazing Soil There is absolutely nothing like soil. Its rich smell—sent north on the breeze on a late-winter day when deep in our souls we’re longing for the joys of the sun on our skin and the unmitigated smiles of peace that come unbidden while sitting on Read more…