Easy Ways to Improve Your Soil
Last week we talked about improving your lawn soil. This week we are going to cover your garden soil. We will finish up next week by teaching you how to improve your flower beds.
In your garden, different plants have different nutritional requirements, so it’s a good idea to rotate plantings from year to year in your vegetable garden to give the soil a chance to regain its most depleted nutrients. It’s an especially good practice to alternate legumes through each of your garden beds.
The best way to prepare a garden bed is a method called double digging. This basically means that you turn the soil over to a depth of two spades, rather than one. This improves the soil’s aeration and drainage. While you’re turning the soil and braking up large clumps, add compost, leaf mold, rotted manure, or other organic matter to enrich the soil.
Instead of throwing away the leaves you’ve raked off your lawn, spread them as mulch over your garden beds. Overwinter, it will protect exposed soil from eroding and help prevent weeds from getting a foothold in early spring, before you’re ready to plant. When planting time comes around, transfer the decomposing leaves to a compost heap, use them as mulch on garden paths or under trees, or dig them into your garden bed to enrich the soil there. |
