Soil is a rich substance, providing life to your home garden. Not only does it store about 0.01% of the total water on Earth, but it also contains an abundance of minerals. Keeping your soil content healthy will keep your garden healthy by default. So, how can you keep up with your top soil? Once you lay new soil from a landscape supply company, consider the following tips to keep it serving its purpose.
- Aeration: Soil for gardening needs to breathe, so consider investing in an aerator. By running this machine over the soil before you plant new plants, you can keep it oxygen rich. You may also consider hiring a professional landscaper to perform this task for you.
- Prevent Runoff: Excess rain can cause runoff in your garden, so consider how you can prevent this. One effective method is placing plants along the perimeter of the garden, creating a natural barrier. Hardscaping can also serve a similar function.
- Keep Off Wet Soil: When it rains, avoid walking over areas of top soil. Your feet will pack down the soil and prevent air and water from entering freely. It can also block areas where roots could potentially grow. Let the soil dry before you work in the garden again.
- Consider Composting: If you don’t do so already, adding compost to your garden can add extra organic material to keep the area nutrient rich. Remember that decomposition is a natural process, so dead plant material can add nitrogen and other substances back into the soil to keep its natural cycle flowing.
- Test Your Mineral Content: A landscaping or soil professional can come to your house to test the content of your soil. They can test whether it has enough minerals and whether the pH is healthy. Some garden professionals recommend doing this once every three years, but you should also always have your soil tested when you are having trouble growing plants.
By stocking your shed with gardening supplies and other landscape supply tools, you are providing yourself with the tools necessary to keep a healthy garden. But all the tools in the world are useless if your top soil is not healthy. The same goes for fill dirt and other soil, so be sure to work closely with your supplier to find the best organic material for your needs.