Feeding the Soil Feeds The Plants

As plants grow, they consume nutrients in the soil that must be replaced. Over time, soil becomes compacted, even if it's not being walked on, and it needs to be loosened. And perhaps most of all, the living organisms in the soil need a change, a boost in their environment. All those things can be done with the routine addition of soil amendments. Not necessarily synthetic fertilizers, but different kinds of organic material, which may have different sources of nutrients. These organic materials are generally referred to as compost.

The best way to a great garden is with good soil, and to keep your soil healthy, you'll need to supply it with the ingredients and structure that's lost over time. Without a doubt, the best soil amendment in the world is compost. But not everyone maintains a compost pile or bin (too much work, not enough space, whatever). So then what? There are a number of products that are the next best thing to homemade compost. These can be found at your local garden center or many box stores.

Once you've got your compost, it's time to amend the soil. There are a number of ways to do it.

Option No.1: The simplest way involves tossing one to three inches of compost on top of the existing soil and letting nature do the rest. Over time, organic matter will decompose with the help of earthworms and various small microbes.

Option No. 2: You can also gently work the organic matter into the soil by turning the top six inches or so. This process isn't entirely necessary, but if you have drainage issues related to sandy or heavy clay soil, it will remedy those problems faster.

Option No. 3: If you intend to amend an already mulched bed, you'll first need to pull the mulch back, then apply the soil amendment, and finally put the mulch back.

Option No. 4: If you don't want to go to all the trouble of Option No. 3, or if you're short on soil amendments, you can simply apply the stuff around the perimeter of established plants. Think before you dig it into the soil, though, because you could damage plant roots.

My philosophy is- Amend everything!
You can add soil amendments to the lawn as well, though you may want to sift it first so you can apply it with a spreader
Around established trees, you can use a shovel or bulb auger to drill several six-inch holes in the ground and fill those with soil amendment.

Soil amending is good any time, but I like to do it in the early spring for these simple reasons:
• After growing through the summer months, many plants need an little boost of nutrients to start the process over.
• Rain is generally more dependable, which means the nutrients and other goodies will slowly make their way into the root zone of plants.