Have you ever wanted to grow a garden in your backyard and found out that your soil is barren or not ideal for growing plants? This can be very frustrating especially if it makes your home look less aesthetical and too hot because of the lack of plants and flowers. Professionals, such as skilled landscape design Eastern Suburbs from Amico, can help you create your green space and make your garden thrive, especially for homeowners who do not have enough time to invest in gardening.
However, if you want to try to take care of your garden soil on your own, then here is a list of 7 ways you can do to improve garden soil.
- Composting
Composting adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil which helps with water retention. You can turn your kitchen and yard waste, such as leaves and grass clipping, into a great soil amendment with very little effort. You may also purchase it a garden store, however making it on your own will save you money and help dispose of your organic wastes properly if you are not yet an expert. Even adding some of the most common kitchen waste like coffee grounds, eggshells and apple peels to specific plants in your garden can boost the soil’s health remarkably.
- Use Manure
Just like organic wastes, adding animal manure can provide nutrients, build organic matter and add microbial action to your garden. Using a manure compost has numerous benefits because it is packed with nutrients that plants need like nitrogen and will make them healthier. However, fresh manure can be too hot for plants and may burn them,so it is best to use composted or aged manure.
Another alternative is to till it into the soil before spring plantings, such as during fall or winter. Fall is often the best time to use manure in the garden because this allows plenty of time for the manure to break down and eliminate the threat of burning plants.
Almost any kind of manure can be used, depending on where you reside, as some manure is more readily available than others. It is not recommended however to use cat or dog manure because these types are unsuitable for they are likely to carry parasites.
The most commonly used for manure fertilizer are cow, chicken and horse manure. Make sure that these animals have not been grazing or eating hay from fields sprayed with herbicides that can damage your garden in the future. Some also use sheep and rabbit manure. You can always purchase these at a garden center or find farmers or horse owners who are more than happy to give it away.
- Mulch
A mulch is a material such as decaying leaves, straw, grass clippings, bark or compost that are spread around or over a plant to enrich or insulate the soil.
Most of these materials will break down over time and help with soil nutrition. Using mulch holds moisture in the soil and gradually adds organic matter as it breaks down. For this reason, one can say that these “organic” mulches eventually serve as soil amendments. It also keeps weed growth down, and controlserosionregulates soil temperature by keeping it cool and draw beneficial worms to the garden. Just make sure only to use hay or straw that has not been sprayed with herbicides of any kind as this may cause much damage to your garden.
- Vermicompost
Placing worms is another way to improve your garden soil. There are different ways to use worms in making your soul healthier. First, you can add them in your compost pile to help speed decomposition and give it more nutrients. Next is growing them in a separate compost bin and save their worm castings. These worm castings are very expensive when purchased,so it is more cost-effective to create your own. Lastly, you can add worms directly into your garden soil. This will give them compost and mulch, help aerate the soil and put their castings directly into the area.
Final Word
If you have been working in improving your garden soil and still isn’t getting the results you want, it might be time to consider contacting a professional gardeners Balmain from Amico to fix your poor garden soil problems and help create the garden of your dreams.
