How To Create Great Garden Soil

Of all the things we do for creating a healthy garden, the one thing that's more important than anything else is having great soil. In this video, I'm walking you through the steps for getting great soil in your garden, too. Over all my years in the garden, I know the most important thing that I can do and where I spend a lot of my time is in building great garden soil. So why is that so important? All plants can thrive when they're growing in the right location. That includes the conditions above, such as having the proper amount of sunlight. But what matters most is what they're growing in. Plants can't get up and move if they're not happy in their current conditions. So good soil is the foundation and key to healthy plants and a thriving garden. For nearly all plants we grow in our home gardens, from our flower beds to our vegetable garden, plants need access to water and nutrients, ideally in just the right amounts. And it's the soil that is the key to whether that happens or not. The good news is you can make any soil better. Most native soils are either too heavy and dense, and so they hold too much water, or the soil is light and loose and it releases too much water. But great garden soil has just that right combination of just enough moisture. Heavy, dense soil is made lighter because it releases some of that water, and then the light soil is made denser because it's holding more of the much-needed water. The way you solve either problem as you create great soil is by adding natural amendments to your native soil. Ingredients such as high-quality topsoil, seasoned, shredded leaves, aged livestock manure, mushroom compost, finely ground, aged bark or mulch, rotted straw, and plenty of homemade or purchased compost, which is often made up from a combination of all of the above. Compost is my main ingredient for making and having great garden soil, and I use a lot of it, which is why I make so much of it right here at home. Now, what goes into making compost is really all the individual items that I've already discussed. And over time, as you combine it, it biodegrades into soil-like product. That's this right here. And all those pieces that started out individually, well, they're unrecognizable now because they've broken down. And good garden soil binds together like this, or good compost, and when you run your fingers through it, it breaks apart. That's a good sign of great soil and good compost. Now, if you don't want to make your own compost, that's totally fine. You could buy it by the bag, go to your nursery or garden center. You should have lots of options there. Just look for a good quality compost. But if you really want to save some money, buy it in bulk. Now, you're going to buy more, but there are so many uses for compost in your garden soil, you'll have plenty of opportunity to find places to use it. And if you can't find compost at the garden center or at the nursery or the wholesale landscape supply company, then just go back to those individual items that I listed. All of those should be available by the bag. Combine them in your native soil or put them together and allow them to biodegrade, and you'll be well on your way. Those individual components will break down into a soil-like material that you can then add to your native soil. But the question is, how much of that do you add? Well, shoot for between 30% and 50% of the total soil volume. So that includes the new stuff. That should be 30% to 50%. And then what you'll have from that is just a nice, diverse mix of organic material full of microorganisms that are going to feed your plants as needed. Plus, it's going to make that heavy clay soil drain a lot better. And if you have loose, sandy soil, you will have much better moisture retention for a better soil environment for whatever is growing in your garden.