Improving Soil Conditions in Your Garden

Improving soil conditions in your garden need not be done all at once.

The first step would be to establish what you are working with. There are some quick and easy ways to establish that which you'll find on our page on soil types.

Either sandy or clay soils are suitable to begin with in your garden areas.

However! With each plant or flower you buy, plan on purchasing at least a 10# bag of good nutrient rich soil to use when transplanting the item into your garden.

Our image shows how sandy soil was improved at the time of planting new items into a small corner garden area.

The actual ingredient you will be looking for on the bag of soil you buy is:

HUMUS

Humus consists of decayed matter that provides nutrients for plants. It helps amend sandy soil by allowing it to retain water better.

Humus improves clay soil by changing the texture of the soil to be looser and allow roots to move through, and air and water to get in easier.

When you are ready to actually dig the hole to put your plant into it, you will improve / amend the soil at the same time by using the bag of nutrient rich soil.

You will mix this humus soil into the dirt you dig out to form the planting hole. You will then put the flower or plant into this hole and fill the hole with the newly improved soil.

If you have the space, you can make enough compost yourself to use as soil augmentation in your garden. Alternatively, there are many compost containers available for people who have limited space. Visit our page on composting for practical tips and guidelines.

So, with each flower or plant you add to your garden, simply use that time and opportunity to improve your soil.

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Gardening Basics