How Does Our Garden Grow?
Let’s Talk Dirty
A good garden or lawn begins with the soil. And good soil is deep, loose, well drained and fertile. Decaying organic matter should be present in large quantities. You have to work with whatever dirt life has dunped on you, but there’s much you can do to improve it. You can improve vegetable garden soil over time by digging in organic matter-like leaves, sawdust, or peat moss-every fall. Add nitrogen fertilizer at the same time.
The nitrogen will speed decomposition of the organics and turn them into plant food. If you want to garden organically,use organic fertilizer. Soil improvement for existing lawns or perennial beds can be accomplished by applying mulched leaves in the fall. Use a thin layer on lawns and a thick layer on perennial beds. Prepare your vegetable garden in the spring by digging to a depth of eight inches or more and turning over the soil.
Make sure the soil is dry. If it’s muddy, it will turn it into rock. Great soil won’t promote healthy growth if it’s overly acidic or alkaline. Our Michigan soils are primarily neutral, which is good for most plants and lawns.If you added a lot of organic material over a period of time, your soil could be acidic and an addition of lime might be needed.
