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  • Writer's pictureDavid Brodsky

Improving soil quality (ideas outside of compost incorporation)

Updated: Oct 4, 2023


Soil quality is a common problem in landscapes. So, for this blog article, I've decided to give my thoughts on the following article "https://plantura.garden/uk/gardening-tips/soil/how-to-improve-soil-quality" which describes ways in which people can improve the quality of their soil.


1) "Adding hummus" --> potting soils and composts are sold at pretty much every garden center. My belief about them is that they rot and decompose quickly, creating a poor planting medium. However, as a topdressing on an established garden bed, it actually seems like a good idea to include these in plantings. Good tip. This tip doesn't only apply to garden beds actually. I believe that a thin layer of compost added to a lawn can only benefit it the grass.

2) "Build and preserve hummus" --> to be honest, this one seems pretty much the same as the last one, so there's nothing that I can say here. They mention that adding mulch helps, but I'd like to disagree. People routinely remove mulch out of garden beds or pile it onto non-biodegradable fabrics, so I don't see mulch being something that'll eventually improve soil quality, given that its likely to be removed out of a garden bed by the time it starts to decompose properly.

3) "eliminate compaction" --> they mention "deep digging, raking, and milling" as ways to eliminate compaction in garden beds. And that's a decent tip, though I've never heard of milling.

4) "regulating the pH value" --> this is something I personally never do, as I'm not familiar with the application of pH adjusting chemicals. However, this is a useful tip and something to do in the future

5) "soil improvement through minerals" --> never dabbled in any of these, though I've heard that adding sand to soil is a bad idea. I'm vague on this, but this is all good stuff

6) "soil improvements through plants" --> this is an interesting one. When plants die or are pulled out, it's actually not a bad idea to simply dig them into the soil and leave them there to rot and be used up to feed newer plantings: messy but beneficial.

7) "diverse crop rotation and mixed crops" --> an important point for vegetable growers, but I'm not familiar with this sort of work



compost, when added to garden soil can enrich it

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