Having good quality soil will depend on whether we can enjoy growing plants. It is especially important in the case that we want to have a garden, because the higher the quality of the land, the higher and better production we will have. Sometimes it is necessary to improve it, because our garden soil has characteristics that could make it difficult to grow.
Therefore, to know what type of land we have, it will be advisable to make a pair of observations that we will tell you next.
How to differentiate a poor soil from a good soil?
Un poor soil has the following characteristics:
- It has a great tendency to compact, making it difficult to drain the water
- Ease to erode
- If it is very, very dry, it may have more or less deep cracks
- They are clayey and calcareous soils (light brown in color), with little or very little organic matter
This will be the one that we must modify.
Instead, a good / fertile soil has the following characteristics:
- It is dark brown-black in color, a sign that it has a lot of organic matter
- it is slightly damp. This can be seen if, when you pick up a handful, when you put the earth back on the ground, it stays a little in your hands.
Improving soil quality
Once we have identified the type of garden soil we have, we can get to work (if necessary, of course). To improve poor soil we only need:
- Sacks of organic compost (horse manure, worm castings, ... whatever we prefer)
- Or sacks of black peat already enriched
We recommend using organic compost, because although the smell can be unpleasant for some people, it is much more natural than the sacks of peat that has been fertilized. This avoids the risk of damaging the fauna that can be found on the ground. Also, the smell will disappear in no time.
There are 4 ways to mix the compost with the land:
- Pour the compost directly on the ground
- Mix the compost with the earth
- Remove a layer of soil (about 20cm -or more if you like- from the entire land) and add the compost
- Or, when making planting holes, fill them with new soil and compost
Thus, you will be able to see your plants grow healthy and strong.