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Creating Healthy Soil

Gardening is one of the most popular weekend activities for residents of the UK. The home garden first appeared in Britain during Roman times when people required supplemental food for their survival. Of course, few folks actually need a home garden nowadays. Most people grow fruit and vegetables simply because they finding it relaxing and rewarding. In this article we are going to discuss the most basic and important element of gardening—the soil.

It goes almost without saying that the better the soil, the better the garden will grow. Gardens that have superior soil not only produce larger and fresher tasting fruits and vegetable, they also yield more of them. But even good soil needs some help.

The easiest way to improve the balance and water-holding capacity of soil is to add organic material to it. Manure, old leaves or compost are the preferred materials of expert gardeners. In fact, many of them keep their own compost heaps in the backyard for this very purpose.

When it comes to the actual soil, there are three main types—sand, clay and loam. Most dirt contains each of these ingredients, though one usually overshadows the others. Discovering which type of soil is in your garden can help you make the necessary adjustments and improve the balance of your soil.

Clay soils, for instance, hold moisture well, but they do not drain well. Adding an organic material like compost to clay soil can help correct this. Sandy soils, on the other hand, tend to lose moisture too quickly and adding organic material can help. Lastly, loam soils actually hold moisture quite well and also drain well. Therefore, adding organic material to loam soils is rarely unnecessary.

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