Soil

Compost is decomposed organic material. It's a very simple process that can be turned into a fun and scientific learning activity for kids. Helping the earth is a great benefit as well!

Manure fertilizers are a great way to add nutrients to the soil. They provide a cheap, natural and effective way to enrich soil and aid in plant growth. Manure fertilizers are often packaged and...

Compost is extremely beneficial for plants and having your own compost will allow you to nourish your garden without paying for expensive fertilizer. In addition, you can use a compost pile to...

Fertilizing with manure offers an eco-friendly way to enhance soil and plant growth while reducing chemical contamination. Though many animals produce dung suitable for fertilizer, farmers and...

Admittedly, worm tea doesn't sound like the most appetizing thing in the world, but thankfully it's not something meant to be ingested by humans. Rather, it's meant to be used for plants. Worm tea...

Anytime, but especially fall, is a great time to start making compost by recycling all your outdoor waste. Turning dead plant material and fallen leaves into dark rich compost is nature's way of...

Do you have a garden or compost pile, or want to start one? Then using a shovel will help you. A dirt shovel has a rounded edge, and a garden shovel has a flat edge. The dirt shovel will help...

Installing sod is the fastest and easiest way to the establishment of a new yard. There is no waiting for weeks on end for the grass seed to germinate. You do not have to fight off the hordes of...

Raising earthworms in a worm bin or in the soil of your garden is a natural way to keep your garden healthy. The worms' waste, called castings, is a nitrogen-rich, loamy fertilizer you can use to...

Here’s a straightforward, simple way to compost kitchen scraps that costs next to nothing and won’t create a big ugly pile that has your neighbors complaining. It’s not even a pile, and it does...

The items which you can put into a composter are divided into two basic categories: brown and green. Ideally, your compost bin should have a 50/50 blend of each. Frequent turning of your composter...

Gardeners know that earthworms are beneficial to the soil. But if a gardener wants to establish a population of earthworms in a newly prepared garden spot, what kind of soil will attract and keep...

Creating compost for your garden can be compared to baking a cake. Just follow a simple recipe using ingredients you have on hand and let it "cook"!

Worms are very easy to raise and require very little work. If you start out with just 100 red wigglers, within a year they can re-produce into 3000-5000. This is a great learning experience for...

Starting a garden? Just moved into a new house, and want to learn just how good is your soil? Then do a drainage test? This piece of info can tell you a few things.

Popular in Japan, Bokashi is a composting method for recycling household food scraps into a useable soil amendment and adding organic material to your garden. Bokashi is different from composting...

Learning how to compost in an apartment can be rewarding. Living in an apartment means living green on a smaller scale. If you have a small patio or balcony you can have a compost bin that will...

Earthworms are essential to any garden. They help to aerate and create better drainage for the soil, and leave behind added nutrients through their organic waste matter. They are incredible little...

Composting is a tried and true method of recycling and reusing organic material. There is a cheaper and easier method of composting that eliminates the need for containers, while producing the...

This article will tell you how to use ordinary vegetable cuttings and other food scraps to create fertilizer/compost for use in your yard or garden.

Organic fertilizers are becoming more commercially available as consumers move towards sustainable practices for their yard and Garden. Many organic fertilizers provide plant nutrients and...

Fertilizer is just manure blended with soil, right? This misconception about soil fertilization can give gardeners disappointing results in mid-growing season, when plants are not flowering and...

We always knew that worms were good for our garden because they kept the soil loose and allowed it to drain well. With the new trend toward vermicomposting, we are learning just how valuable these...

Topsoil is the outermost layer of the earth's crust and contains essential minerals and nutrients for plant growth. Usually reaching no more than 8 inches deep, it is rich with organic material...

Many are aiming to go green and recycle all that they can. What about that old, broken garbage can? How about turning that old, broken garbage can into something useful and recycle it into...

Soil types are described by how much sand, silt or clay the soil contains. Although most soil contains a combination of these particles, the exact combination determines the soil's ability to...

Composting reduces household waste, improves the health of your soil, and produces delicious vegetables and beautiful flower!

Sphagnum peat moss is the dead, decomposing matter that collects beneath the top, living level of a peat bog. Sphagnum peat is an organic soil conditioner that aerates poor soil and holds in...

Growing Japanese Maples in a container requires a lot of work for a long period of time. But if you take care of it properly, it can live over a 100 years. They come in many colors, grow slowly,...

Garden composters are a great addition to any garden. By mixing yard and household organic waste in a compost bin, you can create your own nutrient rich soil to add to your garden in less than 2...

A tumbler compost bin is a cheap and easy way to make fantastic compost that is ready to use in just 2 weeks time. Compost tumblers allow for easy aeration and create dark, rich, compost that will...

Transplanting plants during a dry spell or drought can be tricky. You have to make sure that newly moved plants get plenty of water to the roots for the first few weeks, but that can be hard to do...

Learning how to make compost is easy and is a great way to do your part to go green. Instead of using chemical fertilizers in your garden, compost is a great organic alternative. Forty years ago...

Vermicomposting, or vermiculture, enlists a small army of worms to turn organic plant wastes (food parings, rinds, peels and lawn clippings, for instance) into rich plant food, known as "worm...

Any gardener who knows their Zinnia from their Azalea will tell you that adding compost to your garden soil is the key step to having an above average garden. Composting doesn't have to be...

Soil is the key to successful gardening in window boxes. Window boxes offer the opportunity to have colorful delight anywhere. The perfect soil, the right flowers and a great window location can...

Mulching your garden is a great habit to get into especially in these days of water shortages (think California). Mulching is not something you have to do, but it has a lot of benefits.

Harness the free power of the sun to kill and prevent weeds in your garden plot! Soil solarization techniques super-heat the surface garden soil, killing most weeds and preventing their seeds...

Shipping Pallets are the perfect material for making your garden compost bin. You can make it for free using recycled shipping pallets. You can find them at home improvement stores, membership...

Ever wonder what you can do with your junk mail other than just throw it away? Here are a few ideas to dispose of all that mail you get everyday.

Turning a compost pile can be taxing if you have to do it with a pitchfork and shovel. Rather than have a heap of decomposing materials lying in a corner of your garden, make a turning composter....

Many of us have compost piles (if you don't start one, its easy) with leaves, dead plants and grass clippings making up the bulk of the items in the pile. You probably throw any left over...

Making your own custom soil allows you to control many negative products of your garden. Fungus, disease, weeds, insects, and moles can ruin the rewards of your hard work. Try mixing a custom...

The other day a man came to my house and we were looking at my garden when he commented on the soil. "Where did you get this dirt? This isn't Missouri(Ozarks)dirt." The fact was,...

Not sure what to put in your new compost bin? There are a few things to avoid, like large slabs of raw meat, milk and cream cheese, or toxic things. You might be surprised to learn how many...

As the world continues on its path to green conscientiousness people are taking a second look at fertilizes other than the usual chemical foods that have been used for decades. One of the...

Recycling coffee grounds to use for composting in your flower beds is a sensible idea. If you live in a cold weather climate you might not be able to mulch the coffee grounds during the winter...

Oak leaf tea makes an excellent fertilizer for acid loving plants and is cheap and easy to make. All you need is a five gallon bucket, water and oak leaves. Oak leaf tea is cheaper than buying...

Have you even thought of mixing your own potting soil instead of buying the expensive already mixed bag? Think of all the times you opened that pricy bag of mix and end up with large pieces of...

Adding worms to your compost bin helps yard and kitchen waste break down faster, quickly creating a rich, organic mulch for your garden and landscape plantings. When done properly, composting...