Soil

Healthy topsoil is essential for maintaining a healthy and thriving lawn and garden. Healthy topsoil has a healthy balance of minerals, is regularly watered and is loose enough to provide adequate...

A pH value reflects the acidity of a substance. Neutral is a pH of 7. Values below 7 correspond to acidic solutions, while basic solutions have pH above 7. Soil pH is an important factor that...

Clay soil is heavy, doesn't drain well and easily compacts around plant roots. While it's easy to break it up and amend it each year in annual flower and plant beds, in perennial beds there is...

Hard clay soil is heavy and tightly compacted, and growing most plants, trees or gardens in this type of soil is nearly impossible. Because hard clay soil packs together so tightly, water and...

Composting is a great, environmentally friendly way to dispose of those piles of dry leaves. Not only do you avoid adding bags of leaves to the landfills, and prevent the air pollution caused by...

Your discarded orange peels make great composting material. They're rich in nitrogen, and adding them to your compost pile can help create a balanced, nutrient-rich humus that will help your...

Mulch prevents weeds and retains soil moisture, but after a few years it begins to look tired and worn in ornamental beds. Instead of tossing it out and wasting all that organic material, compost...

Soil is the foundation of any successful organic garden. It is impossible to raise bountiful harvests of healthy organic fruits and vegetables unless you start with soil free of the toxic...

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...

In many areas aquatic plants have become invasive and are choking out the native species. Luckily, the fast growth of these plants can be leveraged and the plants used as a high-nitrogen nutrient...

Sandy soil is composed of large, coarse, rapidly-draining particles. Clay soil is made up of fine particles, which when compacted, causes soil to become waterlogged. A grower who knows the...

Leaf mold adds nutrients to the garden and is used as a soil amendment or a mulch in garden beds. It is also a nutritious ingredient to add to potting soil mixes and houseplant dressings. Leaf...

Raised garden beds address a variety of gardening problems, from lackluster soil to a too-short growing season. You can design them to be any size or shape that meets your space needs or...

Compost is the black gold of gardening---with many metro governments encouraging city residents to reduce waste through composting, why not give it a try? Vermicompost is a great indoor or...

Good soil is essential for healthy plants. Healthy soil provides enough water, essential nutrients and a suitable pH for plant growth. The texture of the soil is often an effective indicator to...

Composting yard and kitchen waste is not only great for the environment but great for your garden as well. Compost is an all-natural fertilizer that adds nutrients to your garden soil and improves...

You can save topsoil by maintaining a healthy balance of microfauna and planting ground cover to hold the soil in place, preventing it from washing or blowing away. Topsoil is most likely to...

Citrus trees including lemon can flourish in a range of soils, including poor soil, but most prefer well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Lemon trees do not like extremes of alkaline soil (pH above...

Lemons are a useful fruit for many different cleaning jobs around the house. Gardeners also find lemon rinds to be useful for composting. When creating a compost mixture, nitrogen-rich "green"...

Earthworms wriggle around in the ground, forming tunnels that help guide water to plant roots and loosening the soil so that the roots can grow. They also break down waste products in the soil and...

Most all land-grant colleges across the country have an agricultural extension service office. The purpose of these offices is to offer a consultancy on growing plants and land management...

Juicers have been on the market as products to improve health and increase the daily intake of fruits and vegetables in the American diet. One of the natural byproducts of juicing is the leftover...

When using compost to amend a garden, you will encounter two types: finished compost and unfinished compost. Unfinished compost is compost that still contains microbes that break down the organic...

There are plenty of benefits to composting--it's a great way to recycle kitchen scraps and improve the quality of your garden soil at the same time. Unfortunately, it can take weeks or months for...

In many situations, the do-it-yourself task of removing a stump can be somewhat daunting. Many people resort to improper techniques like tying a stump to the car and gunning it. These techniques...

Raised beds create a superior soil base for growing vegetables and flowers. Instead of depending on the quality of soil in the garden, raised beds give plenty of room for amending and improving...

Vermicomposting is an easy way to compost inside your home or apartment. Worms eliminate the compost smell and leave behind castings that make a hearty soil. Though there are many commercial...

Composting is a process that speeds the breakdown of organic materials by creating the proper carbon to nitrogen level for organisms to feed on. This is accomplished by layering green nitrogen...

Crushed lime-rock powder can be added in the construction of your compost heap to assist in the raising of the pH balance of your end product. Lime serves as a microbe accelerator and, when used...

Plants grown in soil maintained under an organic system receive benefits from delicate microorganisms that are easily disrupted through the use of chemical fertilizers and soil improvers. Healthy...

Over time, fertilizer, excessive rainfall and composting plant material can make soil acidic. When soil becomes too acidic conditions are created that are not favorable for plant growth. Adding...

The acid content of soil is measured by the pH level. A pH level of less than seven indicates an acidic soil, while a pH greater than seven is a basic or alkali condition. Materials added to the...

Sunflower seeds are in abundance at the end of a summer growing season. Each head of a sunflower produces dozens, sometimes hundreds of seeds. Anyone with a garden of sunflowers can end up with...

Using charcoal to enrich the soil around your home and in your garden helps the soil retain valuable nutrients that improve the quality of the plants you grow. Charcoal adds carbon to the soil,...

Getting natural, it's all the rage. And making your own compost right at home should give any greenie something to smile about. Soil has naturally occurring bacteria that break down organic waste...

The pH of your soil can impact how well your plants grow in your yard or garden. Different plants have different pH preferences. The pH scale measures the concentration of hydrogen and hydroxide...

Lawn clippings (cut grass) can break down--or decompose--and turn into rich and organic soil. However, lawn clippings make a better compost if they are mixed with other natural things such as...

Composting has become increasingly popular as people look for more green and efficient ways to dispose of their yard and kitchen waste. Compost bins come in different forms from a simple cage to a...

Of all of the green habits you can pick up, composting is one of the simplest and fastest techniques to learn. You can even make your own active microbe starters for your compost. These microbes...

Because your compost worms breathe by obtaining oxygen through their moist skin, you'll need to keep a close eye on the moisture level of your worm bin or vermicompost operation. "The Worm Book"...

Top soil is the most nutrient-rich portion of the ground. For areas that do not have naturally rich soil, you can purchase top soil to put down before you begin planting to help your plants grow....

Compost is the process of turning organic matter into hummus, a rich, dark soil that can be used as mulch or worked into the soil as an amendment to add nutrients. Soil that has been amended with...

Understanding the amount of lawn area to cover by compost is beneficial for both the health of your yard and your wallet. Knowing the exact measurements, and accounting for potential spillage,...

The pH of a soil affects how well different plants will grow in it. For example, watermelons can grow in soils with pH levels as low as 5.0, while beets need a pH of above 6.0 to flourish. The pH...

Top soil is placed on top of the ground to provide a nutrient-rich layer of dirt for plants. The amount you need depends on what you are going to be growing. According to Steck's Nursery and...

Topsoil is applied on top of the ground before planting seeds to make sure they have the nutrients in the soil needed to grow. The amount of topsoil that you need depends on what you are growing...

Soil pH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of the soil. The soil pH affects the availability of the nutrients to the plants and the activity of the microorganisms in the soil. Key nutrients...

Gardeners and people growing lawns often put down topsoil in preparation for planting to ensure that there will be nutrients for the seeds. The depth of the topsoil that you need to cover your...

Composting is the process of converting organic wastes, such as kitchen ingredients, into plant food. Because it happens naturally, all you have to do is not throw your kitchen scraps away, but...

The quantity of top soil that you need for your garden or lawn is dependent on the size of your property and what you will be growing. For example, if you are only top dressing your existing lawn,...