Soil

Composting is a great way to get rid of excess yard waste and kitchen scraps without adding to the landfill or polluting the air with smoke from burning leaves. Not only is it the environmentally...

Green roof gardens reduce the amount of rainwater run-off into a city's water system, help to cool a building in hot weather and reduce the effect of heat islands, common to urban areas. Install...

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...

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...

Composting is not only great for your garden, it's great for the environment too. The process is quite simple, and doesn't require any specialized equipment, chemicals or skill. All you need for a...

For people who wish to start a garden but are dealing with a lawn composed of impacted, non-porous clay soil, gypsum is an affordable and organic way of sufficiently altering soil composition....

Growing an organic garden requires that soil be neutralized so it is neither too acidic nor too alkaline. After testing the pH level, gardeners often find that their soil contains too much acid. ...

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...

Soil preparation is the first and most important step in gardening. Just as humans need nutritious food to thrive, plants need nutrient-rich soil to grow and produce flowers or fruit. Amending...

Roses are distantly related to the apple tree, so it makes sense that both roses and apples can be fertilized the same way. Both thrive on a fertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphorous and...

Pine needles make a good, attractive mulch for landscaping and perennial beds, but they decompose slowly and are slightly acidic. Together with their prickly nature, this makes them less useful as...

Are you an avid gardener? You have probably experienced many different soil situations, including topsoil that forms large clumps. These clumps make planting very difficult. Small plants and...

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,...

Worms spend their lives within the soil, processing organic matter and releasing that processed matter as waste. Worm waste products contain high levels of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. This...

While mostly harmless, soil fungus is found almost everywhere. Soil fungi that can damage or kill plants are called pathogens. Although soil testing labs and kits do not generally test soil for...

Clay soil is often referred to as heavy soil because of its water-retention capacity. Because it drains poorly, it is easily saturated with water, which can lead to root rot or make it hard for...

To flourish, garden vegetables need a good general fertilizer containing all the major and trace elements. The specific amount of those nutrients depends upon the quality of the soil in your...

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...

When gardeners talk about curing compost, they often use the term "finishing" compost. Contrary to what some beginning composters believe, the gardener is not constantly adding scraps to the...

All plants need nutrients. This is as true in the wild as it is in the garden. Whether growing grass, flowers, vegetables or trees, the gardener's job is to ensure that these plants have the...

When growing flowers or other plants in the garden, providing a well balanced, nutrient rich soil is one of the determining factors of overall success. The easiest way to maintain a balanced soil...

Keeping the soil healthy for your garden can be a bit of a balancing act. Placing too much of one nutrient can sometimes strip another of its effectiveness. Plants need enough iron in the soil to...

Composting, or recycling organic matter to enrich your garden soil, is a wonderful way to re-use kitchen and lawn scraps and avoid adding to overcrowded landfills. Compost can be used in your...

Raised-bed gardeners can fill their growing boxes with ideal soil even when the surrounding environment is wet muck, baked clay, or shovel-breaking rocks. Whether you buy your initial load of soil...

Topsoil is necessary for plant growth but, on its own, is not the ideal environment for growing healthy plants. Fortifying topsoil with peat moss, which is decomposed plant matter, helps retain...

No one wants an otherwise beautiful lawn ruined by ugly bare spots or to reap a less-than-bountiful harvest. Both are indicators of unhealthy, depleted soil. To return your lawn and garden to...

Transferring earthworms to your garden is a great way to enrich your soil and keep it loose so that your plants' roots can grow deep and strong. Earthworms eat organic matter and generate waste...

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, yard trimmings and food make up 24 percent of solid waste in the United States. These organic materials can easily be made into compost, which is...

Clay soil presents problems for the gardener. When compacted, it can be so hard as to be almost impermeable, even with a shovel. The coarse, clod-filled texture inhibits plant root growth, and it...

Garden mulch consists mainly of organic products that are spread over your garden or soil areas of your lawn. Mulch is a great enhancer to lawn growth and helps conserve water usage. Mulch comes...

Fish heads and entrails have been used as fertilizer for centuries. Native Americans would bury a fish head in the soil, then place kernels of corn on top and cover with earth. You can take...

Creating a composting product for your backyard or garden is a great way to recycle nutrients back into the ground. Composting transforms your kitchen and yard waste into a nutrient-rich soil...

The pH level is a scale that displays how acidic or alkaline something is. A pH level less than 7 means, whatever it is you are testing is dominantly acidic and a level over 7 means it is more...

Creating compost for your garden is an excellent way to keep the nutrients in the soil and reduce waste. By saving your kitchen waste and organic matter, you can create rich compost that will help...

One of the best ways to ensure a thriving and fruitful garden is to have well-prepared soil before you plant. This involves removing existing sod from the planting area and adding organic...

It is almost a given in the gardening world that a good garden starts with good topsoil. Topsoil is the mainstay for any decent-quality growing area, and will truly make a difference whether your...

Perhaps the most important factor of a successful vegetable garden is having well prepared soil. That’s why the mantra of the organic gardener is “feed the soil, not the plant.” If you...

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...

A compost pile in your backyard is a beautiful thing. While it is smelly and can be ugly at times, the soil produced can transform your garden into an edible paradise and your wallet will bulge...

All gardens--whether ornamental or vegetable--need the proper balance of nutrients in the soil to thrive. Plants constantly strip the soil of these nutrients, so for a show-stopping yard or...

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"!

A rototiller is a powered garden tool used to loosen soil prior to planting and to keep pathways and nonplanted areas aerated during the growing season. Rototillers, because they will chew up...

There are 2,700 types of earthworms, or night crawlers, with more than 1 million inhabiting one acre of land. Night crawlers are a major asset for a healthy lawn, plant root systems and garden soil.

Why use commercial fertilizers when we can go green. You do not have to pay for organic fertilizers. All you need to do is look right in your own back yard. Here is a list of things you can use...

Also known as sheet composting, lasagna composting can save you a lot of the work involved in traditional gardening. This method requires no digging or tilling, and can turn an unused corner of...

Any gardener worth her salt --- flower gardener, vegetable gardener, or both --- knows that compost is black gold. No chemical fertilizer can do for your soil what compost can. That's because...

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...