How to Preserve Topsoil

Preserving topsoil is an ongoing process. Many of the strategies that help to build topsoil are the same as those which you use to preserve it, because healthy topsoil is dense and moist and less likely to erode than dry, dessicated topsoil. You can best preserve your topsoil by returning the nutrients that you take from it, adding plenty of organic matter, planting ground cover to hold the soil in place, and growing a variety of plants in the same soil over time in order to replenish nutrients.

Things You'll Need

• Ground cover
• Mulch
• Compost

Instructions

1. Plant cover crops to hold soil in place between plantings. Leguminous cover crops such as clover and vetch serve the dual purpose of rooting soil so it will not erode, and fixing nitrogen. The nitrogen adds vital nutrients to the soil so that it will provide a nutritious, hospitable environment for future crops, which will in turn prevent the topsoil from eroding.

2. Add plenty of organic matter to your soil. Turn cover crops under when it is time to plant food crops. Add compost in the form of aerobically digested food and plant scraps and manure. Aerobic digestion is the process of using friendly bacteria to help organic matter decompose, rendering its nutrients easily available for the purpose of building and preserving topsoil. Mulch topsoil by layering straw, leaves, and other organic matter on top, so the nutrients in these substances work their way down into the soil as they decompose.

3. Minimize activities that impact the land and cause it to erode, such as excessive grazing and unnecessary foot traffic. Fence and restrict access to areas that are particularly vulnerable and degraded.

4. Preserve topsoil on slopes by building stepped terraces to prevent topsoil from running directly downhill.

References

• Organic Farming: Preserving Topsoil
• The Topsoil Crisis: Dirt Isn't Cheap Anymore
• Topsoil and Subsoil