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 Build healthy soil with compost and mulch and most plants will look great and protect themselves from pests and diseases. The result is less work for you and less money spent on fertilizers and pesticides. Over application of fertilizer can cause pollution in local rivers, streams and groundwater. Too much synthetic fertilizer can kill earthworms and can harm your plants too.
You can improve your soil's fertility without polluting by using the research-based strategies described here. You can also learn about the benefits and hazards of many soil amendments and fertilizers using the Grow Smart, Grow Safe search tool.
Creating healthy soil
Fertile soil is the key to healthy plants – and easier gardening. It is dark and crumbly and has a rich, earthy smell. It absorbs water like a sponge, breathes air like a lung and is teeming with life.
A handful of healthy soil contains about 10 billion living organisms – far outnumbering the planet's human population! Soil fertility depends on these tiny creatures. They:
- improve soil structure and drainage
- loosen clay soils
- generate free fertilizers from dead plant parts, rocks and air
- help sandy soils retain water
- store water for plants
- protect plants from pests and diseases
- reduce erosion and runoff.
If your plants are healthy, your soil probably is too. What to look out for:
- Too little of a plant nutrient can cause plants to be stunted, look pale or get eaten by bugs.
- Too much can cause plants to grow too quickly; soft new growth is easily attacked by insects and disease.
- Soil color and texture offers many clues to soil fertility. A light color and a hard or sticky feel can mean a lack of organic matter or problems with compaction and drainage.
- A soil test is a good way to answer questions about your soil’s fertility.
Build fertile soil with compost and mulch. They are among the best soil conditioners.
- Dig compost into the soil or use it on the surface as mulch.
- Other great organic mulches include arborist chips and autumn leaves.
- Organic matter helps plants look great and protect themselves from pests and diseases.
- Compost and organic mulches feed beneficial creatures that keep soil fertile.
Avoid soil compaction. Plants "breathe" and need air spaces in the root zone.
- To improve compacted soil, mix in organic amendments, like compost.
- Create mounded or raised beds with walking paths in between and minimize tillage (especially when the soil is wet).
How to choose a compost product
The look, feel and smell are the best first indicators. Good compost:
- Has a medium – to dark-brown color and a crumbly texture.
- It is not too wet or dry and may feel warm, but it should not be hot.
- A mild, sweet, earthy odor indicates good maturity.
- Avoid compost with a strong rotten-egg or ammonia smell.
Ask questions.
What about possible contaminants?
- It is uncommon for commercial compost to have significant herbicide or pesticide residues, weed seeds or plant diseases because of the way it is processed in large facilities.
- Heavy metals are uncommon, except sometimes in compost made from biosolids (sewage waste).
- Salts are a little more common – particularly in compost made from manures or food wastes – but are generally less of a problem, especially when the compost is applied when rains can wash salts from the soil.
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