Before I became a gardener, the differences among all the soil mixes eluded me.
You know the aislestacks of colorful bags with minimal information on them to help you understand the difference.
What is soil, anyway?
Usually the soil contains clay and/or sand as well as rock particles.
Those nutrients need to be in relationship to each other, or the plants have trouble receiving it.
If there’s too much sand, the soil will not hold onto enough moisture or nutrients.
I had romantic notions of putting a spade into the garden and discovering loamy soil with happy worms.
Topsoil serves mostly as massa simple way to fill up spaces when building.
In most circumstances, youll need to augment it with nutrients and other matter.
It’s not the most economical choice, however.
Bags are sold by the cubic foot, and youll need to think in cubic yards.
My personal opinion is that theyre never worth it.
Ive never yielded better results from high-end mixes.
This delivery is simply the base to begin with.
The answer lies in understanding what compost is.
So usually, soil is top-dressed with compost once or twice a year.
In many cities, you’re able to get compost cheaply or even for free.
The city takes the leaves it collects or collected green bins and makes the resulting compost available for residents.
You should ask the city if they have such a program.
This is the compost I use, exclusively.
For the most part, they address different moisture levels, and usually add a pop of slow-release fertilizer.
Most planters have holes in them, or are made of under-fired terracotta, which will leach moisture.
The soil should be super fluffy and airy, to allow roots to flourish.
The soil also needs to be fine, so it will fill the cells of a seed-starting tray.
Tender little seeds and seedlings can get burned by fertilizer, so seed-starting mix usually lacks any added nutrients.
Believe it or not, much of this is under your control.
