Best Soil For Herbs

What do our plants actually need, in simple terms so even a new gardener can understand it? The reason for sampling several spots is that since soil is in continuous movement from gravity, moisture, root growth, shade, earthworms, microbes and more, the...

When trying to grow a lot of food in a small space , every little bit counts. And if there's one thing that will keep your soil productive for many years to come, it's monitoring your soil pH.

In an effort to provide extra nutrition to your garden soil, you could inadvertently be adding harmful chemicals. The real downside to using these imbalanced fertilizers is that the mycorrhizae in the soil work best in an environment that contains low...

Represented on a scale of 0 to 14, pH is the measurement of the acidity of something—in this case, your soil. Regular soil testing is the only surefire way to know your soil's current pH level.

PH Few measurements indicate soil potential quite as well as pH . This will keep the soil organisms around while building organic matter above and below ground, smothering weeds in the process.

Also, keep fresh ash away from seedlings, as it's too salty and will burn the roots. If you live in a part of the country with high rainfall (20 inches or more per year), such as the Pacific Northwest and states east of the Mississippi, you may need to...

Don't Leave The Soil Exposed Not only does bare soil open up a chance for erosion from rain and wind, but the sun will burn up organic matter. Getting a soil test is the only way to know for certain where your garden stands on its pH, percent of organic...

Red Clover Mike/Flickr Red clover ( Trifolium pratense ) is a traditional forage crop and is capable of fixing 140 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Alfalfa also has the potential to add 10 tons of organic matter per acre, increasing the soil's ability to...

Fall is the best time to take soil samples and send them to your county's Conservation District Soil Testing Laboratory. Tiny root hairs reach out into the soil and intertwine with the fungi that are capable of dissolving minerals from rocks and decaying...

Soil-based Container Mix 1 part screened compost 1 part garden soil 1 part coarse sand or a mix of vermiculite and perlite 4. With the right ingredients on hand, you can mix up your own batch of healthy potting soil.

Again in the fall, as the weather starts to cool down, warmth released from the soil can provide protection from early frosts. Soil Stores Nutrients Every soil has a significant store of nutrients that plants can use.

If you notice a sour smell, exposing the mulch to air can help leach the toxins out so the mulch is usable. Also, plants overwintered in clay soil are less likely to heave out of the ground.

Compost rebalances soil and reduces plant disease. If you remove the mulch after a couple months, however, it will contain much of the excess nitrogen your soil contained, and it can be added to a compost pile or a nitrogen-deficient plot.

Nettle can be used to enrich compost, and it attracts beneficial insects. Companion plants are vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and flowers grown together in a “buddy system” that encourages natural pest control and fertilization and attracts pollinators...

Here are some ways to put it to good use. Host A Plant Swap In years past, I saved a few garbage bags full of my used potting soil every fall and stored them in our shed. Potting soil should not be reused for container plantings from one year to the next...

I use the gravel to cover the pathways in many places, and this lets me harvest in the garden even when it's wet. P.S. Our HF editors' blogs are starting to get some reader mail, which we greatly appreciate.

Those plants that work so hard to feed you— tomatoes , peppers, corn , potatoes , strawberries —well, they need to eat, too! Most edibles need lots of sunshine, plus a fairly rich and balanced diet of minerals.

Determine where you want the beds to be and how large an area you want to grow in. By having a “free-floating” bed, you can move it around and adjust it until you're happy with the location.

Learn why soil tests are so beneficial and get tips on how to properly conduct a soil test. These soil tests even tell you what nutrients you have in excess that might inhibit the uptake of other nutrients.

Now if this soil "soup" solution (the mixture of water and nutrients in the soil) is too acid or alkaline, some nutrients won't be dissolved, and as a result, they are unavailable to plants.

The orange blocks and bricks add a decorative touch that acts as a visual theme and makes a nice sturdy finished edge to the tops of the beds. While I'm waiting for the soil to dry out so I can prepare the beds for spring planting, I spend time in the...

It is often especially prevalent in acidic soils or soils with an excess of copper, manganese or phosphorus. Are your young plants struggling? Soils can have a lot of iron, but plants growing in them can still be iron-deficient.

Early last March, the band of 50-degree soil temperatures stretched as far north as the northern borders of North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma; however, in the first week of March this year, sufficiently warm soil could only be found as...

It is safe to apply iron sulfate to plants. Soil Problem No. 2: Soil is too wet. Common to: clay soils, low-lying areas, areas with a high water table Amendments to add: compost, sand, 78M pea gravel Soggy, compacted ground needs an amendment to add space...

Few soils start out neutral, but that's where you ultimately want to arrive. If your soil pH is too high, too alkaline, sulfur or peat moss are often recommended for acid. If you do nothing to your soil but add compost and balance your pH, you will still...

Most trees can produce a prodigious amount of biomass—the majority of which is carbon—in the space of a year, and it can be hard to find a use for all of that wood, especially when it is in the form of new growth with the diameter of a pencil.

If you are planning a summer crop in a certain location, then a raised bed is probably not necessary. From now on I am going err on the side of raising all beds for spring use, especially when in doubt.