Reading Weeds as Soil Indicators: What Nature Is Trying to Tell You

For many gardeners, the appearance of weeds is the signal to reach for a hoe, pull them by hand, or spread another layer of mulch. While there is certainly a time for weed control, weeds can also serve another purpose. They are among the best soil inspectors you will ever have—and they work for free.

Long before soil laboratories and digital moisture meters, observant farmers learned to "read" the landscape. Certain weeds consistently appeared where particular soil conditions existed. While no weed provides an infallible diagnosis, a careful gardener can often learn a great deal about the health, fertility, drainage, and even the pH of the soil simply by observing what chooses to grow there.

Organic gardening is, above all, the art of observation. Instead of asking, "How do I kill this weed?" try asking, "Why is this weed growing here?"

Nature Rarely Leaves Bare Soil

Bare ground is an invitation. Wherever sunlight reaches exposed soil, nature sends pioneers to protect it. Weeds are often the first responders.

Their roots loosen compacted earth, hold soil against erosion, gather nutrients, and provide food for insects and microorganisms. While they may compete with our vegetables and flowers, they are also performing ecological work.

Rather than viewing weeds solely as enemies, think of them as indicators. They often reveal problems before our cultivated plants begin to suffer.

Plantain: The Compaction Specialist

Broadleaf plantain (Plantago major) frequently appears where soil has been compacted by foot traffic, machinery, or years of cultivation.

Its broad leaves hug the ground, and its tough taproot is remarkably good at penetrating dense soil.

If plantain thrives in your garden, consider asking:

• Has this area been walked on frequently?
• Does water puddle after rain?
• Would gentle loosening with a garden fork improve soil structure?
• Could additional organic matter help?

Removing the plant without addressing the compaction often results in another plantain taking its place.

Chickweed: A Sign of Rich, Moist Soil

Many gardeners regard it as a nuisance, yet its presence often suggests that the soil itself is in reasonably good condition.

Chickweed can indicate:

• abundant organic matter
• steady soil moisture
• cool conditions
• moderate fertility

Ironically, gardeners spend years improving poor soil only to discover that chickweed appreciates those improvements just as much as their lettuce does.

Purslane: Dry Soil with Good Fertility

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a remarkable survivor.

Its succulent leaves store water, allowing it to flourish during hot summers when many weeds disappear.

Heavy populations may suggest:

• warm soil
• excellent sunlight
• periods of drought
• reasonably fertile ground

Interestingly, purslane is also edible and rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Many gardeners unknowingly pull one of the most nutritious wild greens from their gardens.

Horsetail: Poor Drainage and Acidic Conditions

If horsetail (Equisetum arvense) appears, pay attention.

This ancient plant has survived since before the dinosaurs and often points toward challenging soil conditions.

It commonly indicates:

• poor drainage
• compacted subsoil
• persistently wet ground
• acidic soil

Because horsetail spreads through extensive underground rhizomes, simply pulling it rarely solves the problem. Improving drainage often proves far more effective over time.

Dock: Deep Soil Miner

Dock species (Rumex spp.) produce impressive taproots capable of reaching nutrients far below the surface.

Their presence may suggest:

• compacted lower soil layers
• mineral imbalances
• neglected ground
• disturbed areas

The deep roots often bring nutrients upward, where they become available to other organisms after the leaves decompose.

Shepherd's Purse: Frequently Disturbed Soil

Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) often thrives where soil is repeatedly disturbed.

Its appearance can indicate:

• freshly cultivated ground
• open soil
• winter annual weed cycles
• mild fertility

Because it completes its life cycle quickly, it often arrives before slower-growing plants become established.

Learn to Read Patterns, Not Individual Plants

One weed seldom tells the whole story.

A single plant may simply have arrived by chance. However, when large populations dominate a particular area year after year, they often reveal an underlying condition.

For example:

• Plantain and dandelions together may point toward compaction.
• Chickweed and nettles often suggest fertile, nitrogen-rich soil.
• Moss with horsetail frequently indicates excessive moisture.
• Purslane mixed with crabgrass may reveal hot, dry conditions.

The larger the pattern, the more reliable the diagnosis becomes.

Weeds Are Symptoms, Not Causes

One of the most valuable lessons in organic gardening is recognizing the difference between symptoms and causes.

Suppose your vegetable bed is full of plantain.

The temptation is to remove the weeds and declare victory.

But if the underlying problem is compacted soil, another generation of plantain—or a different weed adapted to the same conditions—will soon replace it.

Organic gardeners achieve longer-lasting success by correcting the conditions that favor troublesome weeds rather than merely eliminating the plants themselves.

Keep a Weed Journal

One surprisingly useful habit is to keep a notebook devoted to weeds.

Each season, record:

• which weeds appeared
• where they appeared
• rainfall
• mulching practices
• compost applications
• crop rotations
• drainage changes

After several years, patterns emerge that would otherwise go unnoticed.

You may discover that a certain weed only appears after unusually wet winters, or that another vanishes after several seasons of heavy mulching.

These observations become part of your growing knowledge of your own garden—knowledge no general gardening book can fully provide.

Let the Weeds Teach You

The goal of organic gardening is not to grow a garden without weeds. Such a thing has rarely existed.

Rather, it is to understand why weeds appear, manage them wisely, and gradually create conditions that favor the crops you wish to grow instead.

The next time you kneel to pull a weed, pause for a moment before tossing it into the compost pile. Consider what it may be telling you about the soil beneath your feet.

Nature is always speaking. The experienced gardener learns not only to cultivate the soil, but also to listen to it.

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How Soil Smells: What Your Nose Can Teach You About Your Garden

 

Gardeners spend a great deal of time looking at their soil. We study its color, feel its texture, and watch how it holds water. Yet one of the most valuable clues to soil health is often overlooked entirely: its smell.

Long before soil testing laboratories existed, experienced farmers and gardeners trusted their senses. They could tell whether a field was healthy simply by walking through it, turning over a shovel of earth, and taking a deep breath.

The nose remains one of the simplest and most reliable gardening tools you own.

The Sweet Smell of Healthy Soil

Good garden soil has a pleasant, earthy fragrance. It is rich without being overpowering, fresh without smelling like perfume. Many people describe it as the scent of a forest after a gentle rain.

That familiar aroma comes largely from compounds produced by soil microorganisms, particularly a substance called geosmin. Certain beneficial bacteria, known as actinomycetes, create geosmin as they break down organic matter. These same organisms help convert dead leaves, stems, and roots into stable humus.

When you smell that rich woodland scent, you are often smelling a thriving underground community hard at work.

Healthy soil is alive. A single teaspoon may contain billions of bacteria, miles of fungal threads, protozoa, nematodes, and countless other organisms. Their collective activity produces the fragrance that gardeners have appreciated for generations.

Soil That Smells Sour

If your soil has a sour, stagnant odor, something is probably wrong.

A sour smell often indicates that oxygen is lacking. This may happen when:

• Soil remains waterlogged for long periods.
• Heavy clay has become badly compacted.
• Drainage is poor.
• Organic matter is decomposing without enough air.

Instead of beneficial aerobic microbes dominating the soil, anaerobic organisms begin taking over. These organisms produce compounds that create unpleasant odors.

Correcting drainage, adding organic matter, and reducing compaction usually restore both the soil's structure and its healthy aroma.

The Rotten Egg Smell

Few odors are more alarming than the smell of rotten eggs coming from garden soil.

This scent usually comes from hydrogen sulfide gas, produced when anaerobic bacteria break down sulfur-containing compounds in oxygen-starved soil.

Common causes include:

• Containers without drainage holes
• Raised beds with severely compacted soil
• Constant overwatering
• Areas that stay flooded

Fortunately, the solution is often straightforward: improve drainage and allow more air into the soil.

Ammonia Odors

Fresh manure naturally has a strong smell, but if garden soil itself smells like ammonia, excessive nitrogen may be present.

This can occur after:

• Applying too much fresh manure
• Overusing nitrogen fertilizers
• Composting materials incompletely

Excess nitrogen not only creates unpleasant odors but can also burn plant roots and encourage lush foliage at the expense of flowers and fruit.

Well-aged compost rarely produces this problem.

Compost Has Its Own Language

A healthy compost pile tells you how it's doing through its smell.

Good compost smells earthy and pleasant.

If the pile smells sour, slimy, or rotten, it usually needs more oxygen. Turning the pile introduces air and often eliminates the odor within a day or two.

If it smells strongly of ammonia, there may be too much nitrogen-rich material, such as fresh grass clippings or kitchen scraps. Adding dry leaves, shredded cardboard, or straw restores balance.

Compost is constantly speaking to the attentive gardener.

Different Soils, Different Aromas

Not every healthy soil smells exactly alike.

A sandy coastal soil often has a lighter fragrance than rich woodland loam.

Prairie soils may have a deeper, sweeter scent because of generations of grass roots.

Peaty soils possess their own distinctive aroma, while freshly turned clay often smells more mineral than organic.

Learning the normal scent of your own garden makes it easier to recognize when something changes.

Rain Changes Everything

One of gardening's greatest pleasures is walking outside after a summer shower.

Part of what you're smelling is petrichor—the fragrance released when rain strikes dry ground. Another part comes from geosmin, carried into the air by tiny droplets.

Interestingly, humans are remarkably sensitive to geosmin. We can detect it at extraordinarily low concentrations, far better than many other scents.

Perhaps that explains why the smell of fresh earth stirs memories of childhood gardens, freshly plowed fields, or walks through the woods.

Train Your Nose

The next time you're in the garden, don't just look at the soil.

Dig a small hole a few inches deep. Scoop up a handful of earth and smell it.

Ask yourself:

• Does it smell fresh?
• Is it rich and earthy?
• Is there any sourness?
• Does it smell stagnant?
• Has the scent changed since last season?

Over time, you'll begin to notice subtle differences that often appear before plants show visible signs of stress.

The Garden's Quiet Conversation

Modern gardeners have access to soil analyses, moisture meters, nutrient tests, and sophisticated laboratory reports. These are valuable tools.

But they should never replace observation.

Healthy gardening begins by paying attention—not only with the eyes, but also with the hands, ears, and nose.

Every handful of soil carries a story. Sometimes that story is written not in color or texture, but in fragrance.

The earth has always spoken softly. Gardeners who learn to smell their soil discover that it has been talking all along.

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Growing Your Own Garden Inputs: The Forgotten Art of Feeding the Garden from the Garden

  

Modern gardeners spend a surprising amount of time buying what previous generations often made themselves. Bags of compost, bottles of fertilizer, mulch, seed-starting mixes, and pest-control products line the shelves of garden centers, yet much of what we need can be produced right in our own backyards.

An organic garden reaches a new level of maturity when it begins producing not only vegetables and flowers, but also the materials needed to sustain itself. Instead of importing fertility year after year, the garden becomes a living factory that creates its own compost, mulch, fertilizer, seeds, and beneficial insects. The result is lower costs, healthier soil, and a landscape that grows more resilient with each passing season.

Think Like a Farmer, Not Just a Gardener

For thousands of years, farmers understood that every farm needed to produce more than crops. It also needed to produce fertility.

Leaves became mulch.

Crop residues became compost.

Animals supplied manure.

Cover crops fed the soil.

Seeds were saved from the best plants.

Even weeds found useful purposes.

This closed cycle reduced dependence on outside supplies and steadily improved the land. Home gardeners can adopt exactly the same philosophy on a smaller scale.

Instead of asking, "What do I need to buy?" begin asking, "Can my garden produce this itself?"

Often, the answer is yes.

Grow Your Own Mulch

Many gardeners purchase bags of mulch every spring, yet mulch can become one of the easiest garden products to grow.

Fast-growing plants make excellent mulch crops, including:

• Comfrey
• Tall grasses
• Rye
• Oats
• Sorghum-sudangrass
• Sunflowers
• Jerusalem artichokes

These plants can be cut several times during the growing season and laid directly around vegetables and flowers.

Leaves from deciduous trees remain one of nature's greatest gifts. Rather than hauling them away each autumn, shred them and store them in wire bins until needed. Leaf mold becomes one of the finest soil conditioners imaginable.

Produce Compost Ingredients Year-Round

Many compost piles fail because they lack enough material.

Instead of hoping enough kitchen scraps accumulate, intentionally grow compost crops.

Good choices include:

• Buckwheat
• Cowpeas
• Crimson clover
• Sunn hemp
• Hairy vetch
• White Dutch clover

These plants generate enormous amounts of green material that decomposes rapidly while adding valuable nutrients to the compost pile.

Even weeds—before they set seed—can become excellent compost ingredients.

Every weed removed from the garden represents nutrients being recycled rather than wasted.

Grow Fertilizer

Certain plants function almost like living fertilizer factories.

Comfrey is perhaps the best known.

Its deep roots mine minerals from several feet below the soil surface. The leaves contain impressive amounts of potassium, calcium, and other nutrients.

Gardeners have long:

• Added comfrey to compost piles
• Used chopped leaves as mulch
• Made liquid fertilizer from soaked leaves
• Buried leaves beneath tomatoes and squash

Stinging nettle, yarrow, borage, and dandelions also accumulate minerals that become available after decomposition.

Nature has already done the mining.

Produce Your Own Seed

Saving seed is among the oldest gardening traditions.

Each season your garden becomes better adapted to your local climate when you save seed from your healthiest plants.

Good crops for beginners include:

• Beans
• Peas
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Okra

Over several years, your garden slowly develops varieties uniquely suited to your soil, rainfall, and weather patterns.

That adaptation cannot be purchased in a packet.

Raise Your Own Soil Biology

The most valuable part of healthy soil is invisible.

Billions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and earthworms perform the work that fertilizers alone never can.

You can encourage these workers by producing their favorite foods.

Regular additions of:

• Compost
• Leaf mold
• Shredded leaves
• Grass clippings
• Wood chips
• Cover crop residues

allow soil biology to multiply naturally.

Instead of feeding plants directly, you feed the underground community that feeds the plants.

Create Habitat for Beneficial Insects

Rather than purchasing beneficial insects each season, encourage permanent residents.

Grow plants that bloom continuously throughout the year, such as:

• Dill
• Fennel
• Sweet alyssum
• Yarrow
• Coreopsis
• Goldenrod
• Mountain mint

These flowers provide nectar and pollen for lady beetles, lacewings, hoverflies, parasitic wasps, and many native pollinators.

Once established, these beneficial insects often return year after year.

Grow Stakes, Trellises, and Supports

Garden inputs are not limited to fertilizers.

Many traditional gardens included living sources of construction materials.

Bamboo produces canes for stakes and trellises.

Willow provides flexible rods for woven supports.

Coppiced shrubs yield straight poles for beans and peas.

Instead of purchasing plastic supports every season, harvest renewable materials directly from the landscape.

Harvest Rainwater

Water is perhaps the largest garden input of all.

Rain barrels, cisterns, and swales allow gardeners to capture rainfall that would otherwise disappear into storm drains.

Stored rainwater contains no chlorine, arrives at air temperature, and reduces demand on municipal water supplies.

Every gallon collected is one less gallon that must be purchased or pumped.

Even Weeds Can Become Resources

Organic gardeners eventually learn to see weeds differently.

Many common weeds:

• Accumulate minerals
• Produce abundant biomass
• Feed pollinators while flowering
• Improve soil structure with deep roots
• Become compost after removal

Of course, aggressive weeds should never be allowed to set seed.

But even unwanted plants can contribute to the garden's economy before returning to the compost pile.

Nothing need be wasted.

A Garden That Produces More Than Food

Perhaps the greatest transformation in organic gardening occurs when the garden begins supplying itself.

The compost pile fills from homegrown materials.

Mulch comes from dedicated mulch crops.

Seeds come from last year's harvest.

Beneficial insects stay because habitat is always available.

Fertility increases without relying entirely on purchased products.

The garden becomes less like a consumer and more like a living ecosystem.

This way of gardening is neither new nor complicated. It simply revives a wisdom that sustained gardens for generations before bags, bottles, and boxes became commonplace. Every season, as more of your garden's needs are met from within its own boundaries, you gain something beyond lower expenses. You gain independence, resilience, and the quiet satisfaction of working with nature's cycles rather than constantly reaching beyond them. That may be one of the oldest—and most rewarding—secrets of organic gardening.

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The Organic Garden as an Ecosystem That Ages

 

When gardeners speak of a mature garden, they usually mean one that is beautiful, productive, and well established. But an organic garden is something even more remarkable. It is not simply a collection of plants growing in soil. It is a living ecosystem that changes with the passing years, much like an old forest, a meadow, or a woodland edge.

Many modern gardening books focus on immediate results—how to improve this year's harvest or solve this week's pest problem. Organic gardening, however, invites us to think in decades rather than seasons. Every year an organically managed garden develops greater complexity, stability, and resilience. In many ways, the greatest harvest of an organic garden is not measured in tomatoes or roses, but in the life it quietly gathers.

A Young Garden Is Like Bare Ground

A newly established organic garden begins much like disturbed land after a storm or plowing. The soil food web is relatively simple. Earthworms may be scarce. Beneficial fungi have not yet spread through the beds. Pollinators are only occasional visitors because little has become established to attract them.

The gardener must provide much of the balance through compost, mulch, careful watering, and observation.

This early stage requires patience. Nature does not hurry.

The Soil Becomes Older—and Better

One of the least appreciated characteristics of an old organic garden is that its soil actually develops a kind of memory.

Year after year:

• Leaves become humus.
• Roots die and decay underground.
• Earthworms pull organic matter deep into the soil.
• Fungi weave vast underground networks.
• Beneficial bacteria multiply.
• Minerals are cycled again and again.

The soil gradually changes from a collection of particles into a living community.

Gardeners often remark that an old garden seems easier to manage than a new one. They are usually correct. Mature soil holds water longer, drains more effectively, resists compaction, and feeds plants more consistently.

The gardener has spent years building an underground workforce that now labors without wages.

Beneficial Insects Learn Where You Live

Many insects spend only part of their lives in gardens. They require overwintering sites, nesting cavities, perennial flowers, shrubs, and undisturbed corners.

As your organic garden matures:

• Native bees establish nests nearby.
• Predatory wasps return each spring.
• Lady beetles become regular residents.
• Lacewings lay eggs season after season.
• Ground beetles multiply beneath mulch.
• Hoverflies discover dependable nectar sources.

The result is not an insect-free garden.

Instead, it becomes an insect-balanced garden.

Nature seldom eliminates pests. It usually limits them.

Birds Become Garden Partners

Young gardens attract occasional birds.

Older gardens become bird neighborhoods.

Shrubs mature enough for nesting. Dense hedges offer shelter. Dead flower stalks provide winter seeds. Insects become abundant enough to feed hungry nestlings.

Wrens patrol for caterpillars.

Bluebirds hunt grasshoppers.

Mockingbirds consume berries and insects alike.

Woodpeckers investigate aging trees.

Each species quietly performs work that no pesticide can duplicate.

Plants Begin Choosing Their Own Places

One delightful surprise in mature organic gardens is self-sowing.

Columbines appear where none were planted.

Foxgloves emerge beside stone paths.

Parsley sprouts unexpectedly.

Dill wanders across vegetable beds.

Calendula seems to know precisely where cheerful flowers are needed.

Instead of resisting these volunteers, experienced gardeners often welcome them.

Nature frequently proves to be an excellent landscape designer.

Diseases Often Become Less Severe

Healthy ecosystems rarely eliminate disease completely, but they often reduce its severity.

Why?

• Because stronger plants grow in healthier soil.
• Because better air circulation develops.
• Because beneficial microbes compete with harmful ones.
• Because diversity prevents one disease from overwhelming everything.
• Monocultures invite epidemics.
• Communities encourage balance.

The Garden Develops Layers

A mature organic garden resembles a woodland more than a farm.

Instead of single rows standing alone, plants occupy different levels.

Tall fruit trees cast light shade.

Berry bushes fill the middle.

Perennials occupy permanent spaces.

Groundcovers protect exposed soil.

Climbing vines use vertical space.

Bulbs emerge before taller plants leaf out.

Roots grow at different depths.

Each layer performs useful work.

The garden gradually wastes less sunlight, less moisture, and less space.

The Gardener Ages Alongside the Garden

Perhaps the most beautiful transformation is not found in the plants but in the gardener.

Young gardeners often seek control.

Older gardeners seek cooperation.

Instead of asking,

"How do I defeat every insect?"

they begin asking,

"Why did this insect appear?"

Instead of immediately reaching for fertilizer, they first examine the compost pile.

Instead of removing every fallen leaf, they wonder which creatures depend upon it.

Experience replaces urgency.

Observation replaces reaction.

Wisdom replaces schedules.

Leave Some Corners Untidy

One hallmark of aging ecosystems is that not every square foot appears manicured.

A small brush pile shelters toads.

Dead stems house solitary bees.

Leaf litter protects countless insects through winter.

A fallen log becomes home to fungi and beetles.

Even an old stump eventually feeds hundreds of unseen organisms.

Perfect tidiness often comes at the expense of life.

Nature has always preferred orderly abundance over spotless simplicity.

Think in Decades, Not Seasons

The finest organic gardens are rarely built in five years.

Some are thirty years old.

Others have been cultivated continuously for generations.

Each passing season leaves invisible gifts:

• Richer soil.
• More pollinators.
• Greater resilience.
• Better moisture retention.
• Fewer serious pest outbreaks.
• Increasing biodiversity.

These gifts accumulate quietly.

Unlike synthetic fertilizers that promise immediate results, healthy ecosystems pay compound interest.

A Garden That Grows Wiser

An organic garden does more than produce vegetables, flowers, or fruit. Given enough time, it becomes a self-regulating community where soil, fungi, insects, birds, plants, and people each play their part.

The gardener is no longer merely raising plants. He is tending a living landscape whose greatest strength comes not from constant intervention but from years of faithful stewardship.

There is an old saying among foresters: "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is today." The same could be said of building an organic ecosystem. Every handful of compost, every layer of mulch, every native flower planted for pollinators, and every season spent working with nature rather than against it becomes an investment in a garden that will grow richer with age.

In time, the garden begins to return the favor. It asks less of the gardener while giving far more in return—not only baskets of produce and armfuls of flowers, but the quiet satisfaction of seeing a small corner of the earth become healthier with every passing year.

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Gardening for the Soil Food Web, Not the Plant

Most gardeners spend their time looking upward. They study leaves for signs of yellowing, inspect flowers for insect damage, and wonder which fertilizer will produce bigger tomatoes or brighter roses. Yet the greatest activity in the garden takes place where few ever look—beneath their feet.

Healthy gardens are not built by feeding plants directly. They are built by feeding the countless organisms that live in the soil. When the soil food web thrives, plants receive nutrients naturally, resist disease more effectively, and often require far less intervention from the gardener.

Rather than asking, "What does this plant need today?" it may be wiser to ask, "What does my soil need?"

What Is the Soil Food Web?

The soil beneath a healthy garden is one of the most complex ecosystems on Earth. A single teaspoon of fertile garden soil may contain billions of microorganisms.

The soil food web includes:

• Bacteria that break down fresh organic matter.
• Fungi that transport water and nutrients through extensive underground networks.
• Protozoa that feed on bacteria and release plant-available nutrients.
• Nematodes that consume fungi, bacteria, and other soil organisms.
• Earthworms that mix organic matter into the soil while creating channels for air and water.
• Arthropods such as springtails and mites that shred leaves into smaller pieces for microbes to digest.

Each organism performs a different task, yet together they recycle nutrients, build soil structure, store moisture, and create an environment where plant roots flourish.

Plants are not simply growing in soil. They are growing within an entire living community.

Plants Feed the Soil, Too

One of the most fascinating discoveries of modern soil biology is that plants are active participants in this underground world.

Through photosynthesis, plants manufacture sugars. Remarkably, they release as much as 40 percent of those sugars through their roots into the surrounding soil.

Why would they give away food?

Because those sugars attract bacteria and fungi that provide something far more valuable in return.

Beneficial microbes gather around the roots, forming partnerships that help plants obtain phosphorus, nitrogen, trace minerals, and water. In effect, plants are paying soil organisms for their services.

It's an ancient system that has worked for hundreds of millions of years.

Fertilizer Isn't Always the Answer

Traditional gardening often treats fertilizer as plant food.

Technically, fertilizer feeds the soil—or bypasses it altogether.

When large quantities of synthetic fertilizers are applied repeatedly, plants may become less dependent on beneficial microbes because nutrients are readily available. While crops may grow rapidly, the biological life of the soil can decline over time.

Organic amendments work differently.

Compost, leaf mold, aged manure, mulches, and cover crops provide food for the organisms that eventually feed the plants. The process is slower but far more sustainable.

Think of synthetic fertilizer as handing cash directly to the customer.

Organic matter invests in the entire local economy.

Compost Is More Than Nutrients

Many gardeners believe compost is valuable because of its nutrient content.

Its greatest value may actually be biological.

Well-made compost contains enormous populations of beneficial microorganisms that colonize garden soil. It also supplies organic matter that fuels microbial activity for months or even years.

Every application of compost helps rebuild the underground workforce responsible for healthy plants.

Mulch Feeds More Than Moisture

Mulch is often recommended for conserving water and reducing weeds, but its greatest contribution lies beneath the surface.

As wood chips, shredded leaves, straw, or pine needles slowly decompose, they provide food for fungi, bacteria, insects, and earthworms.

The soil beneath permanent mulch usually remains cooler, moister, and biologically active than exposed ground.

Nature rarely leaves bare soil.

Neither should gardeners.

Disturb the Soil Less

Every time soil is tilled, millions of fungal connections are broken.

Earthworm tunnels collapse.

Microbial habitats are disrupted.

While occasional cultivation may sometimes be necessary, repeated deep tillage interrupts the natural architecture that soil organisms spend months building.

No-till or low-disturbance gardening allows the soil food web to become increasingly stable over time.

Gardeners often notice improved drainage, fewer weeds, and healthier crops after several seasons.

Grow Living Roots Year-Round

The soil food web thrives on living roots.

Whenever possible, avoid leaving garden beds empty.

Cover crops such as clover, crimson clover, buckwheat, oats, rye, or winter peas continue feeding soil organisms even when vegetables are not growing.

Living roots continuously release sugars into the soil, keeping microbial populations active throughout the year.

Bare soil, by contrast, leaves much of the underground community without a food source.

Let Leaves Become Soil

Every autumn, millions of homeowners bag leaves and send them away.

In forests, those same leaves become next year's fertile soil.

Shredded leaves make one of the finest soil-building materials available. Used as mulch or compost ingredients, they feed fungi especially well and gradually increase the organic matter that gives healthy soil its dark, crumbly texture.

What appears to be yard waste is actually future fertility.

Encourage Diversity Underground

Just as gardens benefit from many kinds of plants, soil benefits from many kinds of organic materials.

Instead of relying on one amendment, combine several:

• Compost
• Shredded leaves
• Pine bark
• Wood chips
• Grass clippings (used sparingly)
• Cover crops
• Seaweed
• Aged manure

Different organisms prefer different foods. Greater diversity above ground encourages greater diversity below ground.

Healthy Soil Grows Healthy Plants

Gardeners often chase problems by treating symptoms.

Yellow leaves receive fertilizer.

Wilted plants receive more water.

Diseased plants receive sprays.

Sometimes those treatments are appropriate.

But often the underlying issue is a struggling soil ecosystem.

When the soil food web is healthy, plants gain access to nutrients naturally, tolerate drought more effectively, resist many diseases, and develop stronger root systems.

Healthy plants are often the visible result of invisible life below.

Final Thoughts

The finest gardeners understand that they are not merely raising vegetables, flowers, or shrubs. They are cultivating an entire underground civilization.

Every handful of compost, every layer of mulch, every earthworm, every fungal thread contributes to a living network that quietly sustains the garden.

Instead of asking how to feed your tomatoes, peppers, or roses this season, consider feeding the billions of tiny workers beneath them.

Care for the soil food web, and the soil will care for your plants. It has been doing exactly that since long before the first gardener ever picked up a spade.

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Soil Amendments: The Quiet Workhorses of a Flourishing Garden

 

 Gardeners often speak of sunlight, rainfall, fertilizers, and plant varieties. We admire blossoms, harvest tomatoes, and fret over pests. Yet beneath every thriving garden lies a quieter story — the story of the soil itself.

Good soil is not merely dirt. It is a living, breathing world. It holds water like a sponge, releases nutrients at the proper time, shelters roots from heat and drought, and hosts armies of unseen organisms that labor day and night beneath our feet. If the soil fails, the garden limps along like a wagon with a broken axle. If the soil thrives, plants often astonish us with their vigor.

That is where soil amendments come in.

What Are Soil Amendments?

Soil amendments are materials added to improve the physical condition, fertility, or biological life of soil. Some increase drainage. Others improve moisture retention. Some feed microorganisms. Others gently adjust pH or provide trace minerals.

The old-timers understood this well. Long before bags of synthetic fertilizer lined store shelves, gardeners relied on compost, leaf mold, manure, wood ashes, and other natural materials to enrich the earth. They knew a simple truth modern gardeners sometimes forget: feeding the soil is often more important than feeding the plant.

Why Soil Structure Matters

Healthy soil contains a balance of sand, silt, clay, organic matter, air, and moisture. When this balance is disturbed, plants struggle.

Clay soils may become dense and waterlogged, suffocating roots after heavy rains. Sandy soils may drain so quickly that plants wilt before lunchtime in July. Compacted soil turns into something resembling old brick-making material — hard, airless, and stubborn.

Soil amendments help correct these problems.

Compost loosens heavy clay while helping sandy soil hold moisture. Pine bark fines improve aeration. Aged manure contributes organic matter and nutrients. Gypsum may help break up certain compacted clay soils. Earthworm castings encourage microbial life that benefits root systems.

It is not glamorous work. No one gathers the family around to admire a pile of compost with the same enthusiasm reserved for a blooming rose. Yet the compost pile often deserves the greater applause.

Organic Matter: The Soul of the Garden

Organic matter is the beating heart of fertile soil.

As leaves, bark, compost, and other natural materials decompose, they create humus — the dark, rich substance that gives good garden soil its pleasant earthy smell. Humus improves nearly every aspect of soil health. It increases water retention during drought, improves drainage during wet periods, buffers temperature swings, and stores nutrients for plant roots.

Even more importantly, organic matter feeds the underground community of fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and beneficial organisms that create a healthy soil ecosystem.

A garden without organic matter is like a town without citizens. Things may stand upright for a while, but little life remains.

Soil Amendments Are Not Instant Magic

Many gardeners expect dramatic overnight results. Modern culture has trained us to expect quick fixes for everything from bald spots to begonias.

But soil improvement is often slow, steady work. Nature tends to move at the pace of a hymn rather than a drum solo.

Adding compost one season helps. Repeating the practice year after year transforms the garden.

Over time, amended soil becomes darker, looser, easier to work, and more productive. Plants develop stronger root systems and greater resilience against heat, drought, and disease. Watering becomes easier. Fertilizer needs often decrease.

The garden begins to cooperate rather than resist.

Common Soil Amendments Worth Considering

Depending on your soil type and plants, useful amendments may include:

• Compost
• Aged manure
• Pine bark fines
• Leaf mold
• Worm castings
• Peat moss
• Coconut coir
• Perlite
• Vermiculite
• Gypsum
• Lime
• Biochar

Not every amendment suits every situation. A wise gardener studies the soil before blindly dumping products into it. A soil test is often money well spent.

As the old Southern farmers might have said: “Don’t prescribe medicine before you know the sickness.”

The Long View

A beautiful garden is rarely built in a single season. Good soil is an inheritance passed from one year to the next.

Every shovel of compost, every mulch layer, every thoughtful amendment contributes to something larger than immediate results. The gardener is not merely growing flowers or vegetables. He is cultivating the ground itself.

And the ground remembers.

The finest gardens often stand on soil patiently improved over decades by careful hands. Beneath every lush border and productive vegetable row lies the accumulated wisdom of seasons past.

In an age obsessed with speed and shortcuts, soil amendments remind us of an older lesson: lasting growth begins below the surface.

Return to GoGardenNow.com.

Feed the Soil, Not Just the Plant: Amendments That Build a Better Garden

 

A garden doesn’t begin with the plant—it begins with the soil. And if the soil is poor, no amount of fussing above ground will set things right. You can prop up a weak plant for a season, but you cannot cheat the earth forever.

The old hands knew this: healthy soil grows healthy plants. The rest is commentary.

What follows are the amendments that matter—not fads, not powders in bright bags, but the quiet builders of good ground.

Compost: The Foundation of It All

If you do nothing else, do this.

Compost is not just “fertilizer.” It is structure, life, and balance all in one:

• Improves drainage in heavy soils
• Holds moisture in sandy soils
• Feeds beneficial microbes
• Releases nutrients slowly and steadily

It is the closest thing to a cure-all a gardener will ever have.

A garden with good compost is halfway made.

Aged Manure: Strength with Substance

Properly aged manure brings both nutrients and organic matter.

• Cow and horse manure: steady, reliable
• Chicken manure: stronger—use sparingly and well-aged

Fresh manure is too hot and can burn plants. Let time do its work, or compost it first.

Used well, manure gives soil depth and vigor—the kind you can see in leaf and stem.

Leaf Mold: The Forgotten Treasure

Take fallen leaves, give them time and moisture, and you get one of the finest soil conditioners known.

• Improves soil texture
• Increases water retention
• Encourages fungal life—important for long-term soil health

It’s slow to make, but worth the wait.

What the trees drop in autumn is not waste—it’s provision.

Worm Castings: Fine Work in Small Measure

Worm castings are rich, gentle, and effective.

• Packed with beneficial microbes
• Improve nutrient availability
• Safe for seedlings and transplants

You don’t need much. A handful in the planting hole or mixed into potting soil goes a long way.

Bone Meal and Blood Meal: Targeted Feeding

Sometimes the soil needs something specific.

• Bone meal: supports root growth and flowering (phosphorus)
• Blood meal: boosts leafy growth (nitrogen)

These are not broad fixes. Use them with intention, not by habit.

Rock Dust and Minerals: Long-Term Thinking

Soils lose minerals over time, especially with repeated planting.

Rock dusts (like basalt or granite) help:

• Restore trace minerals
• Improve overall soil fertility slowly

You won’t see immediate results—but over time, plants grow stronger and more resilient.

This is gardening for next year, not just this season.

Biochar: Structure That Lasts

Biochar is charcoal made for the soil, not the fire.

• Improves soil structure
• Holds nutrients and water
• Provides a home for microbes

Charge it first (mix with compost or fertilizer), or it will pull nutrients from the soil instead of giving.

Green Manures and Cover Crops: Living Amendments

Sometimes the best amendment is a plant.

• Clover, vetch: add nitrogen
• Rye, oats: build organic matter and protect soil

Grow them, then turn them in. They feed the soil from within.

What to Avoid

Not every bag on the shelf is worth your money.

• Overuse of synthetic fertilizers: quick growth, weak plants
• Repeated single-input feeding: leads to imbalance
• Ignoring soil structure: nutrients alone won’t fix poor soil

A plant fed poorly may grow fast—but it will not grow well.

The Quiet Work That Pays

Improving soil is not glamorous. It doesn’t happen overnight. But it is the work that pays year after year.

Add organic matter. Keep the soil covered. Feed the life beneath your feet.

Do that, and you’ll notice something:

• Plants grow stronger
• Problems lessen
• The garden begins to take care of itself

Final Thoughts

A good gardener learns this sooner or later:

You’re not really growing plants. You’re building soil, and the soil grows the plants for you.

Tend it well, and it will answer back—season after season, without complaint, and with more generosity than you put in.

Return to GoGardenNow.com.

Here are the latest garden news and events scheduled for August 2025 in the Midwest

 

🌳 1. 47th Annual Mid‑America Bonsai Exhibition — Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, IL)
Mark your calendars for August 15–17, 2025, when bonsai enthusiasts convene for one of the nation’s largest regional bonsai showcases. Now in its 47th year, the exhibition will feature over 50 world-class trees from across the Midwest, with guest master demos, vendor booths, and a tree-judging competition in the Regenstein Center. Admission is included with garden entry (extra for parking/ticket) midwestbonsai.org

🌾 2. UW–Madison Agronomy & Soils Field Day — Madison, WI
On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, the University of Wisconsin–Madison hosts its annual Agronomy & Soils Field Day. Though primarily geared toward farmers, it offers valuable sessions on fruit & vegetable production, pest and disease management, emerging crops, and soil fertility—perfect for gardeners looking to deepen their field-tested knowledge. 
cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu
.
🪴 3. K‑State Garden Hour Webinar — Kansas State University
Gardening minds across Kansas are invited to the K‑State Garden Hour on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 (noon–1 pm CST). This live webinar series features a series of topics; the August edition will focus on the latest innovations in horticulture research, offering insights you can incorporate at home. 
hnr.k-state.edu

🍃 4. Beal Botanical Garden Forest‑Bathing Tour — MSU, East Lansing, MI
Take a midday retreat on August 14, 2025, from 12:10–1 pm, with a guided Forest Bathing session in Michigan State University’s Beal Botanical Garden. Facilitated by Community & Sustainability Coordinator Angelica Bajos, this mindful garden immersion invites participants to refresh and reconnect amidst native plantings. 
bealbotanicalgarden.msu.edu

These events offer something for every type of gardener—from bonsai aficionados to field-crop learners, home gardeners, and those seeking peaceful reflection. Which one sparks your interest?

Return to GoGardenNow.com.

Soil Tests – The Why and How

 

No doubt you've learned somewhere that soil tests provide essential guidelines for gardening. Perhaps the "why" and "how" have eluded you. This article might help.

You’ve probably noticed that different types of plants grow in different places. That’s because they are either native or adapted to distinct habitats. Drive through the countryside and you’ll see what I mean. On one side of a hill you might find a hardwood forest. The other side might be predominantly native pine. In another place there will be a grassy meadow. Farther along you might see a bog with sedges and alders. Each area has its own soil type, nutrient levels, drainage and chemistry. The lesson here is that plants thrive in locations and conditions that meet their needs.

Garden spaces are sometimes not so easy to judge. Further inspection and discovery will probably be necessary. Follow a similar exercise to your drive in the country when garden planning. Walk around your landscape taking note of drainage, sun exposure, slope and the plants that are thriving. Even moss and weeds can tell a story, but we'll delve into that some other time.

There are a couple of ways to determine your soil type, chemistry and condition. The first is to take a soil sample for testing. The second is to utilize the USDA Web Soil Survey tool. Taking a soil sample is easy enough. Using the USDA Web Soil Survey tool? Not so much.

A basic soil test will tell you three things: the soil pH (acidity or alkalinity), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Nitrogen (N) is not so easy to determine, so test results probably won’t show it. Advanced soil tests can reveal organic content and some minor element content. Keep in mind that a single soil test only provides a “snapshot” in time. Some of the element levels can change over the seasons.

Obtain a soil sample bag or bags from your local Cooperative Extension Service office. Fill in the blanks with your name, address and contact information. Check off the tests you want performed. Collect soil samples from various comparable places around your garden or landscape to provide a soil “profile.” Before taking samples, remove leaves and other debris from the immediate site. Scrape down to the actual soil. Mix the samples thoroughly in a clean plastic bucket. Transfer the mix to the soil sample bag, and return it to the office. A report should be mailed to you.

Using the USDA Web Soil Survey tool is another matter. You might find it here:

https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

I can’t walk you through the steps. It wasn’t intuitive for me. You’ll just have to play around with the website until you figure it out for yourself. Nearly every square foot of the United States is included in the survey. No doubt you’ll find your square feet.

Here’s an example. Zeroing in to a delineated area on my property shows that it consists of two soil types: Pelham loamy sand (5.4% of the area) and Tifton loamy sand (94.6% of the area). What does that mean? According to the USDA, “The Pelham series consists of very deep, poorly drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in unconsolidated Coastal Plain sediments. These soils are on nearly level broad flats, toe slopes, depressions and drainageways.” “The Tifton series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy marine sediments. Tifton soils are on interfluves. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent.” Understanding these characteristics helps me figure out what to plant and where, especially if drainage is important.

With such facts in mind, the gardener can choose suitable crops and where to plant them. Obviously, this isn’t so vital if one is planting in containers or raised beds. However, when the homeowner is planning landscape plantings of trees, shrubs, perennials and vines, they are essential considerations.

You might have some particular plants in mind. If so, read the plant descriptions and learn about their soil requirements. Choose those that seem most compatible with your conditions.

If soil test reports indicate that amendments are necessary, make them weeks or months ahead of planting time to allow them to be incorporated into the soil and take effect.

It’s far easier to select plants appropriate to your situation than it is to dramatically change or amend your native soil to accommodate unsuitable plants of your choosing. Be realistic. Make it easy on yourself. Work with nature, not against it.

Return to GoGardenNow.com.

What's Your Soil Type

Soil is more than just something to hold your plants upright and in place.

Sometimes we think of it that way, though. Fact is, it’s that and more. It provides the elements that plants need to grow.

Unless you’re growing hydroponically (artificially in soil-less, nutrient-rich solutions), you need to know what type of soil you have, if you’re going to garden successfully. It’s true even if you’re growing in containers.

As noted in a previous article, soil consists of solids, liquids and gases. Let’s consider the solids. They include:

• Minerals – Inorganic solids with definite chemical compositions in crystal forms formed by geologic processes. Examples include magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, and zinc.
• Organic matter – These are left-overs of dead plants and animals. Examples include shells, bones, hair, feathers, leaves, grass, wood, and such cell structures in various stages of decomposition.
• All of those help to nourish and support your plants.

These are the basic soil types.

I did a web search for soil types to see what answers would turn up. Some returned as few as four types. One search returned twelve! While it might not be as precise, I prefer the fewer.

With the exception of one type, the difference between the other three amounts to the size of the soil particles. Those would be:

• Sand – This includes the largest of the particles. Each one is usually visible to the naked eye. Liquids and gases can easily flow between them, maybe too fast. Dry particles typically do not cohere.
• Silt – Silt particles are somewhere between the size of sand and clay. They are produced by the action of water, becoming sediment. When wet, silt coheres, but remains somewhat crumbly.
• Clay – Clay includes the finest of all soil particles. Many are flat in shape. When wet, clay is plastic. When dry it becomes brick-hard.
• Loam – It’s a combination of the other three soil types. Here the combinations are many. They are named according to the particle sizes, their predominance, and, often, the location where they are found.

A good example is Tifton soil – a soil of Georgia. A Wikipedia article describes it like this:

A typical Tifton soil profile consists of an 11 inches (280 mm) topsoil of dark grayish brown loamy sand. The subsoil extends to about 65 inches, strong brown fine sandy loam to 22 inches; yellowish brown sandy clay loam to 40 inches; yellowish brown mottled, sandy clay loam to 60 inches, and strong brown, mottled sandy clay to 65 inches. Two distinctive features of the Tifton soil profile are the presence of more than 5 percent ironstone nodules in the upper part of the soil and more than 5 percent plinthite in the lower part of the soil.

Tifton soils are on nearly level to gently sloping uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. They formed in loamy sediments of marine origin. Tifton soils are among the most agriculturally important soils in the state.

Learn more by observation or the official soil maps.

It’s important to know your soil type because it informs you about the possible success or failure of your plant choices and landscaping plans. You can learn your soil type by simple observation, but if you want to be more sophisticated about it, go to the interactive USDA Web Soil Survey web site. According to the site, “NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future.” Thanks to your tax dollars at work, you can probably drill down to your own location, and get the official nitty-gritty about the dirt under your feet.

What about organic matter?

Well, that’s called humus. Humus is the organic component of soil. (It is not to be confused with hummus, which is organic matter of an edible sort.) Humus is made up of decomposed plants and animals. It helps with water retention in the soil, and also provides many nutrients to your plants in readily available form.

What you should do about your soil.

If you have sandy loam, loamy clay, or any of the other combinations, there’s not a lot you can do about it. If you have perfect garden soil, consider yourself lucky. But, what if  your soil is much less than ideal? Short of a major excavation project, you’ll always have it under your feet. Even then, you can only excavate so deep. I think you ought to just learn to live with it, but living with it still means you can improve it to some degree with the addition of soil amendments.

The helpful folks at your local Cooperative Extension Office can advise you about that. They should know what measures have been successful, and what have not.

For example, Iowa State Hort News states, “Advertisements for gypsum sometimes claim that gypsum will help loosen heavy, clay soils and improve soil drainage. However, the addition of gypsum to Iowa soils is of little benefit.”

Experts at Washington State University concur. “With the exception of arid and coastal regions (where soil salts are high) and the southeastern United States (where heavy clay soils are common), gypsum amendment is just not necessary in non-agricultural areas.”

Cooperative Extension agents in other states might advise differently.

Adding organic matter (humus) to your soil is always a good idea, and composting is one of the best ways to achieve it. My article, The Not-So-Magical Experience of Composting, gives a basic idea of the process.

Soil improvement is an ongoing project.

Keep in mind that soil improvement – especially adding organic humus – is an ongoing process. About 30 years ago, when I was intent on improving the organic matter of my Tifton loamy-sand, a farmer friend told me I could add it ‘til the cows came home, but it wouldn’t do any good. The reason being that the heat and humidity here breaks down organic matter so quickly it won’t build up on the soil. He was right. After three decades of growing and mowing clover and rye grass, there’s less than 1 inch of organic matter on top of my acres of loamy sand. I’m not saying it hasn’t done some good. I’m simply saying you have to keep on keeping on.

Building a thick layer of humus in a few flower beds or vegetable garden should be easier because you have less area to work. This would be especially true in raised bed gardening. Even so, dig down a foot or so; you’ll probably find your native soil just as it was before.

My last word on the subject…maybe.

Choose your plants to match your soil type, not the other way around. You have arid, sandy soil? Plant something that thrives in it – cactus, perhaps. (By the way, check the GoGardenNow – The Gardening Blog articles on xeriscaping.) You have heavy, clay soil? Select plants that love it. Same goes for any other soil type.

The bottom line is that knowing and understanding your soil type will help you make better decisions about how to manage it, and to select plants that will improve your chances of gardening success.

4 Thinks You Should Know About Soil pH

Plant descriptions often include brief statements about the acceptable range of soil pH for those particular plants to thrive. So, there are four things you must know about soil pH. They are:

1. A low pH indicates an acidic environment,
2. A high pH indicates an alkaline environment,
3. pH of 7 is neutral, or right in the middle, and
4. You can take a sample to the nearest Cooperative Extension Office for lab analysis to find out the pH of your soil.

That’s all you really need to know. As with most things in life, a little basic knowledge is enough for us to function. If you’re satisfied now, please go to GoGardenNow.com, and check out my plants. If you’re curious and want to learn a little more, read on.

The meaning of p and H

Believe it or not, no one really knows for sure what “p” is supposed to mean! It depends on whose speculation you adopt. According to Wikipedia on pH (which is the obvious authoritative source for everything),

“The concept of pH was first introduced by the Danish chemist Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen at the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1909 and revised to the modern pH in 1924 to accommodate definitions and measurements in terms of electrochemical cells. In the first papers, the notation had the "H" as a subscript to the lowercase "p", as so: pH.

The exact meaning of the "p" in "pH" is disputed, but according to the Carlsberg Foundation, pH stands for "power of hydrogen". It has also been suggested that the "p" stands for the German Potenz (meaning "power"), others refer to French puissance (also meaning "power", based on the fact that the Carlsberg Laboratory was French-speaking). Another suggestion is that the "p" stands for the Latin terms pondus hydrogenii (quantity of hydrogen), potentia hydrogenii (capacity of hydrogen), or potential hydrogen. It is also suggested that Sørensen used the letters "p" and "q" (commonly paired letters in mathematics) simply to label the test solution (p) and the reference solution (q). Currently in chemistry, the p stands for "decimal cologarithm of", and is also used in the term pKa, used for acid dissociation constants.”

(If your eyes are now rolling back in your head, go to GoGardenNow.com and check out the plants. If not, read on.)

As noted before, H means “Hydrogen”. That’s easy enough to understand. So, “pH” refers to the concentration of hydrogen ions on soil particles. More particularly, it refers to the quantitative relationship between hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions. (I’m not going to explain the difference.) The accepted scale of measurement ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Solutions with more hydrogen are lower on the scale, so are acidic. Hydroxide solutions are higher on the scale, so are caustic or alkaline.

Why soil pH matters to plants

Soil pH matters to plants because it affects the availability of soil nutrients to their roots. Their roots can only absorb nutrients in certain ionic forms, and this can only occur within certain pH ranges. If the pH range is wrong, the nutrients are not made available to the plants. Most of the plants that we grow in our gardens require a soil that is more or less acidic. So, plant descriptions tell us what pH range is acceptable to that particular plant. Thankfully, the acceptable pH range is usually fairly wide. You will find, however, that if the pH range creeps up or down, the plant will begin to suffer and show signs of stress.

How pH changes

pH changes due to environmental factors. It can happen by itself, or you can make it happen. A soil scientist advised me a long time ago to test my soil the same time every year because seasonal changes can affect pH. Though the changes might be minor, differences will show on the soil test results and influence the recommendations.

If you need to make it happen, you won’t know unless you take a soil sample to your friendly local Cooperative Extension Service for analysis and recommendations. If you’ve never had your soil tested, start by doing it annually. Learn what changes result over time. If you see the pH stabilizing at a proper level year after year, take samples less frequently. If you observe signs of stress – chlorosis, for example – have your soil tested at once.

When you collect your soil sample, follow the instructions provided. One such instruction will direct you take soil from more than one place in your garden, and mix it up so you have a general soil profile. When you receive the results, follow the instructions. (I don’t know why I feel like I have to keep saying so.)

Now, if you’ve read this far, you should check out the plants at GoGardenNow.com. Be sure to observe the soil pH recommendations.