by Tony Catalano

Created on: October 02, 2009

The foundation of your entire garden is the soil. The first serious step to caring for it is knowing what kind of soil you will be working with. You have to know the pH level and variety of soil present in your garden. How to find out these things is beyond the scope of this article, but finding another article on Helium or anywhere else to tell you how should not be all too difficult.

-One way to make sure that the quality of your soil is as good as it can be is to try to control the soil erosion in your garden. It'll strip your topsoil which is full of nutrients and other good things like that. Ways to help lower it include surrounding your garden with vegetation, having overhanging plants or trees to prevent rain from loosening it up. If you live in a windy area or have a windy season, create a windbreak, which is simply a row of trees or bushes that will prevent the wind from picking your soil up. Consider investing in some industrial grade products for various aspects of your land from http://www.midwestind.com/soilerosioncontrol.htm if things start getting serious.

-If your soil is too acidic add lime, if it's too basic add used tea bags.

-You'll need to enrich your soil more. Add a layer of mulch on top of it to stabilize and conserve water.

-Fertilizing would be highly recommended. This is a big part of why you'll need to know the ph and such of your soil. On top of that you are going to have to keep in mind what kind of grass is growing on top of it. A fertilizer spreader would be recommended to do this to get the job done

-A great way to enrich the soil is via compost like plants, vegetation, dead leaves and again limes. Well, you know, your compost. Some manure as well will be a great help to make it a lot richer.

-When working with clay soils a great way to refresh them and give them some new life to them is start digging um up and breaking them apart.

These are only a few of many things you can do to help enhance your soil's longevity and effectiveness. With a little more research you can really bring your garden and growth to a whole new level.

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