12 Natural Ways to Improve Soil Quality

Some gardeners are lucky enough to have healthy soil that works for them, but others need help dealing with some issues. From too much clay to too many stones, we rarely have the best soil quality for our plants.

So, how does one improve garden soil quality?

Most people start by digging up some dirt, adding compost, and planting. But there is more to it.

Here’s how to improve soil quality naturally:

1. Feed Your Soil an Organic Diet

Going organic is the best way to improve the soil for vegetables and other plants.

The soil has a few basic requirements: water, nutrients, air, and organic matter [1]. Living organisms are crucial to improving soil health and quality.

Put nutrients back into the soil by adding compost, kitchen scraps, banana peels, manure, and other organic matter.

To improve clay soil quality, you can use sawdust, peat moss, and composted leaves as additional organic amendments. As for heavy, compacted clay, pine bark and gypsum can help improve its structure.

Add the materials to the top few inches of the soil, then cover them with mulch. This is also a simple way to naturally make your soil more fertile.

2. Use a Test Kit

When starting your garden, it’s best to buy and use a soil test kit early on.

This will tell you about vital nutrients that might be missing from the soil. A soil test kit can also tell you whether your soil is acidic or alkaline.

3. Pay Attention to Nitrogen

Nitrogen is one of the essential plant nutrients, as it feeds the microorganisms living in the soil of vegetable gardens and flower beds.

Make sure you’re adding various nitrogen fertilizers each year. Fish emulsion, feather meal, and green grass clippings are natural sources.

It’s vital to ensure your soil receives adequate nitrogen in the spring or fall before any new planting.

4. Recycle Plant Scraps

Another way to replenish soil nutrients is to recycle plant scraps in your garden.

In autumn, go outside and collect all the fallen leaves, garden, and hedge trimmings. These materials make excellent mulch.

5. Use Ashes From the Fire Pit

Do you have a wood stove or fire pit? If so, make sure you collect the ashes.

Using ashes from the fire is a great way to improve soil fertility. Additionally, wood ash can help neutralize overly acidic soil.

If you burn a variety of woods, you can get a range of beneficial elements from the ashes, from potassium to phosphorus to magnesium.

6. Let Wet Soils Drain Slightly Before Planting

Before you try to plant anything, ensure your soil drains properly. It should be damp but not too wet.

How do you know if the soil is dry enough to plant?

Grab a handful of garden soil and squeeze. If water drips out or forms into a ball easily, it’s too wet.

To dry out the soil so it’s ready for planting, provide it with more ventilation, drainage, or sunlight.

7. Stay on Top of Weeds

Staying on top of weeds can also turn poor soil into healthy soil.

Weeds can use up soil nutrients that your plants need to thrive. Therefore, before and after planting, get rid of weeds that will otherwise compete with your crops.

8. Avoid Digging Unless Necessary

If you don’t need to dig, avoid it. Why?

Simply put, digging disrupts soil life and can damage soil structure. Additionally, it may disturb any dormant weed seeds lying beneath.

9. Cover Your Soil at All Times

Weeds will cover the soil if you do not cover it yourself.

Therefore, take precautionary measures and keep the soil covered at all times. Mulch and cover crops are good options to cover your soil.

Organic mulches will enrich poor soil as they decompose. Use grass clippings, hay, wood shavings, and other plant scraps.

Mulches can also help protect the soil in winter.

10. Keep an Eye on Moisture Levels

Another strategy to improve soil conditions when farming is to avoid letting the soil dry out.

As you know, plants need water to survive. This is especially true if you’re growing vegetables or fruit crops.

So, if you get little rain, monitor moisture levels.

Additionally, as mentioned above, ensure you feed your soil an organic diet. Why? The more organic matter, the greater the soil’s water-holding capacity [2].

11. Avoid Walking Too Much in the Planting Area

If you have a large, expansive garden or lawn and want to revitalize the soil structure, ensure you have adequate walkways that do not disrupt it.

Create paths as needed to avoid walking in your plant beds.

Walking on the wet soil can compact it. When this happens, plant roots won’t grow properly [3].

12. Keep Examining the Structure

Before choosing a place to plant, examine the planting spot.

Take your time to figure out the soil structure, pH level, and drainage qualities of the planting spot you’ll use for your garden.

Be aware that various elements can alter the soil texture in different ways. Therefore, watch the wind, rain, sun, and other factors that may damage it.

Focus on adding more organic material to the soil to help retain nutrients and improve drainage.

Takeaway

Follow the tips above on improving soil quality naturally. Or, as some people would say, tips on how to turn “bad soil” into “good soil.”

All the suggestions can help improve the soil for crops or for your lawn. It’s a careful process that takes time. But if you follow these tips, you’ll likely enjoy healthy, vibrant plants or grass.