Enrich last year's depleted soil with necessary amendments.
By the end of the gardening season, your soil likely uses up all its nutrients to grow your plants. When the next season rolls around, it may not have enough nutrients left to produce healthy, productive plants. By enriching the soil every year, you you can help it to stay healthy. Acidic soils may experience deficiencies in calcium and magnesium and produce aluminum or manganese toxicity to plants, while alkaline soils experience deficiencies in iron, zinc and manganese. Adding lime or sulfur to the soil brings its pH into balance. Organic amendments add nutrients and improve drainage for any soil type. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Till the garden with a rake or rotary tiller to a depth of 8 inches. Tilling the soil loosens it and makes it easier to incorporate amendments.
2. Perform a soil test to determine what it needs for enrichment. Take four samples--only about a 1/4 cup--of soil from four different areas of the garden. Mix them thoroughly. Purchase a soil test kit from a home improvement store or contact your local extension office, as they often perform soil testing for free.
3. Add lime to the soil if pH is too low or sulfur if pH is too high. Follow the recommendations provided with the product to determine how much lime or sulfur to use. Till the lime or sulfur into the soil. Till to a depth of 8 inches to thoroughly incorporate it into the soil.
4. Add a 2-inch layer of compost, manure or an equal combination of compost or manure and peat moss on top of the soil. Till these amendments into the soil, working down to a depth of 8 inches to mix them in completely.
5. Water the soil until it appears moist to mix and activate the amendments.
Tags: depth inches, into soil, lime sulfur, compost manure, experience deficiencies