First Step: The Soil

Good landscaping starts with a good soil, a good layout and healthy plants. Preparation of the soil is the main component to healthy plants.

Soil structure depends upon the balance of air, water, heat and nutrients. There are many products on the market that will help to amend clay or overly sandy soil, but the gardener would be wise to research the activators and ingredients in these products. While some might give some favorable results, the product might also contain elements that could over time damage the soil. Some products can also be very pricy.

Most plants thrive in humus black soil. Our grandparents used to test the soil by tasting it for acid content, but that is not exactly a pleasant or safe method for most people in modern times. However, pick up a small wad of soil and make a ball of your fist. If the soil breaks up easily but has a slight bit of moisture when you open your hands, it is not clay and is a candidate for great plant growth. Clay clumps and is either gummy with too much moisture or in dry weather, hard clumps of dried soil. Add to that evaluation a visual of the color. Some plants thrive well in slightly brown sandy soil with a bit of moisture. Most plants like the moist dark color humus soil. There are soil - testing kits available that give more complete information about the test soil.

Science reports that there should be 500 billion microscopic bacteria to a pound to sustain good topsoil. Further in each acre of topsoil there should be 30 to 40 pounds of these microbes.

Attracting earthworms to the soil is a great step toward keeping airways and nutrients flowing through the soil. There are many suggested methods for these steps.

The best way to slowly build up nutrients in the soil is by building or buying a compost bin and layering it with twigs for air circulation, green cuttings, leaves and lime for nutrients. Using table scraps in the mix will draw rodents and other vermin to the area. Therefore a better mix would be six inches of green matter for nitrogen. Follow by adding a thin layer of any of the following: lime, wood ashes, cottonseed meal, redwood sawdust, bloodmeal, hoof or horn meal, fish meal, bone meal, castor pomice, buckwheat, sunflower seed, dry steer or cow manure or alfalfa hay. Other formulas that contain yarrow, dead nettle, chamomile or honey create heat and make the process speed up.

The time frame depends in most part upon the weather. To speed things up, add activators to help break down the matter sooner. These activators could be a commercial product that is natural and without harmful chemical ingredients.

Keep the piles aerated. Homemade compost bins need poles at intervals in the sides to shake the mixture and create tunnels of air.

Sprinkle lightly periodically, but make sure that the bin contents are protected from heavy wetting such as rain or snow. Too much water can cause the piles to sour instead of decay.

Of course, dried manure plowed into the soil in the fall remains an excellent healthy soil amendment, if the neighbors don