Building Healthy Soil
Feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants
1 min read
Healthy soil is less a substance than a living system: mineral grains, air, water, roots, fungi, and billions of microbes. Your job is not to feed plants directly but to keep that system fed and undisturbed.
The three habits that matter
Add organic matter every year, disturb the soil as little as possible, and keep it covered. Compost, well-rotted manure, and leaf mould all work. A thin layer spread on the surface each autumn is enough; worms will take it down for you.
What to avoid
- Digging or rotavating when you do not need to β it burns through organic matter.
- Leaving soil bare over winter; sow a green manure or mulch instead.
- Walking on wet beds, which squeezes out the air roots need.
- Reaching for quick fertiliser before you have addressed structure.
A gardener who spends five years improving their soil spends the next twenty enjoying it.
The guides in the table of contents below cover watering and mulching, the two habits that protect the structure you are building. For the bigger picture, see soil health.
