Soil Amendments and Additives to Improve Your Garden Soil
Soil fertility is one of the most important things need for your plants to grow healthy. But sometimes, you need to add something to your garden soil in order to increase its nutritional value. These things that you will add to the soil are called soil amendments. Soil amendments are soil additives to make it more fertile so that it can provide what the plants will need to grow healthy. There are two ways to add soil amendments. The first way is to just place it on top of the soil. An example of this is mulching which is done mainly to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture from the soil and for artistic appeal. The second way to add soil amendment is by mixing it with the soil. An example of this is adding fertilizer. You must mix the amendment with the soil throughly and properly. You must be careful to add amendments in the right amount,
otherwise, it can lead to an adverse effect.There are two types of soil amendments. These are the organic amendments and the inorganic amendments. Organic amendments are made from natural ingredients. Some common organic soil amendments are sphagnum peat, wood chips, straw, saw dust, compost and manure. Inorganic soil amendments, on the other hand, are man-made amendments. These include chemicals that are used to make the soil more fertile. Inorganic soil amendments are used for good output but they deplete the soil’s natural nutrients if they are used for a long period of time.
Choosing the right soil amendment will depend on several factors. These factors are:
a. type of plant you want to grow
b. salinity of the soil
c. texture of the soil
d. how long the amendment will stay in the soil
e. type of soil
f. required soil improvement needed
It is recommended that you use different types of soil amendments in order to gain the optimum benefit that these amendments can give. Soil amendments compliment each other in their use and benefit, so you have to choose carefully and wisely. An example of this is when you use wood chips for mulching during summer to prevent evaporation of moisture and in winter to retain warmth. The wood chips will tie up the nitrogen in the soil, so you will be needing nitrogen fertilizers to avoid nitrogen deficiency in plants. If you choose the appropriate soil amendments, you can benefit from any type of soil.
