Building Soil-The Lifeblood of Your Garden

[Cheguebuddha]

Sand soil will need more organic manure (cow or horese) to build more humus to improve the aggregate structure. Sand soils do not hold nutrients very well, they get washed down into the underground waters leading only to algae blooms in near by lakes and ponds.

[Cheguebuddha]

too many leaves will bring the soil pH down. Add some kalk to it. Figure out what kind of soil you have; is clay based or sand based? If sand based you will have to water it more often because clay based soil can keep water much longer and can draw up underground water because of its good aggregate structure.

[Kntryhart]

Nice video. Excess tree leaves can "lock up" nutrients until broken down. Be careful with sheep manure as certain diseases can be transmitted to humans. I would pass on sheep dung. Regards...

[learningartagain]

Good information. It covered a variety of scenarios. Thank you. There is hope yet for the hard clay soil in my back yard.

[liv4daoutdoors]

are pine needles bad to till in the soil?

[livinggardenseries]

@liv4daoutdoors That depends on your soil. Pine needles are very alkaline on the ph scale. So, if your soil is highly alkaline then it moves your further alkaline. Many locations in the East tend to be acidic. Generally, if you have a lot of forest around you with a LOT of decaying leaves, etc. your soil may tend to be acidic and pine needles would be helpful (although the also take a little longer to break down).The best way to know is to go to have your soil tested.