Saturday morning and it’s off to the garden center for topsoil to get the planting started. Go ahead, pick out a likely bag from the selection. After all, you’re a gardener and you know your dirt.
In grabbing a handful of topsoil, what sort of rating process do you apply? For example, does it look dark and rich? The darker the better? No weed seeds is good? Simply toss it in on top of your existing soil and let the goodness of nature create miracles? And forget about the need for fertilizer since rich topsoil doesn’t need any?
If the above pretty much sums up what you think you know about good topsoil, you failed your knowledge of dirt. Everything in the paragraph above is wrong!
So says an article I came across from Michigan State University Extension.
So what is topsoil? It means what it says: the dirt on top of dirt. The top layer, whatever it might be. Could be sand. Very black topsoil may not be great. It has to have some grit because that’s the mineral portion, critical for plant growth. Things like phosphorous, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. The black stuff is organic, basically decomposing nitrogen. Good topsoil has to have both.
Look for weed seeds. No seeds, sterile soil. Good luck with that.
You can’t just spread good topsoil over poor soil and expect your beanstalk to reach the giant. You have to mix the good in with the bad. This will aid drainage and let moisture work its way to the surface.
Last but not least, you probably will need fertilizer because if the bag doesn’t state the soil contains fertilizer, it doesn’t. That’s why it’s cheaper because it’s nothing more than just dirt.
Now, go get your hands dirty.
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