How To Tell If Your Soil Is Healthy Enough To Plant In

If you have dreams of an endless array of blossoming, fluorescent flowers lining your gardens, or perhaps some lush, fruitful trees of cherries and peaches, you’ll need to give them healthy, fertile soil to make it happen! 

When we think of all the ingredients to a successful garden, we often think of things like sunlight and water, but healthy soil is an essential (and often overlooked) element to a thriving garden. 

So How Can You Tell If Your Soil Is Healthy?

You’ve probably heard us talk about soil biodiversity and the billions of micro-organisms producing and creating essential resources for our plants. Still, as micro suggests, they’re invisible to the naked eye. So there are a few ways we can determine if there is a thriving community of microbes in your soil working hard to support your garden. 

Colour

The first step to understanding the health of your soil is to look at the colour. Healthy soil will often present as dark brown. This dark brown colour indicates a high concentration of organic matter (soil microbes, plant/animal residues) which is very beneficial to a self-sustaining replenishment process within your soil. 

Life Underground

If you’re not opposed to coming across a spider or two, the following way to assess the health of your soil is to dig down into the ground and survey the creatures you find. Healthy soil will be home to many of our eight-legged friends and even some with no legs (WORMS!). 

So check for things like earthworms, spiders, beetles and any other life you can find under your soil. The more you see, the healthier your soil! 

Compacted Soil

Compaction is a sign of unhealthy soil. Compaction occurs when stress or pressure is applied to soil, causing it to become dense and close-packed. If your soil is compacted, you may find it lacks water and moisture or that your plants are stunted and shallow. Take a shovel and try to dig into your soil; if it is more difficult than you anticipate it should be, it could be slightly compacted! 

Workability

Workability refers to the soil condition during tillage (digging, stirring, overturning soil). Workability is an advantageous soil condition, and it means that when moving or rearranging, the ground is not hard or challenging to work with and will not lose its structure. If your soil is compacted or hard to work with, it has low workability. Low workability is a sign of unhealthy, nutrient-lacking soil. 

If you’ve gone through these steps and you’re still unsure if your soil will support your dream of a fruitful garden, or you’ve found that your soil is too unhealthy, don’t hesitate to contact us through our website https://soilife.com.au/. We would be happy to chat with you and advise you on the best SoiLife products to help you achieve your goals. Happy Gardening!

Use the coupon code SOILSTARTER25 to get 25% off your first purchase of 30AUD on https://soilife.com.au/shop-2/

* Remember, Life begins in Soil. Healthy Soil Healthy Plants Healthy Planet Healthy You. Happy planting! *