Here I’ll share the down and dirty basics to refresh garden soil for immediate planting. Rejuvenating garden soil is vital for lush, healthy plants. If you’re a casual weekend gardener growing food for your family or just enjoy a pretty patio these tips will help you get the most out of your garden quickly. From raised beds to container gardening, vegetables to ornamental flowers, healthy soil produces healthy plants. Let’s get started…

To refresh soil quickly:

• Fluff up your garden soil by adding compost
• Add some helpful worms
• Return nutrients back to your soil
• Mix things up a bit by rotating “crops”

First thing to keep in mind is just how many nutrients are being depleted from your soil on a regular basis. That big juicy tomato you had for lunch, that large bunch of greens you ate last night, the lovely bouquet of flowers you picked to brighten up your home… all of those nutrients are now gone from your garden soil. Whoa, right?

Properly preparing your garden soil takes weeks, if not months. This is truly a guide to get you started on your gardening journey as quickly as possible and with the best results! Doing just one of these will help, although the more you apply the better.

Compost. The answer is always compost.

No, you don’t need to start a compost heap just to refresh garden soil (although it’s a great idea!) Purchasing bags of compost from the local home improvement store can work just fine. Adding decomposed plant or animal matter you your garden improves soil structure, supplies nutrients like nitrogen and potassium, helps aeration, retains moisture, revitalizes microscopic bacteria and fungi, improved disease resistance and more. Yes please!

Compost or “black gold” as it’s lovingly referred to can be turned or tilled into the top few inches of garden soil before replanting, added to the hole when transplanting (moving a plant from one container/location to another is a transplant), and spread over an existing garden to add fresh nutrients.

What is the difference between compost and fertilizer ?

Awesome question. Basically compost feeds your soil and fertilizer feeds a specific plant. You can fertilize your soil all day long (Don’t because too much fertilizer can burn your precious plants which is why it’s important to follow the directions on the package) but if your soil isn’t right the plant may not be able to properly utilize what it’s given.

So… It’s always best to feed your soil and not your plants. What does soil like? You got it… Compost.

Worm poop

You can buy bags of nutrient dense worm poop (AKA worm castings or vermicast) at most plant nurseries and home improvement stores.

What are the benefits of worm castings?

Worm castings are rich with microbial organisms and enzymes which break down nutrients in your soil so they are easier for your plant to use. How cool is that?! Worm castings supply your soil with many of the same benefits as compost with the added benefit of of having the ability to hold nutrients in the soil so they don’t get washed away. Remember our goal is to refresh garden soil, not deplete it!

Worm castings in container gardening? Potted plants? House plants?

You bet. It’s an all natural “fertilizer” that won’t burn your plants if you use too much. Work it into the top few inches of existing soil or add it to your potting mix when filling containers.

You know what’s better than buying a bag of worm poop? Buying WORMS! Purchase these from the local plant nursery and sprinkle throughout your garden specifically raised bed and containers. These little guys will wiggle around in your soil adding space for air, water, and roots all while reducing heavy metals and toxins. Sweet.

Add soil amendments

Soil amendments are simply materials added to soil to improve it’s quality. I know it can sound intimidating but it’s really pretty straight forward if you know what you’re looking for.

Did you know that plant roots need to breathe? They need air and oxygen to keep from drowning in wet, compacted soil. Pearlite (the white specs in potting soil) and vermiculite are soil amendments that help prevent compaction. Peat moss helps to fluff up the soil as well but also aids in retaining moisture in clay or sandy soils.

Adding things like rock dust, gypsum, greensand and lime can restore depleted minerals.

I list a handful of the most helpful amendments and what they do in this article about sunshine & choosing the right location, containers vs raised beds, soil- what to do with it and how to get it, acquiring plants and how to go about watering.

Fertilizers

Plants require many nutrients primarily nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). You’ll find N-P-K always in that order on all fertilizers indicating the ratio of these nutrients.

Why would the ratio matter? These nutrients do specific things…

• Nitrogen (N) Is what gives you big lush green leaves and sturdy stems. To increase nitrogen add things like blood meal, properly aged manure (bagged manure is ready to use), and alfalfa meal.
• Phosphorus (P) Promotes big flower, fruits, seeds and roots. Things to increase phosphorus are bonemeal, and rock phosphate.
• Potassium (K) Aids in overall growth, healthy roots and does a lot to help stress and disease resistance. Also improves flavor. Greensand, gypsum, kelp, and wood ash can add potassium to your soil.

So let’s think about this… although plants need a variety of nutrients to thrive, big leafy greens like lettuces, cabbage, spinach, chard, herbs and ornamentals grown for lush green foliage would benefit from nitrogen. Your gorgeous flowers and fruiting plants need phosphorus. Root veggies like carrots, parsnips and radishes require more potassium and phosphorus. Potatoes are examples of heavy potassium feeders.

Fertilizers can come in liquid form or granular form, some of which are slow release. They can also be synthetic or organic. Organic fertilizers are derived from plants and animals and if labeled OMRI are suitable for organic gardening. Synthetic fertilizers are derived from man-made substances and are best known for their fast acting abilities.

Although everything has it’s use, I consider synthetic fertilizers like Miracle-Gro to be the “junk food” of fertilizers. To equate it to a bag of potato chips, yes it can curb your hunger immediately but you surely wouldn’t want it to comprise the majority of your diet. Make sense?

A week or two before I have guests over for drinks or BBQ on the back patio I like to feed my flowers with a bit of Fox Farm’s Tiger Bloom 2-8-4. That stuff works like a champ every time. Flower explosion.

Crop rotation

“But I’m not a farmer!” I know it sounds like it’s only for large scale crops but as I mentioned above, different plants have different nutritional requirements so at the very least don’t plant heavy feeders where you had them last season. Switch it up.

Rotating crops year to year also helps to limit concentration of diseases and pests that may be living in the soil that affect certain plants.

So there you have it folks. Without investing months, you can set yourself up for an amazingly rewarding growing season by applying these quick basics to refresh garden soil:

• Fluff up your garden soil by adding compost
• Add some helpful worms
• Return nutrients back to your soil
• Mix things up a bit by rotating “crops”

Did you do it? Proud of your garden space? Have questions? I want to see what you’ve done! Tag @lubba.food.garden on Instagram. Use the hashtag #ilubbaplants If you love plants as much as I do!