Late winter is a great time to amend the soil in your garden. There are several reasons you might need to do this, and we will lay out those main scenarios below.
New Builds:
There are so many new homes being built all around our area! It is amazing to see the growth that is taking place throughout Nashville. This is exciting (unless we are talking about the traffic!), but once the new homes are built, homeowners are often left with soils that are compacted, poor, and in need of amending. Soils that have been driven on by heavy equipment while the land was initially being cleared and leveled or while the house was being built often have less oxygen circulating in the soil, as well as less nutrients. Many times, the top layer of topsoil has been stripped off and the natural layers of soil disturbed.
Tilling deeply and incorporating organic matter (such as worm castings or mushroom compost) is often all you need to do to loosen up hard, compacted soils. We are happy to recommend specific amounts for your size of yard or gardening bed.
Clay in Your Soil:
If you are new to the area (as so many are these days!), welcome! You may be coming from a part of the country that has totally different soil, making you dig in the dirt and say to yourself, “This dirt is so hard-what is this?!” While many areas of Middle Tennessee have well-draining, fertile, and loamy soil, many areas also have clay soil. Clay is very common in our area, and it needs amending before any planting occurs.
Soil conditioner is an inexpensive yet effective way to amend clay soils. We offer it at the garden center or many big box stores sell it also. When you are digging your hole to plant your new plant, you break up the clay in the hole. Do not remove the clay, just break it into small pieces. You will then mix soil conditioner in with the clay and continue to plant as normal. Soil conditioner works by allowing the clay to drain water, as clay holds onto water and usually promotes root rot (which we definitely don't want!).
If you have clay in your soil, we are happy to help you determine how much soil conditioner you need for your plants. A little goes a long way.
Raised Beds, New Gardening Beds, or Planting Vegetables:
Especially if you are planning to plant vegetables this spring or are beginning an entirely new gardening bed, it would be wise to amend the soil with a mixture of topsoil and compost. Topsoil will not take the place of compost, as it is not nutrient-rich. It does provide a good base, however, to mix compost or worm castings with. Typically, compost is spread about one inch deep to maintain soils that already have a relatively good supply of nutrients and organic matter; and up to three inches deep in soils that are significantly depleted.