What to add to your soil?
Whatever it is you're trying to plant or grow adding organic mulches and minerals is one of the keys to successful gardening. If you've never added mulch to your soil then you must not know what it does for it. Mulching suppresses weeds, reduces erosion, and keeps the soil cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Another good thing about mulching is that the worms love it and will burrow deep under the soil. Worms are a good thing; they will aerate the soil and assist in water penetration. This in turn will promote strong root growth.

The best types of mulches to look for are nitrogen rich mulches, straw, sugar cane, and lawn clippings. These types of mulches will help encourage healthy growth and soil bacteria. The hard, wood, carbon rich mulches like bark or tree prunings will encourage beneficial fungi. The bacteria and fungi are essential in helping release the minerals to feed the plants. Many people believe that using plastic sheeting and synthetic weed mats will do the job, but they will not encourage strong roots or keep your soil healthy. Healthy organic rich soils will also help soak up rain like a sponge and slowly release it into the plants, so if you don't get a ton of rain it's a great idea to spread the organic mulch across your entire garden.

Using soil conditioners
It is important to understand the pH levels of your soil if you really want to encourage healthy soil. You need to know whether it is acidic or alkaline, so testing it will help you better track the progress of the soil conditioning work. Adding conditioners to your soil will help maintain good growing conditions; knowing whether it is acidic or alkaline will help you determine which conditioners are best for your soil. A pH reading between 6.5 and 7 gives you the widest range of minerals available and will suit the widest range of plants. There are several different kinds of soil conditioners available for different gardening purposes and for different types of soil conditions. It may take several years to get it right and you need to remember that conditioning your soil is temporary so it needs to be done on a routine basis.

There are of course exceptions to some of these great soil tips. Sometimes when you move into a new subdivision and want to plant a garden you can be faced with other challenges. New developments will most often lack the minerals necessary for growing exotic plants but might grow native plants. You will need to take this into consideration as you plan out your garden and decide how to best treat the dirt to encourage health soil.

It is definite that organic materials and mulch on your soil will definitely encourage healthy soil and will probably give you a better chance at growing whatever it is you want; plants or vegetables. Obtaining healthy soil is a gradual process however and may take longer than just one gardening season so be patient.