High Country Garden's Recipe for Healthy Soil

Learn how to create a healthy, living soil has everything plants need to thrive.

Yum Yum Mix® - 12 lb. bag
Item # H0018 		Yum Yum Mix® 2-1-1 Organic Fertilizer: Earth Food

each $16.95
Planters II - 10 lb. bag
Item # H0022 		Planters II: Natural Trace Mineral Fertilizer

each $12.95

Item # 99490 		Earth Magic™ and Protein Crumblies™

Each $64.90
TTP Supreme Compost
Item # H0005 		TTP Supreme Compost by Soil Secrets®

each $24.95
Soil Preparation Combination Pack
Item # C0034 		Soil Preparation Kit

each $59.85
  • Topics: Gardening for Beginners, Soil
  • Author: David Salman
  • Keywords: soil, organic gardening, prepartion, how to garden, gardening naturally, green gardening, xeriscaping
  • Date: January 2008

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Plant health depends on the quality of soil they’re growing in. A healthy, living soil has everything plants need to thrive. It is alive with beneficial micro-organisms including fungi and mycorrhiza. These create a well aerated soil that stores water and breaks down organic materials releasing essential nutrients to plant roots. To keep soils healthy and alive, a soil maintenance and fertilization program using organic and natural ingredients will insure long term success above and below ground.

Unfortunately, many new homes, especially in subdivisions, are built on infertile sub-soils (top soil has been removed and sold) and/or on extremely compacted soils (as a result of grading and leveling to build roads and foundations). Corrective action is imperative for new plantings to have any chance at all of transplanting and growing successfully.

Soil Preparation


When you’re planting new flower beds or individual trees and shrubs, loosen compacted soils by roto-tilling to a depth of 12” or digging wide holes and incorporating essential nutrients and compost to bring life back to the soil.

We recommend our Soil Combination Pack or you can buy the components individually. Use all three products at planting time.

Use Planters II, a natural trace mineral fertilizer, to infuse over 30 minerals that promote healthy plant growth and the growth of beneficial microbes in soil. Dig into the soil at planting time and top-dress around established plants every year or two in the fall.

Add TTP Supreme Compost, a mix extremely high in nutrients and available iron, making it ideal for iron deficient plants in alkaline soils. And it’s loaded with living bacteria that continue to produce nitrogen in the soil.

Also add Yum Yum Mix, our top pick in organic fertilizers. A blend of plant-based nutrients, use it by the handful when planting, top-dress established plants or dig it in.

Unless you’re planting into dark, humus-rich prairie or forest soils, inoculate plants with Earth Magic and Protein Crumblies (essential mycorrhiza or ‘root friends’) to optimize root health and greatly improve the uptake of water and nutrients.

Following this, maintain a regular program of mulching and fertilizing with natural and organic products. In a few short years you’ll see a dramatic improvement in all aspects of your soil.