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.
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.
To help you plant a healthy and colorful garden, watch our planting guide videos from our HCG president and chief horticulturist, David Salman.
A national speaker on the topic of Waterwise Gardening and Xeriscaping, David Salman has spent over 20 years in pursuit of better plants for western landscapes. David is the author of numerous magazine articles and writes the High Country Gardens catalog. He devotes considerable effort to breeding new perennials while searching for and evaluating the garden performance of new and unfamiliar native and adapted plants for the waterwise Western garden.
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