Your soil is the foundation of your garden. It is the medium to which your grass, shrubs, trees, or vegetables anchor and what provides your plants with the nutrients and support to survive and thrive for many years. Getting your soil right is, therefore, a crucial step in your gardening program.

Generally, soils should be well-drained with a good blend of silt, clay, sand, and organic matter. Organic matter is a crucial component of healthy and robust soil. A soil with adequate organic matter will appear dark in color and have an earthy, moist smell. A soil that needs attention will generally be light in color and not very friable when you dig into it. It may be either blocky and hard to break apart (high clay content) or very loose with no structure, running through your fingers (very sandy). While both characteristics have their benefits, as an all-around soil, they have limitations.

Unfortunately, we don’t all live on river flats where some of the best gardening soils can be found. Nepean Landscape Supplies, however, has a great range of simple-to-use soil conditioners that can make any soil grow healthy plants and vegetables. As not all plants need the same soil conditions, you may need to treat different areas of your yard with different products to provide the optimal growing medium for your plants.