If you have a heavy clay type soil you want to make lighter….or a light sandy soil you want to make heavier to retain moisture and nutrients then here are some natural soil conditioners you can use.
- Grass cuttings from your lawn
Grass is a great conditioner. It adds humus to your soil. It adds compost to your soil. It massively increases your worm population. Also, you can mulch with grass and reduce weeding and retain your soil’s moisture levels. What’s more grass cuttings are FREE.
However, if you treat your lawn with herbicides it’s probably a good idea to NOT put it on your vegetables.
- Composted household waste
If you have a compost bin then adding your rotted down compost to your garden makes perfect sense. You’re adding valuable nutrients, minerals and organic matter to your soil. Plus there’s the influx of worms you’re giving your soil.
- Beach Seaweed
Seaweed contains over 60 nutrients and micro-nutrients. All critical for optimum plant growth. As the seaweed dries it breaks down and improves a soil’s structure.
- Garden topsoil
If you have heavy clay soil it would make sense to buy in topsoil…. As long as this soil is sandier soil. Mixing your existing heavy soil with a more sandy soil with help improve its structure.
- Horse manure or Farmyard manure
Have you got a horse stable nearby? If so see if you can get some stable manure from them. This will make a dramatic difference to your soil. Farmyard manure will contain straw and dung. And makes a great soil conditioner that improves soil structure.
- Lime
Adding lime to your garden soil can turn an acid soil (usually a heavier clay-type soil) into a more alkaline soil. As most plants need an alkaline soil to thrive, lime is a great addition to any soil.
- Growing mustard
Mustard can be grown like a green manure, it’s very handy to grow if you have nothing in your garden soil. You sow it and before it starts to flower you dig the mustard back into the soil, this builds up the soil’s organic matter, this will greatly benefit your next vegetable crop. The time to sow mustard is September.
