Different Ways to Improve Topsoil

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 8:43 am

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There are various methods to keep a healthy topsoil in your garden, however, which way you choose will depend entirely on the quality of the topsoil in the first place.

One of the most useful things for the gardener to learn is to understand the workings of what is known as topsoil balance. The chemistry and physics of topsoil can be learnt from topsoil balance. The balance between nutrients, biology and topsoil structure is one of the benefits about understanding the physics and chemistry of topsoil.

Using a system called Mikhail topsoil balance can be maintained easily. Using this system of topsoil management gives the soil friability and helps living organisms and to survive giving better soil composition and structure. Topsoil is a little like the body of humans which needs a skeleton on which its other body components can be attached. Topsoil needs essential chemical elements such as Hydrogen, Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium and Calcium.

The Mikhail system then helps to ensure that the nutrients and biology of the topsoil is in order. Balancing the structure is then important. Essential elements for plant nutrition are Phosphorous, Potassium, Nitrogen and Sulphur. Once the topsoil’s structure has significantly improved and balance corrected, then fertiliser can be added to maintain the correct levels of these elements. The most common fertilizer is known as NPK, and most general fertilizers actually consist of these chemical elements. Trace elements are also important to topsoil.

One way to find out where topsoil is failing in terms of make-up is by testing it. This can be done using testing kits for soil, which will provide the necessary information for the gardener. Once tested, the soil can then be improved by making the necessary changes to by adding fertilizer, lime and any other improvers that are required.