In this video, I discuss the importance of soil cover and why protecting garden soil is so important for the health of your garden. A tragic mistake many gardeners make is leaving garden soil exposed for long periods of time. This damages the soil microbiome, which has far reaching implications. Here are 4 easy soil covers that protect garden soil when not in use.
While it is important to protect garden soil year round, this problem is most common in winter. That is because many gardeners do not grow a garden in winter and leave garden soil unprotected, exposing it to the harmful elements. Now that fall is here, I wanted to make this video as a warning to all gardeners, and I show you how to protect garden soil in 4 easy ways.
How To Refresh Garden Soil: https://youtu.be/tscRxO99kiA?si=bmFcvuaqyvHjytbj
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Garden Soil Protection Intro
0:58 Why Is Soil Health So Important?
2:48 Unprotected Soil Is Killing Your Garden
6:13 Soil Protection Tip #1
7:26 Soil Protection Tip #2
10:56 Soil Protection Tip #3
12:11 Soil Protection Tip #4
12:57 Compost Is NOT A Soil Cover!
14:13 Is Snow A Soil Cover?
16:26 Adventures With Dale
If you have any questions about how to cover soil in a garden, want to know about the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and “how to” garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!
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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1Β°N Latitude
Zone 8B
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Β© The Millennial Gardener
#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #soilhealth #gardensoil
37 Comments
If this video was helpful, please "Like" it and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watchingπTIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 Garden Soil Protection Intro
0:58 Why Is Soil Health So Important?
2:48 Unprotected Soil Is Killing Your Garden
6:13 Soil Protection Tip #1
7:26 Soil Protection Tip #2
10:56 Soil Protection Tip #3
12:11 Soil Protection Tip #4
12:57 Compost Is NOT A Soil Cover!
14:13 Is Snow A Soil Cover?
16:26 Adventures With Dale
We get so much wind and rain here in nz. I have tried straw, grass cuttings and even put compost on top. The wind blows it all away. Ive got birdnetting around the whole garden to keep the birds out, they destroy everything.
Take a look at charles dowding, he has a big property and does only no dig gardens
LIKE π ππππ π» π π» π π» π―π₯ π―π₯ π―
I am using silage tarp for the first time it has been on there about a month. The rain runoff has flooded my High Tunnel a lot worse ( it floods normally.) how long do I leave the tarp on and on very hot days does it kill i.e. burn up the needed fungus and bacteria? Iβm in Florence SC
Good Morning MG! How do you winterize your grow bags? We just built a small greenhouse (will hold 18 ten gallon bags) so the bags will be under shade cloth cover through the winter. What do we need to do to winterize them?
I actually grew buckwheat cover crop as a test in my raised bed and it was very easy to simply pull out before it goes to seed and leave as a mulch.
My garden soil stays covered under about an inch of chopped leaves and green grass clippings at all times. From time to time I sprinkle some sandy/silty soil from a wash over this and I use it to make mounds mixed with leaves and grass clippings to grow tubers, squash & melons. I`ve already planted fall/winter tubers & greens and yesterday I sprinkled more chopped leaves and green grass clippings lightly all over the garden.
The plants are about an inch tall and to plant I just threw various seeds of radish, carrots, mustard, turnips, rutabagas & lettuce everywhere and spray with the hose every morning. I have a more carefully planted garden made from forest soil in cardboard boxes in a different area with more winter sun that was a gravel parking area I`m slowly reclaiming.
I add thick layers of grass clippings, cardboard boxes, pine straw and mowed leaves plus rotting forest branches and a little sandy soil under the canopy of my fig trees too. I`m always building soil to prevent root knot nematodes.
I love all the options! I do use tarps, crushed brown dry leaves and some mulch. what do you think about cardboard boxes?
Only God knows how much grateful i am. After so much struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!
My Catahoula Cur dog Zack grew up in the house and had his own couch and he knew the entire English language and understood jokes. He could smile and laugh. He got a pork chop bone out of the trash one day. When I started talking about about him digging bones out of the trash he had the guilty look but then when I said he was gonna turn into a big fat pig he started smiling, laughing and snorting.
He eventually stole the entire Thanksgiving turkey a few years later right after everyone made a plate and escaped out the back screen door. The bones killed him. He probably ate the entire thing. He had been injured internally and got a broke back chasing cars at 6 months old and I cared for him until he learned to hop on his back legs.
He looked at me one day with a "Don`t let them put me down!" look so I refused that option and the vet gave him some injections and pills to get him back on his feet. He had a great life for 5 more years. He loved boating, hiking in the woods, chasing wild hogs, fighting other dogs, riding in the truck and loud Rock n Roll.
Did Helene cause and damage for you?
Would landscape paper be a good choice to cover garden beds for the winter? I am in Sacramento area 9B
I thought of you as Helene passed by you! I hope you and your family are safe and ok.π’ You did post yesterday so Iβm assuming youβre well!π
Thanks for the information. What are your thoughts on overwintering Garlic? I usually plant at the end of October in a bare bed and harvest in July here in the pacific northwest. Perhaps shredded leaves or straw would help the soil from getting too leached from our long rainy season?
Would covering up with leaves and cardboard on top with bricks to keep it from flying away work as well?
I have wood shavings from Tractor Supply. I had put some on my raised bed and noticed it isn't breaking down after 2 months. I looked up and couldn't find if TSC pine shavings are chemically treated. There isn't anything on the bag stating yes or no. Anyone have any advice?
I love using my dropped fig leaves for autumn mulch.
I was just thinking this the other day and I had already covered my soil, whether it was in pots with soil, no plant, or anything unused. Thank you for
confirming that I was doing the right thing. Good, I'm on the right track.
I have heard to plant cover crops in your raised beds, then cut them off at soil level and compost the tops, leaving the roots intact, and no dig/till. I plan on trying this fall!
How are yβall up there from Helene?
Hopefully all well.
Great video. Thanks for sharing
Amazing videos as per usual! Can you do a video on growing tropical plants like bananas in your zone and colder? @Themillennialgardener
Hoping you are all well after the storm.
Are you ok after the storm?
Heard how much rain North Carolina got just pray u are ok cause I watch u and love all of your videos
I cover with my last mowing of my grass, then cover with cardboard. Most of it is broken down by spring, and if not, I just put my spring compost over, and then plant, and cover with my first mowing. It works really well.
What do you do if you use Buckets? Do you bring them inside?
How did your garden do with Helene? I just saw the news and how bad North Carolina was hit. I'm in Georgia and it hit my city at category 1, lost 2 apple trees, my main fig tree and a few other plants, oh and chunks of the fence, but no damage to the house thank God. Lost electricity but it's back now, many people without water but we never lost ours. Also, thank you for inspiring me to grow fruits and veggies, we were able to eat those veggies and tuna fish sandwiches until yesterday when some grocery stores started opening. π
At the end of the season I top off beds with my compost then add about 2-4 inches of my shredded leaves. Then I cover with tarps but I poke some holes in the tarps to allow some drippage. I want the leaves to breakdown completely over the winter. If we get a winter thaw I uncover and water then cover again. Works very well for me.
Can you use grass clippings for cover
Please I know the growing season is about over but it would be super helpful for another Q&A as sometimes stretching it out or I guess overwintering certain plants would be nice . You my favorite Q&A gardener as well as video gardener.!!!!! Thank you very much you are truly appreciated!!!
Live in Valdosta
When is the best time to add the compost to your garden? The fall or the spring? If you add in the fall and then work it into the soil and then cover it with leaves is that okay?
Hey bruv, do you consider yourself a generalist? You seem to have a lot of knowledge in many different disciplines. Do you have many interests and a burning desire to integrate them all?
A soil covered with a layer of compost or other plant matter gets an intermittent treatment of nutrient tea as rain percolates through the ground cover into the ground.
We live in Southern Colorado – draught…HOT temps…300+ days of sun per year…difficult to maintain a garden. Cannot find a farm supply that sells wheat straw. What would be the best alternative? Thanks….