Let’s talk Soil Care

"Soil Care" will be the theme for our next Native Gardening Zoom Club, meeting tomorrow (Thursday, Jan 30) evening at 7pm Eastern. Join in to share your experiences and ask your questions. Newcomers are very welcome! Register your interest here and I'll send you the Zoom link: https://forms.gle/Vgtp4ENumAbx6G5q6

I've seen a wide range of approaches to managing soil for native plants. At one end, there's the idea that this is the soil the plants evolved with, so leave it alone. At the other end, there's a desire to transform whatever I've got to whatever works best for the particular plants I want to grow.

I'm somewhere in the middle:

• I doubt the leftovers from constructing my house really constitute "native soil" as the plants knew when they were evolving
• Jumpstarting a native ecosystem requires more hand-holding than just letting things be
• But…I'm not going to be in the business of continually modifying my soil to make it something it's not (i.e. my soil really doesn't want to be acidic or sandy!)

So I'm willing to do a limited amount of pro-active soil care.

I also don't want to be ignorant of important things I should be looking for and doing for my soil. What does soil health look like? What are good indicators of it? What are some warning signs I should keep an eye out for?

I'm hoping to learn from all of you tomorrow evening, so please do sign up and join us at 7pm Eastern: https://forms.gle/Vgtp4ENumAbx6G5q6