How Do I Soften My Soil?

We’ve all seen it. Hard, dense, compacted soil. Not only is this difficult if not nearly impossible to dig in, it can create a host of other problems for growing plants in your garden.  Ideally, water will absorb through your soil to a depth of about 6 inches. This doesn’t happen in hardened soils, water will take the path of least resistance and you’ll end up with run off, puddles, and a water depth of only a couple of inches. This makes for thirsty plants and muddy messes. ​

What we want is rich, dark, nutrient rich soil that has organic matter, aeration, and porosity. Soil like this allows for deep root growth and ideal environment for your plants. So how do you get from one to the other?  ​

The Solution: Organic Matter!

Organic matter consists of the decaying remains of plants and animals. Examples of these include: leaves, manure, bark, grass clipping, and compost. Some of these organic materials will work better and faster at softening your soil, the best is a good compost. Adding compost will soften your soil and improve soil structure, compost also adds nutrients to your soil that your plants need.  Compost does a good job of binding clay particles together (better than gypsum). This results in improved drainage and aeration as well as softer and lighter soil. It also increases the soil's fertility while creating a friendly environment for beneficial soil microbes and earthworms.
Compost is considered a soil conditioner, rather than a fertilizer, but it can retain and make existing nutrients more readily available to plants. ​

Another solution to soften your soil and create oxygen space in your soil is by adding wool pellets. Wool Pellets not only provide water holding in your soil, but they create oxygen space for root expansion that will help your plants be hardy and strong. Wool Pellets are able to hold 20X their weight in water helping to reduce the times you water.  By holding water they can wick away extra water, protecting your plants from over watering. Wool pellets expand with water helping to increase porosity in the soil for optimal root growth. ​

---

Our signature Soft Soil is the perfect blend of the highest quality top soil and our premium organic and all natural Terra Zest. Terra Zest is a special blend of manure, sawdust. Soft Soil is great for raised bed gardens or for adding 2-3 inches of nice soft soil to flower beds, garden plots, or lawns. Soft Soil really is the soil of your dreams! ​

How much do I add?

The short answer is as much as you can. Adding organic matter and compost is not an overnight fix, but each time you till in Terra Zest you will improve the condition of your soil this may take 3-4 years if starting with a heavy clay soil. ​

You can add Terra Zest at anytime. Till the added layers into your soil prior to planting in the spring, then at the season's end add another 2 inch layer on top creating an additional barrier to weeds while contributing to the overall softening of your soil. ​

Why miss an opportunity to increase your soil's fertility and nutrients for growing? Soil that has Terra Zest and wool pellets regularly added to it becomes rich, dark, and wonderfully crumbly and often requires less fertilizer.

Don't expect overnight results. Because plants, microbes, and earthworms break down organic matter, you'll need to add more next year. But eventually, you'll have that rich, soft soil you've always dreamed about.

Buy Wool Pellets

Buy Soft Soil

Buy Terra Zest