Gardening is rewarding in itself. It is pleasant to be outside and working in your garden. Listening to the birds and enjoying the sunshine almost makes weeding a fun thing to do. But if you are going to spend the time and effort in making a wonderful garden, shouldn’t you try and improve it? Probably the most important thing for a garden is its soil. Most people don’t live in an area where the soil is ideal, so it must be changed or amended. How does one go about doing this? There are several ways to improve your garden by studying the soil. Sometimes a soil sample can be mailed away to a company that analyses it.

Or it could be as easy as taking a handful to your local garden supply and asking about it there. Most of the time the only thing that is needed is to use some compost to kind of “boost” the power of the soil. The compost will add much needed nutrients and make the dirt that you have powder fine and easier to work with. Many types of soil, no matter what the deficit, could be improved just by adding compost. Compost can be purchased at that garden supply store. Or you could make your own. Sometimes people shy away from this because they automatically think that a compost pile could attract creatures of all kinds that are not “wanted.” A simple remedy for this is to not add food to your compost pile. Perfectly fine compost can be “made” from leaves, soil, grass clippings, etc.

The only thing that you should not add is weeds. But with leaves and soil it will take a little longer to “cook” the compost. Keep turning the layers and if possible use a good amount of soil to start your pile. You could even put some purchased compost on your garden and then add some to your pile to get it started.

The difference in your flowers and vegetables will be quite noticeable that first season. The compost improves the soil and acts like a huge vitamin pill for the plants. Stand back and look at the bigger flowers and vegetables by making this simple improvement to your garden. There are many ways to improve a garden, but starting with good soil is the foundation for any type of plant. That means adding compost.