How to Make Healthy Garden Soil and Keep it That Way

The secret to cultivating a lush garden and vibrant lawn is healthy soil!
Joe shares expert tips and techniques on how to revive, repair, and sustain your existing soil, from fixing texture issues to maintaining optimal soil health.
MORE JOEGARDNER RESOURCES:
The Vegetable Gardening Book: Your complete guide to growing an edible organic garden from seed to harvest is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle! www.amazon.com/dp/0760375712?...
Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy™ for my growing library of organic gardening courses -organicgardeningacademy.com
Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements - www.joegardener.com/subscribe
Learn more about creating healthy soil in my Soil Building playlist - • Soil Building

[@bettyjorodgers8552]

Thank you.

[@joegardenerTV]

You're welcome!

[@cherielacroix3046]

Thank You Joe

[@joegardenerTV]

My pleasure!

[@ramonadayanan5577]

Thank you

[@joegardenerTV]

Welcome!

[@jimbennett1519]

What do you do when the raised beds eventually get full?

[@joegardenerTV]

You give it a season or maybe two. The soil is always breaking down if you have lots of organic material in it, so it will settle over the year so that you have room to add more. It's not a bad thing if you don't have room to add more soil/compost for a year or so. Hope that helps!

[@jimbennett1519]

@@joegardenerTV THANKS

[@fits_and_starts]

Thank you for your video and informative gardening channel. Q: I’ve been told not to pull out older plants and veggies with their roots but to cut the plants off at the ground surface. The roots will slowly decompose and create a better soil structure over time. Would you recommend this method?

[@joegardenerTV]

Yes, absolutely! Keep in mind some of the tougher plants that have woody roots, such as pretty much anything in the brassica family (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc). will break down slowly in the soil. If you can spare the time to allow that to happen, leave them too. It's a great way to improve your soil over time.

[@lorrainedurgee1761]

If I run out of homemade compost - what store brand products can. I buy to amend my existing ground flower beds ? There are so many different products & company names out there in stores.

[@joegardenerTV]

You’re right. And even national brands are regionally sourced. So what is in bag X where I live likely won’t be the same as where you live. One brand that I have found to be consistent across the states is Black Kow composted cow manure. You might look for that. I’ve used it for years and think it’s a good product.

[@arunachalexoticsflowerspot8723]

Nice 👌👌
New friend and new subs from Arunachal Exotic Flowers and Pots 🌿🍁

[@rashmedo]

Question my raised bed is located close to a downpipe. I notice the soil is wet majority of the time. What's the best solution? Should I put a plastic underneath the raised bed? To avoid the moisture

[@joegardenerTV]

I would by a downspout flexible extender and connect it to the downspout. That should allow you to redirect the water away from the bed.

[@smichalpi]

hi @joegardenerTV some time can you pls make a clip about weeds? It was my first time having a community garden plot and I ripped out all the weeds in spring and planted my seedlings but it seems that each time I watered, it sprouted more and more weeds/grass seeds and they became uncontrollable and I couldn't hoe in between all the little plants.

[@joegardenerTV]

Thanks for the suggestion. Will do. In the mean time, I find it essential that you provide about a 2" layer of natural mulch over all exposed soil in your beds or plot. The mulch (I prefer shredded leaves) can be anything natural, from straw, compost, finely ground bark, dried grass clippings, and more. That layer will block the sunlight from reaching the weed seeds at the soil surface and prevent them from germinating. It makes a huge difference. Also, when you catch the weeds early, you can easily use a surface weeding tool, such a a scuffle how of thin flat blade to slice the weeds from their roots at the soil surface. The smaller the weeds, are, the easier they are to manage. Hope that helps for now and we'll get a video done on this soon.

[@smichalpi]

@@joegardenerTV wow thank you so much for your kind reply :)

[@bettyjorodgers8552]

Thank you.

[@joegardenerTV]

You're welcome!