As we turn the calendar to April, we still cannot plant the garden or flowerbed yet, but there is still work to be done. Ask any engineer, you cannot build a sturdy building without a good foundation, the same goes for your garden. 

The success of your garden is directly related to the health of your soil. Lime and fertilizer are not the only components that create healthy soil, bio-activity in your soil is even more important. “Active soil” in gardening refers to soil teeming with live bacteria, fungi, earthworms, protozoa, nematodes, and other microorganisms that actively cycles nutrients, improves structure, holds water better, and supports healthy plant growth. 

How do you get active soil? You can buy it or build it yourself. The goal is to foster microbial life that ultimately will help your plants grow. This works for houseplants to, which typically are devoid of microbial life. You can buy bio-active soil or soil additives in most garden centers. Look for products labeled as "living soil," "bioactive soil," "organic super soil," or "regenerative soil mix." These come pre-inoculated with microbes, mycorrhizae, compost, and amendments. We carry Foxfarm's Microbe Brew and Kangaroots that are both liquid mycorrhizal solutions that can be added to all soils including houseplants to add bio-activity. This is the fast and easy way to add bio-active material to your soil, but if you have the time, you can build that soil yourself. 

Making active soil can also save your back because you need to follow the guidelines for regenerative, no-till principles to build it over time. That means no more rototilling my garden for me. Start with a good base, high quality garden soil, compost, or a mix (avoid heavily sterilized potting mixes). Potting mixes are sterilized so that they will not germinate any weed seeds when you use them for your houseplants. The soil is still rich, but it contains no bio-active material so the richness fades over time, which is why houseplants need to be repotted. If the soil is bio-active, you don't need repotting. Make your soil bio-active by adding lots of organic matter that will feed the microbes like compost, worm castings, aged manure, cover crop residues, leaf mold, grass clippings and wood chips (as mulch). 

Compost has beneficial bacteria and fungi to enrich your soil. Worm castings contain microfine elements and minerals that are easily absorbed by plant roots. Cover crops add live green material back into the soil to enrich the soil as it breaks down. Leaf mold adds beneficial mycelium to the soil. Grass clipping and shredded leaves add biomass to the soil. Wood chips build up your soil over time as they decay. Following no till practices over time minimize disturbance of your soil by avoiding tilling or turning your soil to protect fungal networks and microbial habitats. 

Keep soil covered with mulch (straw, wood chips, leaves) to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and feed soil life as these materials decay. Diversify plants by growing cover crops, rotate plants, or interplant to provide varied root exudates that feed different microbes. Peas and beans are legumes that actually produce nitrogen and leave it in the soil at the end of the season. Skip synthetic pesticides or fertilizers that kill microbes, use organic products instead. Natural pesticides like neem oil repel the insects yet doesn't affect soil activity. Natural fertilizers like bone meal, dried blood and manure are mild fertilizers that won't burn plants or harm soil microbes. With these practices, even poor or “dead” dirt can become biologically active within one to three growing seasons. You'll notice improvements like better water retention, crumbly soil structure, more earthworms, faster decomposition, and healthier plants that need less fertilizer. Build yourself a better garden from the bottom up.