THE COASTAL GARDENER:Feeding soil is a necessity for healthy plant growth

Healthy soil equals healthy plants. Every gardener eventually succumbs to this fundamental principle.

Soil is alive. These are the three most important words to understand if you’re going to have a successful garden. Many of us grew up in an era when we understood soil as just a sterile, lifeless accumulation of bits of rock, minerals, mud and other unknowns. We all thought that the more sterile and lifeless, the better. As gardeners, we mistakenly believed that soil just held our plants upright. It was our applications of fertilizers and chemicals that we sprayed and spread that were the source of healthy plants. And there are still those among us who cling to the ritualistic applications of expensive fertilizers, sprays and synthetic cure-alls in a never-ending attempt to sustain the garden.

But we now know that healthy soil is teaming with millions, even billions, of unseen organisms. Since we cannot see the majority of these organisms — beneficial but microscopic bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa — we sometimes forget how essential they are. Earthworms, sow bugs, springtails and more are all present in healthy living soil, as are beneficial forms of nematodes and mites.

Rather than discourage life under our feet, we know that these organisms are essential to a soil’s fertility, structure and health.

It is the invisible life in our soil that converts organic matter into nutrients, improves soil structure and wards off pests and disease. Remove these organisms from your soil and your soil will compact, lose nutrition, lack aeration and harbor root diseases.

So, all but a few gardeners still living in the dark ages now know that soil is alive. From a plant’s perspective, the more alive the better. What can a gardener do to create and sustain soil that is living?

A living soil begins by not killing it. As gardening consumers, we are subjected to an onslaught of marketing messages that subtly “teach” us how to behave in our gardens. Here’s a list of don’ts, a few ways to kill healthy, living soil.

Now that you’re not killing your soil anymore, how can you make it even better?

Remember these words: If you feed your soil, your soil will feed your plants. That’s exactly what invisible soil life is doing. It is releasing nutrients to your plants. And like any living thing, soil organisms need to be fed before they can feed your plants. If you don’t feed soil organisms, they will not thrive. If they do not thrive, neither do your plants.

So start feeding your soil. But what?

Your soil feeds on organic material; it’s that simple. Apply ample amounts of organic material, such as composts and amendments, and your soil will come alive.

Get as much high-quality, blended organic compost or mulch as you can, and spread it on top of the soil in your garden. In most areas, this layer should be about two to three inches thick — really.

You do not need to dig it in. In fact, digging it into an existing garden may do more harm than good. Just put it on top. Keep adding more throughout the year to maintain this organic layer on top of the soil. You’ll notice that it will disappear after a short while.

Where is it going? Invisible micro-organisms are eating it. As long as you keep feeding, they will keep eating and multiplying. Your soil will become healthy, water will percolate in, diseases will diminish, and your plants will grow better than ever.

After an explanation about the importance of mulching, the hardest part for most gardeners to accept is that they do not need to dig their soil. They can’t figure how an organic layer on the top of their soil will improve the soil beneath. It will — dramatically.

With diligent mulching, where you can now barely push a shovel halfway into the hard ground, you may not even need to use a shovel. In that same dry, hard, dead soil where plants once struggled, you will be able to dig a hole with your bare hands. Plants will grow stronger and healthier and with fewer pests and diseases.

Soil was once dead. You began feeding your soil. Now your soil is alive and your plants are thriving. Feed your soil, and your soil will feed your plants.

ASK RON

My new potted amaryllis has finished blooming indoors. Can I plant this outdoors in Costa Mesa, and should it be in a pot or in the ground?

JILL

Costa Mesa

You’re almost certainly referring to hippeastrum, still commonly referred to as amaryllis. Occasionally referred to as the tulip of the South, hippeastrum grow wonderfully as outdoor plants in our climate. In the ground, plant in well drained soil in full coastal sun. If growing in a pot, keep the pot a bit tight but with plenty of root space. Outdoors, hippeastrum will return to its normal spring bloom season, but sometimes reward you with a second bloom cycle in the fall.