Soil Health

The key to healthy lawns and gardens is to invest in your soil health.  While fertilizers and growth enhancers for your lawn and plants are important, they are not sufficient to grow healthy and durable plants.  Despite the importance of soil health, many people continue to focus solely on plant health rather than soil and plants. Here are three tips we have found to help improve your soil health.

Probiotics

Probiotics are all the rage for human nutrition, but they are equally important for your soil.  Beneficial bacteria in your soil will create a nurturing environment for your lawn and plants.  All soils have beneficial bacteria, but many lawns and gardens have eroded the health and diversity of these bacteria.  Probiotics help increase nitrogen uptake by your plants.  They help plant roots grow deeper and larger.  They help your plants produce beneficial hormones.  And they help your plants absorb other beneficial nutrients.  With these benefits, probiotics will help your plants grow faster, grow stronger, fight disease and tolerate harsh conditions.

Prebiotics

Just like human gut health, beneficial lawn bacteria need to be nurtured and fed. Often called soil activators or soil amendments, lawn prebiotics such as hamates humic acid and amino acids enable healthy microbes to feed and flourish.  This microbial activity breaks down nutrients that otherwise unused.  Plants feed on these nutrients and grow stronger and larger.  

Water utilization

Keeping your lawn and plants well watered is not an easy task. Irrigation systems certainly help, but when summer temperatures rise and rain is infrequent, even frequent irrigation is not enough to keep your lawn well hydrated.  That is where humectants come in.  Humectants are substances that can absorb moisture from the air and make it available for use.  Often used in beauty and skincare products, they can be a critical addition to your soil.  By adding humectants to your soil, you will help your soil and plants capture, absorb and retail the moisture in the air. This will keep your lawn green and lush throughout those dry summer months.