Organic Compost

Properly finished organic compost, dark and crumbly, without the sour smell that tells you a pile was bagged too early. It is the one amendment that improves several soil problems at once: it loosens heavy clay, helps sandy soil hold water, and feeds the soil life that makes nutrients available to your plants.

Unlike a concentrated fertilizer, compost works slowly and will not burn roots, so you can be generous with it. Dig it into new beds, spread it as a spring top dressing on established ones, or mix it into planting holes for trees, shrubs and perennials.

An inch or two worked into the top of a bed each spring is enough to keep soil in good condition year after year.