Backyard Habitat
Build Healthy Soil and Reduce Chemical Use
Healthy soil provides nutrients, air, and water for plants. Most soil in urban areas is compacted and nutrient-poor. You can help your soil by mixing in compost and topping with mulch.
Why Build Healthy Soil and Reduce Chemical Use?
- Less watering: Healthy soil holds water for plants to use and mulch helps keep that water in the soil.
- Goodbye chemicals: Plants that are established in healthy soil don’t need a lot of extra chemical fertilizers. Compost provides a more immediate source of nutrients; mulch provides nutrients later on as it breaks down. A layer of mulch also suppresses weeds, reducing the need for herbicide.
- Reduce global climate change: By composting your food and yard scraps, you’re not only turning those materials into healthy soil, but you’re also helping to reduce global climate change. In a landfill, food and yard scraps decompose in a way that creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. When composted properly, that same organic material can break down without creating methane. For more information, check the National Wildlife Federation’s Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming.
- Soil is alive: Soil is not just a place for plants to grow; it is a living ecosystem that’s home to diverse organisms, such as worms, beetles, millipedes, and sowbugs. Soil also supports nutrient, carbon, and water cycling that plants, animals, and humans depend on.
How to Build Healthy Soil
- Grow healthy soil: The Growing Healthy Soil booklet from Saving Water Partnership will give you information on how to:
- Get to know your soil
- Enrich your soil with compost when planting
- Mulch your plantings to save water and control weeds
- Use organic fertilizers for cleaner streams and healthier lawns and gardens
- Compost food scraps and yard waste: Seattle Tilth has great information about home composting, including:
- What is compost?
- What is mulch?
- Composting methods and bins
- Natural yard care nurseries
- Use sustainable mulch: Make sure your mulch is produced sustainably (local is best!) and is free from pests. Wood chips (also called arborists chips) make great mulch. Arborists or city tree crews can be a great source for free wood chips.
Advertise Your Pesticide-Free Yard
You can purchase a pesticide-free yard sign from the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns.
Washington residents can take a pledge to stay pesticide-free and receive a FREE Pesticide Free Zone sign from Washington Toxics Coalition.
Next up: Be Smart with Water
