Garden season is right around the corner. During this “in-between” time, a good project would be to work on improving our garden soils.

If you have containers like pots in various sizes you might want to assess the soil in those containers. Containers are great. They come in a variety of sizes. Some are decorative and others are more utilitarian, but either way, they enable us to grow plants in places where “in the soil” gardening might be a challenge. Or maybe we just like the mobility of a container and use them around the landscape to accent particular plants or just spice things up a bit. However, if you have been using the same soil in those containers for a few years, they might need a bit of freshening up.

In-ground gardens have a bit of an advantage in that they are part of the local ecosystem, meaning they draw water and nutrients from the surrounding area. In contrast, containers are closed, stand-alone systems that are dependent on you to take care of their water and nutrient needs. Over time, without replenishment, it’s easy for the soil in these containers to just get worn out if you will…depleted of the nutrients they need to support good growth in your plants.

While there are a variety of good nutritional supplements you can add to the soil, sometimes it’s just good to replace the soil in the container to give your plants a fresh start. We recently completed doing that for all of the flowerpots we maintain on Brookside. It was just time.

Now would be a good time to look at replacing or replenishing the soil in your containers so you will be ready to go in a few weeks.

As far as the soil in your landscape goes, now is also a good time to get the soil tested to determine the nutrient levels in your soil. The best way to do this is with a soil test. Soil testing is available at our office. We just need you to collect a good sample and then bring that soil in for testing. Here’s how you gather the soil for testing.

First of all determine the area you want to test. You’ll need to get about 15 to 20 samples for the sampling area for an accurate test. To gather your samples, just grab a bucket and a trowel and dig down about 6 inches with the trowel and place that soil in the bucket. Do this 15 to 20 times in the testing area. Then mix them all together in the bucket, removing any twigs or grass. Next, get a plastic lunch sack (or something about that size) and fill it with soil from your sample. Bring that into the office and we’ll do the rest.

A standard soil test costs $10 and you will receive your results along with recommendations for improvement in a couple of weeks. This basic test will tell you the pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels in your soil. Since we are out ahead of planting season, you’ll be able to take action on the recommendation to help get your soil ready. With your nutrient levels adjusted, you are going to have healthier, more robust plants in your landscape.

Another thing you can do is to supplement the organic matter content of your soil. Organic matter is anything that used to be alive, particularly decaying plant matter. Soil in our area is usually around 1% organic matter content while we would like it to be around 5 to 6 % organic matter.

Organic matter helps loosen the soil, improves drainage, retains moisture and nutrients, as well as reduces erosion. Things you might add to your soil to increase organic matter would be leaves, grass clippings, composted manure, or compost. If you don’t have a compost pile or composting container, now would be a good time to get after that. Most of us have food scraps and plant trimmings which would make great compost, so maybe start thinking about composting rather than just throwing those potential nutrients away.

Next up would be to plan on using some kind of organic mulch this season if you haven’t been. Mulch helps maintain soil temperature, retain moisture, and reduce the weeds in your garden. Organic mulches are good since over time they will de-compose and then they will add organic matter back into the soil.

While it’s too late to do this next one before this growing season, cover crops are a good way to improve garden soil as well. There are a variety of cover crops that can be planted in the fall. These crops help protect the soil from erosion, reduce weeds, maintain soil moisture, and then ultimately add organic matter back into the soil when you till the cover crop into the soil in the spring. In addition, cover crops such as legumes are known for their ability to pull nitrogen from the air and transfer that into the soil. Not a bad deal. Cover crops to consider next year would be hairy vetch, Austrian winter peas, or winter rye.

We have a lot more information improving soil quality on our website. Just go to www.tulsamastergardeners.org, click on the Lawn and Garden Help Section, and then click on Soil. There’s also more information there on putting your soil test sample together. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: OSU Ag. Comm.