Saving the Soil

Soil erosion is a growing problem in today’s world, as evolving climatic conditions cause soil to be lost and exhausted at an alarming rate. Topsoil is vital to sustaining plant growth of all kinds, natural and cultivated, and is typically lost through two means: wind erosion and runoff from precipitation or excess watering. Follow these guidelines to safeguard the soil around your home and garden and ensure that it remains hospitable to botanical life.

Plant grass and trees to secure topsoil. Sow grass and plant trees, shrubs and other greenery in bare spots in your yard or garden. The foliage will absorb excess water and protect the topsoil from the impact of rain, heavy wind and foot traffic. The roots of the plants will also help anchor the soil once they take hold, safeguarding the soil beneath from water runoff.

• Grass and plant roots also serve to draw nutrients from deep in the soil closer to the surface, improving the healthiness of the topsoil.
• Ryegrass and clover make excellent choices for basic ground-cover, as their roots spread deep and hold fast. Other useful anchoring plants include grains such as wheat, barley, and rye and crops of root vegetables like radishes.

Grow windbreak cover for fields. If you have a field or flat, wide open space on your property, considering growing a row of trees to act as a barrier from the wind. This is known as a windbreak cover and is an efficient means of combating wind erosion often employed by landscapers. A windbreak cover will cut down on the amount of wind that sweeps an open area of land, keeping topsoil from being scattered and dried out. A windbreak or shelter-belt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted around the edges of fields on farms. If designed properly, windbreaks around a home can reduce the cost of heating and cooling and save energy. Windbreaks are also planted to help keep snow from drifting onto roadways and even yards.[1] Other benefits include providing habitat for wildlife and in some regions the trees are harvested for wood products.

• For best results, group trees or shrubs relatively close together so that little space exists between them for wind to penetrate.
• Choose tree species that develop thick foliage.

Avoid compacting soil. Look for areas where the ground is hard and bare. This is most often a symptom of compacted soil. Sew grass in these areas, and be sure to water and aerate the soil frequently. If not remedied, the soil below can become even more dense while the top layer erodes, making growing conditions inhospitable.^[3]

• When soil becomes compacted, its particles are pressed tightly together so that water cannot penetrate deep into its sub-layers, causing the uppermost layers of soil to be worn away by runoff. In addition, soil compaction cause aeration problems within soil, meaning that it’s less likely that you’ll be able to get things to grow in places where the soil is badly compacted.^[4]
• Be careful about habitually walking in the same places if the soil in your yard or garden is compacted; this will just make the problem worse. Choose a new footpath to take, or stand on a broad, flat board when gardening to keep your body weight from contributing to soil compaction.

Employ no-digging gardening techniques. Building a no-dig garden involves layering materials over the topsoil in which plants and crops can be planted so that there’s no need to disturb the soil itself. When gardening is done above the soil instead of within it, the soil will not be exposed to lots of harsh digging and watering that can damage soil and lead to erosion.^[5]

• Create multiple no-dig plots to serve as flower beds or patches for growing crops that require similar soil conditions.
• A wealth of different planting schemes exist, but all make use of the same basic structure: multiple tiers of compostable matter are layered over a permeable surface like cardboard directly on top of the ground. Look into different ideas for constructing your own no-dig garden.

Spread mulch over growing plants. During peak growing season, spread a thin layer of mulch around the base of thriving plants. The weight of the mulch will keep the soil from being exposed to wind and water while also preserving important nutrients and moisture in the soil at root-level.^[9][10]

• Mulch can be bought cheap at any gardening center, or you can easily make your own at home by feeding scrap wood, live foliage and decaying plant matter into a shredder to form a composite.