This year my perrenials are not doing as well as they have in the past even with miracle grow. I think the soil needs something but I don't know what. It's too late for this year but I would like to know what to do for next year.
mudcreekfarmer
Favorite Answer
First go buy a book on soil fertility and sustainable gardening.
Second after you read those you will find that every time you add synthetic fertilizers like miracle grow you are killing the microorganisms living in your soil trying very hard to make your garden fertile without needing to add any synthetic fertilizers.
Rotate your crops. Plant this years corn, squash, tomatoes etc where you planted last years peas and beans. If you don't plant peas or beans then increase your garden size and plant them on half and plant your normal garden on the other half. Till the beans under every time they go to seed and depending on where you live you can plant them 2-3 times. Dont till them under so deep and get any exposed soil planted in something pronto.
Start a serious composting program (another book). Probably the most labor intensive aspect of all this. You need to collect anything around your house including table scraps. Anything that comes from plants or animals will compost. Do not haphazardly toss the stuff into a pile. Get or build some container to hold the stuff in. If your in the city I recommend a large metal trash can or several. Add material in layers to get about a 30:1 mix of carbon to nitrogen. Examples you probably have lawn clippings, leaves your rake up and table scraps. Layer lawn clippings and leaves anywhere from 6-12 inches then add a few inches of table scraps meat, eggs, blood or animal manure etc. (fish is awesome for making compost) then add carbon materials (leaves, grasses). Be careful how much sawdust you add, it has a very very high carbon to nitrogen ratio and will take alot of high nitrogen materials to compost it. Add a little bit of water occasionally. If you are adding the material right it will began to heatup once you get a few feet into it and it will not smell bad. Once it starts to cool off stir it up good by transferring and mixing it into an empty bin or can. After 1-2 yrs it will look and feel like soil. It will have an earthy smell. It will very closely look like what you find on any forest ground under the top layer of leaves. You garden will love it and you wont be buying miracle grow anymore. Things that speed up composting and reduce the labor on it are worms, animal manure and pigs (pigs love turning compost for free if you just toss a little corn in with it).
Mostly I would just go and buy a few books on the subject because there is just too much to put into this little answer.
debsplace1966
In my opinion, the best thing you can do to your soil to rejuvenate it is to add compost, good old garden compost, made at home from your scraps, throw in some lawn clippings and a few sheets of old newspaper, let it all rot down and pile it into your garden next Autumn. You can also try a bit of Blood and Bone right now for a boost, but the compost is the best thing out there, it adds all the nutrients your garden can possibly need! Happy Gardening Debbie
Anonymous
For a definitive answer send of a sample to your extension. They will test and recommend amendments to make the specific improvements you need. This costs about $30.
On the other hand there are certain things that can be done generically, one is to add organics such as compost or manure, another is to add sand or gypsum if you have heavy soil such as clay. Also, adding iron to clay is a good idea to raise pH. Top soil is always a good amendment to make. Fertilizing is always good too. Put the several inches of amendments on top and till to a depth of 6 or 8 inches.
ellarosa
if you want to be lazy you can heavily mulch and then kick back and let the weather do the rest over the next few years. if you want quicker results, do the composting/fertilizing thing that the others are recommending. whoever said avoid synthetic fertilizers is a wise voice, and i would listen to it if i were you. soil testing is always a good idea, too. much wisdom in these answers.
robert t
definitely get your soil tested, I used my county's agricultural extension office. this will let you know exactly what your soil needs. they will give you a specific instructions on what your soil needs and how to achieve it. In the mean time, you can add compost, make your own or you can buy it.