Put Some Spring in Your Pacific Northwest Soil

Compost turns yard waste and even kitchen scraps into a valuable soil amendment. Photo: Shutterstock

Take a good look at the soil in your garden. Turn over a shovelful and grab a handful. Good garden soil will be crumbly and easy to dig, have a sweet earthy aroma, and be a medium shade of brown. If your soil is hard to dig, doesn’t hold together in small clumps, smells sour, or is ghostly pale in color, then some proper amendment and cultivation will be in order.

A lab test can provide data on soil type, organic matter content, pH, and nutrient levels to guide what, if any, amendments are needed. This is especially valuable for large new plantings or when plants are failing. You can get more information at your local cooperative extension office or soil conservation district.

But you can learn a lot from examining a handful of soil.

A pinch of damp clay soil will feel smooth between your fingers; sandy soil feels gritty. This is an indication of its texture, the percentage of sand, silt, and clay particles. Clay soils hold moisture and are generally more fertile than sandy soils. Loamy soils strike ...