Preventing Soil Erosion in Your Garden
by John Yazo
Soil erosion is a destructive factor that could affect the quality of a soil structure, and without out even knowing it. Erosion will strip a soil of valuable nutrients, needed for plant life to thrive. Taking the steps to save your garden from losing the essential nutrients that plant life need to survive will greatly benefit the productivity of the crops you are growing.
There are a variety of method that can be used in your organic garden to protect the soil. Mulching, cover crops, succession planting, the use of raised beds,and creating a healthy organic soil structure are all practices that can be used to prevent erosion.
The key to any successful organic garden is the soil. Creating a healthy soil structure will provide many benefits for plant life to thrive in that no other method of gardening can provide. Drainage, moisture retention, nutrient retention, and tilth can all be improved in a soil with the use of organic matter. When a soil is healthy, it allows for excess water to drain properly and only retain enough moisture needed for plant life to benefit from when needed, along with retaining the soluble nutrients that exist in soil naturally that plants need. A healthy soil is the most important of all methods in preventing soil erosion.
Succession planting is another gardening practice that can be used as a prevention measure for erosion. This is done by making many plantings of the same crop simultaneously or growing crops that mature at different times throughout the growing season in the same area.
Cover crops, and organic mulch are both two ways that soil erosion can be prevented, and both methods are also great for improving a soil structure at the same time. They provide an organic food source to keep the microbial activity in a soil thriving and improving the quality of soil.
Cultivation is a major source of erosion by both wind and rain. Keeping the turning over of soil to a minimum and the adding organic soil amendments will greatly reduce erosion. Converting to the no-till method of gardening is also a great way to eliminate the labor of having to till a garden.
Raised bed gardens are also an alternative. They are also a great way to create a garden when soil conditions in your yard are a problem, like ledge or areas of rock that just can't be worked. the chance of erosion with this method of gardening is just about eliminated, due to raised beds are built above the natural existing ground elevation.
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