Vegetable gardening is a fun way to grow some extra food for you and your family. One of the most important components of determining how easy it will be to grow vegetables in your yard is the quality of your soil. Soil that's deprived of nutrients can make it difficult to grow anything large enough to eat. When you're first starting out, it's easier to buy garden soil from a nursery and use that for your vegetable garden. To learn why starting with bought soil is more convenient than relying on the natural soil in your yard, read on.
Nursery Soil Is Treated to Remove Weed Seeds and Disease-Causing Bacteria
One of the best reasons to start with garden soil from a nursery when you're planting a vegetable garden is that it has been sterilized to kill weed seeds and bacteria that can harm your plants.
Weeds growing in your vegetable garden will prevent your vegetables' root systems from spreading properly, and the weeds will also steal soil nutrients that your vegetables need to thrive, so it's important to keep them out of your garden. When you start your vegetable garden with quality soil, there's a reduced chance that you'll lose your vegetables to weed growth or disease.
Nursery Soil Has the Right Amount of Drainage for Vegetables
Soil can be generally categorized as either clay, silt, or sand. Natural soil is a blend of all three types, and the proportions of each type determine how well the soil drains. Loamy soil is the best for growing vegetables, and that's what you'll receive when you purchase garden soil from a nursery. It's primarily made of sand and silt soil with a small amount of clay soil. It holds moisture well without drowning your plants.
If the soil in your backyard has too much clay, it will hold a lot of water whenever it rains. This can harm your plants by providing them with too much water. It's also difficult for roots to grow in clay soil, which makes it a poor choice for root vegetables like carrots and potatoes. Sandy soil, on the other hand, drains very quickly and can cause your vegetables to become dehydrated.
If the soil in your backyard is too clayey or sandy, you'll have trouble growing healthy vegetables. Buying loamy soil from a nursery makes it easier to grow vegetables since you don't have to worry as much about drainage.
Nursery Soil Provides the Slightly Acidic Environment That Vegetables Need
Soil pH is an important factor in how well your vegetables grow. Plants can take up nutrients more easily from soil that's slightly acidic. Slightly acidic soil allows roots to more easily absorb the nutrients that the plant needs to grow.
If the soil in your backyard has a pH that's alkaline or excessively acidic, you may not be able to grow vegetables very well. Garden soil from a nursery has the slightly acidic pH that plants grow well in, making it easier for you to grow large, healthy vegetables in your garden.
Overall, buying garden soil from a nursery makes it much easier for you to start your vegetable garden by making sure all of your plants are provided with nutrient-rich, quality soil. As you become more experienced with gardening, you can start amending the natural soil in your yard so that it can support healthy vegetables. When you're starting out, however, it's much more convenient to give your vegetables good soil to make them easier to grow.
For more information, contact a local plant nursery.