A healthy plant is often judged based on its appearance above the soil. However, a plant’s overall health is often a result of what is happening underneath the ground. The roots need access to air to perform their functions optimally.
Here are 9 tips on how to make your garden soil airier:
- Add plenty of organic matter to dense soil.
- Thoroughly till the soil.
- Remove rocks and other debris in the soil.
- Add sand to increase air pockets and reduce compaction.
- Use perlite or vermiculite to keep the soil from baking.
- Mulch the soil to maintain high moisture levels.
- Add worm castings to your garden soil.
- Avoid over-watering the soil.
- Apply lime into the soil.
I’ll discuss these tips in detail and give you ideas on how you can make your soil more fluffy to support healthy root growth.
1. Add Plenty of Organic Matter to Dense Soil
All types of soil stand to benefit from organic matter. After all, garden soil is not perfect. You may have compact clay soil that doesn’t take in water well, and when it finally absorbs the water, it sits, causing the roots to rot.
On the other hand, sandy soil has too many air pockets, causing it to drain water too fast. Unless you fix the soil, you’ll end up with dry plants with a poorly developed root system.
Organic matter will make dense soil lighter and easy to dig through. Conversely, it will reduce the air pockets in sandy soil, helping it to hold together and retain moisture and nutrients. It will also make loamy soil fluffier.
Try composting shredded leaves, worm castings, manure, plant debris, grass clippings, and other plant parts. Once decomposed, they will make soil finer and introduce microorganisms that will keep breaking down the organic matter, making the soil more airy.
This video shows how airy soil changes when you add organic matter:
2. Thoroughly Till the Soil
Biological activity in the soil slows to a halt during winter. The microorganisms that break down organic matter to improve soil quality are dormant for months. So, by the time the spring season starts, the soil will need some work before you can use it.
Check the soil to confirm whether it is dry enough to till or if you should wait a little longer. Get some dirt and squeeze a handful. If it forms a ball and doesn’t crumble when you poke it with your finger, it is still too wet to till. If it crumbles, it is time to cultivate the garden.
Tilling wet soil destroys the soil structure. It also causes compaction, which will make the soil less airy. It won’t hurt to give the soil a few more days to dry before tilling it.
Till the soil to at least 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) deep. This way, the soil will be loose enough for the plant’s roots to penetrate the soil easily. The loose soil will also allow air to support the growth of the roots.
3. Remove Rocks and Other Debris in the Soil
Rocks can be a menace in the garden. They slow you down when working in the soil and keep the plant’s roots from spreading. They also reduce the air pockets in the soil.
Since the roots cannot penetrate the rocks, they may be forced to go around them in search of nutrients. If the garden soil has rocks, the roots may not have a chance of growing deeper, which will undoubtedly affect the health of your plants.
Ensure you remove all the rocks and debris you come across in your garden.
You should do the following when removing rocks and debris in the soil:
- Use a cultivator or tiller to break up the soil in your garden. This is the best way to find rocks hidden in the soil. Loosen the dirt to make the rocks visible and accessible.
- Rake the soil so that the rocks can come to the surface. Pile the rocks, get them out of your garden, and deposit them in designated areas.
- If there are large rocks within the tilling area, you should dig the area around the rocks to make it easier for you to pull them out.
4. Add Sand to Increase Air Pockets and Reduce Compaction
Sand has large particles, making it an ideal addition to fine soils, like clay, which compact easily due to limited air spaces. It will also improve drainage and prevent water from sitting in the ground too long.
You can also add sand to loamy soil if it is retaining too much water or the garden’s location does not allow for the easy flow of water. Wet soil suffocates roots, so you must ensure the soil is well aerated.
5. Use Perlite or Vermiculite to Keep the Soil From Baking
Vermiculite is a volcanic rock that, combined with perlite, will loosen the soil and keep it from clumping. It is a long-term solution for soil that is prone to baking and cracking.
Long-term use of vermiculite and perlite will leave you with airy and fertile soil. It also helps retain moisture and nutrients. Be sure to get pH-neutral vermiculite to not affect the soil’s pH.
6. Mulch the Soil to Maintain High Moisture Levels
Burrowers, like worms, help to aerate the soil. They thrive in moist soil because they must always keep their skin wet in order to survive. This is why you will find many worms in gardens with damp soil.
Mulching is one way to encourage worm activity in the soil. Mulch also prevents loss of moisture because the soil will not dry out quickly when it has been mulched. In addition, the worms help to break down the mulch into organic matter, which also makes the soil more airy.
7. Add Worm Castings to Your Garden Soil
You can also aerate your garden soil by adding worm castings in your garden soil. This is a quick approach to making the soil airy.
Earthworms are naturally drawn to moist soil. As they move through the earth, they loosen it and create more air spaces that allow air into the roots.
To make the environment ideal for worms, add worm castings and mulch the soil to maintain high moisture levels. Under ideal conditions, these worm castings will remain in your garden soil for a long time, as they make the soil airy.
8. Avoid Over-Watering the Soil
When you overwater the garden, the water will displace the air in the soil and deprive the roots of air. The water will cause root rot and suffocate the plants. Aside from constantly wet soil, you should look for other symptoms, including yellowing leaves, marginal scorch, and stunted growth.
Water your garden about three times a week, dispersing approximately an inch or two of water (2.5-5 cm). Alternatively, you can check the soil to confirm it is dry enough to be watered. However, you shouldn’t allow the soil to get extremely dry because it may become hydrophobic.
9. Apply Lime To the Soil
Lime is an excellent soil conditioner. It helps to reduce acidity in the soil and neutralizes the effect of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. However, liming also increases earthworm activities, making the soil airier. It improves the soil structure by increasing air pockets within the soil.
When using lime as a soil de-acidifier, you need to check the soil pH first. You don’t want to risk adding lime to soil with low pH because it will make it more alkaline, affecting plants that require acidic soil. Increasing soil alkalinity can make nutrients more available to plants.
If you want to learn more about the effect of acidic soil on the availability of nutrients, you can check out my other article here: Does Acidic Soil Contain More Plant Nutrients?
Conclusion
You can make your soil airy in multiple ways. You may use these tips to ensure your garden soil remains airy. However, you must be careful not to make the soil too light and fluffy.
When the soil is too airy, it will not hold enough water to sustain plants. The soil will also fail to support the plant since the air spaces will be too large for the roots to anchor into the ground. So, even as you work on making the soil fluffy, you shouldn’t overdo it.
