If you want an abundant garden jammed with healthy plants the essential ingredient is good garden soil and getting it right is a continuing process. There are no short cuts, it can be hard work to improve soil quality and  takes years. However, if you get the soil right, you will be rewarded with strong, vigorous plants that resist pests and diseases and produce abundantly. You will be considered someone who has ‘green fingers.’

It may seem obvious but let’s start with the fact that most plants will not grow well if planted on top of large stones. There are two solutions to stony soil. Either dig the large stones out and rake out as many as possible of the small ones before planting, or, if it’s really bad, build raised beds and fill with a good quality topsoil compost mix so the plants are above the stones.

Adding compost to your soil at least once a year will improve the quality. The most economical and environmentally friendly way to do this is make your own. It’s not hard to do and very rewarding. You can create as many bins as space allows. Even in a small garden you can buy composting bins for a tiny space. Fill the bins with a mix of green and brown waste. Lawn clippings, annual weeds, plant trimmings and other soft material that rots down. Cardboard, old woollen jumpers, kitchen waste (but not food to attract rats) I even add the contents of my hoover. Get the right balance and you will be rewarded with a crumbly compost that will improve the quality of your soil for free!

Another free way to improve soil quality is making leaf mould. Obviously you’ll need to have trees in your garden to do this one, but if you have it’s very easy to make leaf mould. It does not require any special conditions, just collect all the leaves you can gather and put in a wire cage and leave for at least a year. Alternatively, gather the leaves together in black bin bags (I use old compost bags) and leave in a corner to rot down. After about year you will be rewarded with the most excellent, friable, leaf mould full of beneficial nutrients to add to your soil.

Once you’ve added the organic matter to your soil this spring top up with bark chippings as a mulch. This will not only improves soil quality but will also act as a weed suppressant and helps prevent moisture loss. Bark chippings will gradually break down, releasing valuable nutrients to feed your plants. I add a layer of bark chippings in the early spring every year after spreading the soil with manure. It helps to keep the garden looking neat and tidy, although the blackbirds in my garden enjoy making a bit of a mess with it!