Top Soil

Gardeners use top soil when a client's soil has too much clay, leading to stagnant water that fosters disease growth. The top soil you apply depends on the nature of the soil with which you're currently working and the type of soil your plants need.

• If you have soil with a lot of clay, you will need to add more sandy top soil to help water drain.
• However, too much sandiness can cause nutrients to leach away, creating nutrient deficiencies for the plants.

By introducing organic matter to the top soil, you can increase water retention and introduce new nutrients continually into the soil.

​

Top soil has more nutrients than other types of soil. In this upper layer of soil, the nutrients are the most available to the plants. Gardeners still need to fertilize the soil and apply lime and organic matter to create a soil in which plants will grow healthy. To maximize the nutrient content of your top soil, mix compost and seasoned or dehydrated manure into the top soil.