Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:52 pm
For your garden, you want the plants and the lawn to be well cared for and grow magnificently. You think about which soil is the best and come across numerous variants that promise to provide all-round care. At the same time, the prices regularly exceed your own imagination and you wonder whether it has to be such an expensive investment.
Humus soil is a natural and inexpensive alternative to provide plants. But what exactly is humus soil and how can you make it yourself?
Learn what distinguishes the humus soil and how to use it wisely in your garden.
Contents
What is humus soil?
The term humus soil is basically a double. Because humus already means “earth” and stands for a special form. Humus consists to a large extent of natural organisms. These have already died and are returned to the biological cycle by the humus soil.
The basis of humus soil is formed by plant parts. These are decomposed by microorganisms and small animals. The process occurs naturally and is independent of humans.
In nature, humus occurs mainly in deciduous forests. When the leaves fall from the trees in autumn, they are the basis for the humus to be formed. The uppermost 10 to 30cm contain a large part of these organic plant remains. Since no leaves fall to the ground in coniferous forests, the soil is relatively poor in humus. In meadows and other natural areas, a small amount of the organic soil can still be found in each case.
Not all humus is the same. A distinction is made between permanent humus and nutrient humus. In a relatively fast process, the organic plant parts are transformed into the nutritive humus. Initially, this is hardly enriched with nutrients. Nevertheless, it has an important property for the soil. It is relatively loose and thus improves aeration. Similar to the sanding of the lawn, this young humus is well suited for creating a loose soil.
The natural decomposition process does not stop with nutrient humus. This is further processed by organisms until the permanent humus develops from it. The nutrients are now bound in this and it represents a very fertile soil. Due to the high proportion of nitrogen, plants grow faster and enjoy good health. Permanent humus is the largest part of the humus layer and is found mainly in natural areas that are largely untouched by man.
How to use the humus soil?
Based on the previous description, you have learned that humus soil consists of plant remains. Organisms return the nutrients to the soil so that you can use them yourself. But where exactly can the humus soil be used in your own garden?
If you want to call your own not only a well-maintained garden, but also plant vegetables and other useful plants, you can use the humus soil for this purpose. In a simple bed or raised bed, the nutrient-rich soil stands out.
Pay attention to what kind of soil you have. Is it more sandy or loamy? Depending on the nature of the soil of your bed, you can add the humus as another layer.
Natural fertilizer in spring
If you start sowing your lawn or growing other plants in the spring, this is often associated with the issue of a fertilizer. Each season, the soil is subjected to stress from the plants grown and loses nutrients. To add them back, the fertilizer is essential for most gardens.
If you want to fertilize naturally, you can use a ready-made humus soil or create the soil layer independently. This can be done, for example, by spreading organic residues on the soil. Suitable for this purpose are, for example, horn shavings, cow dung and leaves. Spread a thin layer and leave it on the ground for some time, so that the humus layer is formed. Then you can enjoy a natural garden with a fertile soil.
Mend the lawn
If your lawn has gaps in some places and it does not appear in the best health, you should not simply ignore it. Without countermeasures, weeds will soon spread in your lawn. Moss and fungi will crowd out the lawn, causing it to suffer even more damage.
You can use the humus as a natural fertilizer for your lawn. Spread it over the entire lawn and gently work the humus into the soil with a rake. In bare spots, you should also reseed.
Freshly fortified with the humus soil ensures that the necessary nutrients are present and absorbed by the lawn. After a short waiting period, you will notice the positive effect.
Strengthen pot plants
For optimal growth potted plants also need a rich soil, which is provided with all the nutrients. In stores for this purpose are available soils that have a certain amount of humus. This will save you from applying a separate fertilizer, and the plants will be strengthened.
Nevertheless, you need to be careful with the humus soil. Not every plant variety tolerates a high humus content. Mediterranean plants are content with a low percentage and feel disturbed by too much humus.
Advantages
From the presented properties, the advantages of humus soil can be derived. The fact that humus enjoys great popularity is mainly due to its high nutrient content. This allows it to be used as a natural fertilizer, and gardeners have to apply smaller amounts of other fertilizers.
On the humus soil plants are well taken care of. They grow better and enjoy greater resistance. This is also true for the lawn, which is less likely to be suppressed by weeds.
Another advantage is the ability to absorb water. The humus soil is rather loose and therefore able to store larger amounts of moisture. The water remains closer to the surface and is absorbed there by the plants.
In addition, humus soil effectively shields the root system from external influences. Excessively high or low temperatures do not penetrate to the roots, so they grow up in stable environmental conditions.
- Natural formation
- Rich in nutrients
- Improves plant growth
- Excellent water absorption capacity
- Provides stable conditions for the root system
How To Recognize high-quality humus soil
Are you unsure how to recognize a high-quality humus soil and would you like to find the right soil for your plants in any case? Then you should examine the following quality criteria.
First and foremost, it is important that you do not blindly trust a particular brand manufacturer, but check the contents yourself. Probably the most important clue is the composition and mixing ratio.
The humus should be at least 1:1 with plant soil. The lower the proportion of humus, the less its benefits will be felt. Only for Mediterranean plants could a lower proportion of humus provide better growth.
In addition, you should pay attention to what the humus is made from. The coconut fibers used here result in a humus soil that is loose and excellent at retaining water.
For environmental reasons, it is advisable that the humus soil is peat-free. Peat is a natural product, which leads to the depletion of peatlands due to the strong demand. If you do not want the important peatlands to disappear and the ecosystem to be thrown out of balance, then opt for peat-free varieties.
If you take the soil in your hand, you should notice that it is light and somewhat moist. High quality humus is able to loosen the soil. You will already notice this when you simply take the soil in your hand.
The color also reveals how high the humus content is. If the soil is black to brown, it consists of a higher humus content. If the color goes into the grayish range, on the other hand, the soil is low in humus.
You can recognize inferior humus soil by its consistency and smell. It feels lumpy, is heavy and sometimes smells unpleasant or putrid. Then you should rather distance yourself from this product and opt for an alternative.
Make humus yourself
If larger amounts of plant residues accumulate in your garden, you can consider making humus yourself. This is associated with more effort, but in the long term it is cheaper and you use the remains for a useful purpose.
The best way to produce humus is to use leaves. However, it takes some time for the leaves to become usable. If you collect them in the fall, they must rot in wire baskets for about a year before they can be spread as humus.
To make humus yourself, you can add some beech leaves to ordinary garden soil. To speed up the process of decomposition, it is worthwhile to add earthworms to this mixture. After a certain waiting time, the humus is ready and serves as a nutrient-rich soil for your own garden.
The soil obtained in this way does not have the nutrient-rich properties endlessly. If you leave it unused for too long, the ingredients will be lost. To prevent this, you can add leaves or the green cuttings again over time to keep the humus rich in nutrients.
Difference between humus and compost
When making the humus, you will have noticed that the whole process is closely related to compost. But do these terms refer to the same thing?
Humus and compost refer to two different things. Compost refers to the accumulation of plant and animal waste. The resulting product of composting is rich in humus, but contains other substances. In common usage, humus is usually referred to as the final material that emerges from compost. In a narrower sense, however, humus is more strictly defined and is not the same as compost.
Using humus soil to create a productive garden
Applying a fertilizer is not always appropriate to improve soil quality. If there are structural problems, such as the soil is too hard and does not retain enough water, then you should change this foundation.
The best way to do this is to use humus soil to create a natural layer that is rich in nutrients and light. Use the humus specifically to grow new plants or enhance the entire garden. With this natural way to fertilize, you lay the foundation for healthy plants and a hardy lawn.