Improving Desert Soils –Soil Structure

I love the Home and Garden Channel (HGTV), salivating over the gorgeous gardens and landscapes reoccur on their programs. I am delighted with the information and practical advice that they give to home gardeners. I cringe with envy when they gather a large fistful of black beautiful soil. The host squeezes it into a ball, explaining that the pliable soil in his hands is the correct consistency for a good healthy garden. I feel so inspired I jump up and run out to test my soil. I find not black wonderful dirt, but red, hard clay that is a fine dust, and rock hard when wet. If desert gardeners added the soil amendments that the home improvement shows suggests, we would be blessed with a gargantuan concrete container, holding water to matching the properties of the Hoover Damn. Desert Soil is not ever going to look at like the soils up North, no matter what we add to it, and the sooner we understand that the more successful we will be. Then what the heck is a gardener lost in the barren desert supposed to do? Don't throw in the trowel just yet. Having a successful desert garden is possible and enjoyable.

Desert Soil Texture

Most desert soils are the results of thousands of years of ancient mountain decomposition; providing us with the clay soils we have today. This clay structure we call our soil is actually super fine particles closely compacted together affecting water drainage and absorption. However, the desert soil provides dwellers with a decent structure for a good garden soil. It contains the 17 essential minerals needed to grow plants, but requires some chemical property enhancements. In other words we bought the house, but we need to add the furniture, turn on the utilities, and buy the groceries to make it livable.

Adding Soil Amendments Improves Soil Structure

While we can't change the structure of our soil permanently, we can enhance its physical properties, making the soil more workable and enticing for plants to grow well. Good tilth is garden soil that is suitable for holding adequate amounts of nutrients, water and air for plant root growth. Our soil is so compact, it's difficult for plant's roots to spread out and absorb the nutrients, water and air they need. We have to mix in things providing good tilth or amendments such as compost, manure, sawdust, leaves, lawn clippings, and peat moss. These amendments help the soil become less compacted, providing improved aeration, and moisture conditions.

CAUTION....CAUTION........CAUTION......, notice I didn't add sand to that list. Many of the Home and Garden shows recommend adding sand to the soil to improve drainage to hard soil. Do not do this to desert soils. Clay and sand make concrete consequently if you do you will be constructing the Hoover Dam in your yard.

Adding amendments are necessary and must be done often because they decompose quickly. The decomposition of organic matter provides the nitrogen our soils need. Adding amendments regularly (at the beginning of every planting season) is essential for maintaining good soil structure.

Good Gardening Practices also Keep Good Soil Structures

Don't till the garden unless the soil crumbles easily. If you till or work the soil when the soil is too dry, you will have mud clods like the ones you used to throw at your sister. If you work it when it's too wet, you might as well make it into a nice patio area because you will have compacted the soil and it is difficult and time consuming to fix. Soil structure breakdown is easier to prevent than to cure.

When we add amendments, we change the physical structure of the desert soil. It won't ever be the black gold we see on T.V., but it will provide a healthy, happy place to grow a good many plants. We will also improve drainage and water retention in what may have been poor areas before. Remember desert gardening isn't hard, just different.