In my last article, I talked about the problems with improving clay soil and amending sandy soil with sandy and clay, respectively.

The correct answer you’ve been looking for about amending soil is the same for both, and that is organic matter.

Gardeners ask how to improve clay soil more often than asking about improving sandy soil, but the reasons are generally the same, and the main reason has to do with water.

As I talked about on Monday and Wednesday, we get short terms benefits from tilling a garden, but short and long term problems.

In the last article on tilling a garden, I talked about Garden Tilling - How Tilling Your Garden May Be Causing More Problems Than Benefits. Remember, in the long term:

Garden tilling, also called cultivating, is often done with a gas-powered rototiller that goes down perhaps 6 or so inches, but soil can be “tilled” with a tool such as a pitch fork, too.

As you know, tilling a garden is when you turn the soil over so that some of the lower soil comes up and some of the upper soil goes down. It’s kind of like a food processor for your soil, just not as fast.

The classic book The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird documents many scientific, statistically-significant studies done on the fascinating relationship between sound and music and plants.

Non-toxic pest control is becoming more popular with the growing interest in organic gardening. In fact, one of the most common questions asked by new organic gardeners is on how to get rid of pests without using chemical pesticides.

As a result, you will find many recipes for homemade "organic" pesticides on the Internet and in books.

For this article, organic pesticides means pesticides that organic gardeners are allowed to use for non-toxic pest control.

Organic Gardening Goal 11 : To consider the wider social and ecological impacts of urban landscapes and the practices and products used to create and maintain them.

Organic Gardening Goal 10 : To encourage the creation and protection of native plant and wildlife habitats.

Organic Gardening Goal 9 : To ensure biological diversity within urban landscapes.