Flower Beds and Garden Areas

Winter, with all the garden areas cleaned up, is an excellent time to think about soil improvement. In our corner of Southwestern Michigan, you cannot add enough organic matter to the soil. Winter is the prime time to add green manure or chicken compost to the garden as both often contain high concentrations of salts and minerals. The winter rain and snow tend to leach these harmful salts out and further breakdown the organic matter preventing tender plant burn. We often add urea at the time of application even though most compost liberate some nitrogen and other nutrients during decomposition.