What is humus and how can you increase it in your garden soil? Here, we break down what it is and why it's important to ...

Gardeners who are tuned in to the benefits of healthy soil probably know the term ‘humus’ and likely have a sense of what ...

A: The definition of humus explains that it is the dark organic component of soil. It’s formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter, including fallen leaves, twigs, insects, mushrooms ...

Every garden has one of four main types of soil: silt, clay, sand, or a combination known as loam. You may find that different areas of your yard have different types of soil which is completely ...

Pro tip: Taper mulch around the trunks of trees and shrubs to prevent damage to the wood. Leaf mold, which is simply partially decomposed leaves, is another valuable addition to garden soil.

Ideally, we would like to have at least 2% to 3% of a garden soil made up of humus-containing organic material. This is difficult to make happen in sandy soil because the relatively large space ...

Plants, fungi and other soil life cannot survive without humus, and “Asian jumping worms can eat all of it,” Sarah Farmer of the U.S. Forest Service wrote.

This is particularly true of the organic matter in soil horizons below the humus layer. Nature - Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Humus. Skip to main content. Thank you for visiting nature.com.