Is Your Garden Soil Ready for Spring? 5 Simple Checks Before You Plant

By the end of winter, it is tempting to start planting the moment we get one sunny day. Spring feels close, seedlings begin appearing in the shops and suddenly everyone is ready to get back into the garden.

Before you start planting, spreading fertiliser or trying to fix every bare patch, take a few minutes to look at the soil you already have.

I spend a lot of time learning about soil, and listening to soil microbiologist Dr Mary Cole has certainly changed the way I look at it. Soil is not simply something that holds a plant upright. It is a living and constantly changing system made up of minerals, organic matter, water, air, roots and an enormous community of organisms.

You do not need expensive equipment to begin understanding your garden soil. These five simple checks can give you a useful starting point before spring planting begins.

1. Is the soil still too wet to work?

Late-winter soil can look ready on the surface while remaining wet and sticky underneath.

Dig down about 5 to 10 centimetres and take a handful of soil. Gently squeeze it and then press it with your fingers.

Soil that is reasonably ready to work will usually hold together lightly but break apart again without much effort. If it feels very sticky, smears across your hand or forms a dense lump that will not crumble, it may still be too wet.

Sandy soil may not form a ball at all, so the important thing is to become familiar with what is normal for your particular soil.

Working wet soil, especially clay soil, can squeeze out pore spaces and create dense clods. Those pore spaces are important because they allow air and water to move through the soil and give roots somewhere to grow.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is wait a little longer.

2. What happens to water after rain?

We often talk about soil holding water, but healthy soil also needs to let water move through it.

After decent rain, walk around the garden and look for areas where water is ponding, running straight off or disappearing much faster than it does elsewhere.

Water that remains pooled well into the following day may indicate slow drainage, compaction, heavy clay, a high water table or another underlying issue. Water that runs off without soaking in can also be a sign of a crusted, compacted or water-repellent surface.

You can make a simple comparison by pouring the same amount of water onto two different areas of the garden at the same time. Watch how quickly it enters the soil and whether it spreads, ponds or runs away.

This is only a basic observation, not a laboratory test. The starting moisture, slope and soil type will all affect the result. However, it can help you identify areas that deserve a closer look.

3. Can roots move through the soil?

Soil needs structure, not just softness.

When soil particles form stable crumbs or aggregates, they create spaces for air, water, roots and soil organisms. Poorly structured or compacted soil may appear as dense slabs, hard layers or smooth clods with very few visible pores.

Try pushing a long screwdriver or garden fork into moist soil. Do not do this when the ground is completely dry or saturated. Compare several parts of the same garden bed.

If the tool moves through one area but repeatedly stops at the same depth elsewhere, there may be a compacted layer. Stones and large roots can also cause resistance, so test more than one spot before drawing conclusions.

Dig up a small section and look at the soil itself. Can you see crumbs, fine roots, small channels and spaces? Or does it break into large, dense blocks?

Compaction does not automatically mean the whole garden needs to be deeply dug. Avoiding repeated foot traffic, keeping permanent paths and encouraging plant roots can all help protect soil structure over time.

4. Is the soil protected and receiving organic matter?

Bare soil is exposed to rain, wind, temperature changes and moisture loss. Heavy rain can break down weak surface aggregates and contribute to crusting, runoff and erosion.

Look at how much of your garden is currently covered by living plants, plant residue or a suitable mulch. Also look beneath the surface for old roots and partially decomposed organic material.

Organic matter plays several roles in soil. It contributes to soil structure, provides a food source for soil organisms and is involved in nutrient cycling. Depending on the soil type, it can also help with water infiltration and water retention.

Dark soil is not automatic proof of high organic matter, and adding more is not always the answer to every soil problem. If you want an accurate measurement, proper soil testing is more reliable than judging by colour alone.

For most gardens, maintaining plant cover, leaving healthy roots in the soil where practical and regularly returning appropriate organic material are sensible long-term habits.

5. Can you find signs of life?

You will not be able to see most soil microorganisms with the naked eye, but you can still look for signs that biological processes are occurring.

Turn over a small spadeful of moist soil and look for:

• Fine living roots
• Earthworms and worm channels
• Small insects and other soil animals
• Plant material at different stages of decomposition
• Crumbly material around roots

Earthworms can be a positive sign, but one worm count does not tell you everything about soil health. Their numbers and activity change with soil type, moisture, temperature, season and recent management. Finding few worms in cold or dry soil does not automatically mean the soil is lifeless.

This is why it is helpful to look at several indicators together. Soil biology, structure, moisture and chemistry are all connected.

What about soil pH?

If plants have struggled, leaves have shown unexplained discolouration or you are considering adding lime or other amendments, a soil pH test is worthwhile.

Soil pH affects how available different nutrients are to plants. However, plants do not all want exactly the same pH, so there is no single perfect number for every garden.

A basic home test can indicate whether the soil is acidic or alkaline. If you are planning a significant correction or want detailed nutrient information, a properly collected laboratory soil test is the better option.

Avoid adding lime, dolomite or large amounts of fertiliser simply because someone else’s garden needed it. Test first and work from what your own soil and plants are telling you.

Do not aim for mythical perfect soil

Healthy garden soil will not look identical in every backyard. Sandy soil, clay soil and loam naturally behave differently, and each comes with its own strengths and limitations.

The purpose of these checks is not to find faults everywhere. It is to slow down, observe and make better decisions before the spring rush begins.

Take a few photos, write down what you notice and repeat the same checks later in spring. Changes over time are often more useful than a single observation.

Before you ask what your garden needs this spring, start by asking a simpler question:

What is the soil already telling you?

Happy Gardening and Woolly regards

– Sherri