You Too Can Save Soil

For years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has worked with farmers to develop techniques to conserve our country’s soil. But farms aren’t the only place where soil can erode or become degraded. Now, the USDA is turning its attention to our nation’s backyards and working with homeowners to apply some of the same thinking developed on the farm to the soil around the house.

Here are a few of the USDA’s backyard tips:

Compost
By using the organic waste generated around your house (like fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, shredded paper, dead leaves, grass clippings, or sawdust), you can turn garbage into fertilizer. Composting is the process of helping organic materials break down, or decompose, into a rich mix of nutrients. The compost can be applied to your yard or garden as fertilizer to help make your soil healthy—for free!

Mulch
Once your soil is healthy and supporting plants, you don’t want it to wash away. So cover it up with mulch, which is a layer of material that helps prevent erosion. Mulch can be anything from grass clippings or bark chips to stones or newspaper. Mulch will help prevent soil erosion and compression while it conserves moisture, too.

Terrace
If you don’t take precautions when planting on a steep slope, soil can wash away quickly. But there’s an easy solution that not only prevents erosion but also looks nice: terracing. Terraces are like mini-gardens built in a tier in the slope in your yard. They help slow the water as it runs downhill, allowing it to soak in rather than carrying the soil away.