Improving the earth where your plants live is the first step

Occasionally you hear talk about the monstrous plants in such-and-such a person's garden. Their soil, it seems, possesses mystical properties or is home to green-thumbed gnomes who labor by moonlight.

It's true that some soils are naturally better than others, but anybody's back yard can be home to exuberant plants, no matter the soil.

Improving your soil takes more than just tossing a few of handfuls of fertilizer on the ground; a better approach would be to check the water situation first. Soil pores can be filled with water, with air or with both water and air. The last condition is what plants like best. If your soil is waterlogged, fluff it up with organic materials such as peat moss, compost and leaves, build raised beds, minimize trampling and do not till when wet. Those organic materials are doubly beneficial, because even as they create big spaces in the soil for air, they also act like sponges to hold water, which plants also need, of course.

Watering is often needed to supplement natural rainfall, and, if done correctly, can mimic that "gnome effect." A general rule is to run a sprinkler in one place once a week, for one or two hours at a time.

Better than watering by any general rule would be to water when the soil starts to dry. Check for dryness by digging a hole a few inches deep and feeling the soil. And then, if you want to be really good to your plants, dig down and check the soil again after you water.

With roots happily bathing in air and water, move on to nourishing your plants. First check the soil pH using a home testing kit or by taking a soil sample to your local Cooperative Extension office. If the pH is not in the correct range -- slightly acidic for most plants -- plants cannot take in fertilizer nutrients.

Now for the nourishment itself. Those organic materials mentioned earlier also provide some nourishment, but additional nutrients, especially nitrogen, might also be needed. Be careful to not use too much of any fertilizer because too much can be as harmful as too little.

Obviously, there is some art in giving plants just the right amount of water and nourishment. And, of course, you have to pay attention to timely planting as well as other details -- such as crop rotation, keeping weeds, insects, and diseases at bay, and pinching and pruning. It's not gnomes and mystical soil that make plants grow well, but attention to these myriad details.