Your soil is full of life – or at least, it should be. If you were to pick up a handful of healthy soil and examine it under a microscope, you would see that it is teeming with life, full of microorganisms that provide benefits to the plants and small creatures that live around them.
What are those microorganisms? Here are three of the most important microbes that you can find in healthy soil – and that you can look for, next time you are shopping for soil improvement materials.
Bacteria
You may have herd before that human bodies have beneficial bacteria living on and inside them, but did you know that your plants and the surrounding soil do, too? It is true; bacteria are some of the most important microbes for soil improvement.
Think of them as the workhorses of the soil environment. They break down organic matter to render nutrients from them and help plants and other microbes make use of those materials. Now, that is an important job!
Fungi
What do fungi do for your plants? Much like bacteria, they break down larger materials and help to make them available for your plants to use. Specifically, they live on and around the roots of the plant, helping them to absorb water, nutrients, and more from the soil around them. Without fungi, most plants would not be able to make use of sugar, amino acids, and other organic nutrients that exist in the soil.
Nematodes
These funny-sounding little creatures are an important part of keeping your soil and your plants healthy. What are they? Nematodes are microscopic worms that live both inside and around plants. They may be predatory, preying on the plant and the microscopic life around it, or they may be beneficial. Beneficial nematodes eat the predatory variety and secrete nutrients that the plant can use, keeping the environment in balance and benefitting the health of your plants in your entire lawn or garden.
