Dealing with Compacted Soil
By far, the biggest issue in rebuilding my micro-habitat has been dealing with compacted soil. Bulldozers and heavy equipment have crushed much of the life out of what was already poor soil on my habitat. I first knew I had a problem after a heavy rain over a number of days. I opened my compost bin and did not see one earthworm. At my previous property, after a heavy rain all the earthworms would move to the top of the compost bin an effort to get a breather from really moist conditions. As you walked around the neighborhood you would see worms on the ground, even on sidewalks. None of that occurs in my current neighborhood. There are no worms to be seen and that is the best sign that the soil is of both poor quality and compacted. Yet, after one year of soil amendments and adding organic matter to the soil, I saw an earthworm near some plants after a heavy rain a few days ago. I am not an expert on dealing with compacted soil, but believe I...