>>2472766Best solution: change the soil structure using plants. Both using biotic glues that hold soil particles together, soak up and hold water, and create air pores in the soil to let the water seep in and infiltrate a bigger amount of soil vs non agregated soil stucture that just creates a pan through which water does not infiltrate.
For that you need to do two things:
1. Do not distrub the soil structure that is already there or that you build up, the less mechanical disturbance the better.
2. Have a living root in the soil as long as possible through out the year. Which will create those glues and pores.
That handles soil water infilrtation and retention. Now above the soil:
1. It ideally is covered by living ground covers, plants leaves do a lot to reduce evaopration and keep the soil moisture in.
2. If you don't have living plants, covering it, things like straw should be used.
Bare soil is a SIN. You should never see bare soil.
Simply put, the soil in the bags is not bad because it's "bad soil" it's bad because it's dead soil and any natural structure you might get in nature has not been built up yet. You probably also leave the top of the soil bare.
Now typically people buy bags of soil for their pots, and in pots you can't really do much. If you are however doing it i the ground, then you should strive towards building soil health through plants terraforming it.
