The Carbon Effect

The link between soil health, carbon and healthy plants

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We’ve always stressed how important soil health is to plant health, but our friends at Madumbi are the experts so we asked them to give us a more in-depth understanding of this fascinating subject.

Fact: The nutrient content of a plant’s tissues is directly related to the nutrient content of the soil, and its ability to exchange nutrients and water with plant roots. (FAO – Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations fao.org/ soils-2015)

In simpler terms, plant health and soil health go hand-in-hand. South African gardens are made up of a wide range of different soil types, each with their own properties, benefits and challenges. Soil is the foundation of a good garden and as our understanding of soil health grows so too does the priority of building soil.

What do we mean by building soil? T

o build a house you need bricks, cement and a team of builders. We all understand that – but how do we as gardeners go about building soil?

At Madumbi, our reference point starts with nature, where soil is formed primarily in two ways: