10 Everyday Items That Actually Kill Your Garden Soil

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Some may consider themselves an old hand at gardening, but even the greenest of thumbs can be unwittingly introducing things into the garden soil that are harmful. Just a little innocent household waste, a misunderstood fertilizer substitute, or even just a regular gardening habit can ultimately degrade soil quality. The result? A garden that you struggle to get to work, that won’t thrive, no matter how much you water, weed and plant.

If your garden has been nothing to write home about, perhaps it’s time to look closer at what’s sneaking into the soil. Maybe you are adding one of these 10 everyday items and it is making your soil worse than better and undermining your hard work.

Salt

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If you add salt to your garden either by accident or in pursuit of some misguided remedy, you’re in for some serious trouble. Salt dries out the roots of plants and upturns the balance of nutrients in the soil. Commercial ice melts often contain a lot of salt, and when winter snow and ice melt off your driveways and sidewalks and trickle into your garden beds, they bring a lot of salt with them. In the winter, keep in mind where you shovel or de-ice, and don’t use salt-based products anywhere near your garden.

Paper With Colored Ink

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It’s tempting to throw whatever paper comes to hand into your compost pile, but colored or glossy pages are off the menu. Older printed materials often contain heavy metals and other chemicals that can contaminate soil with these inks. Colored ink doesn’t break down like organic matter: it sticks around and can eventually damage your plants. If it’s a compostable paper, plain cardboard or newspaper, usually it’s safe – just steer clear of anything with bright colors or a shiny finish.

Cigarette Butts

Green Plants on a Plant Box
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Cigarette butts are small, but they’re full of chemicals like nicotine, cadmium and arsenic, all of which are poisonous to plants and soil life. The bad news is that the filters aren’t biodegradable either, so they’ll remain in your soil after the chemicals are long gone. To avoid contaminating your soil, keep butts out of your garden.

Chemical Pesticides

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This quick chemical fix to keep bugs away is tempting, but using pesticides can leave the bugs gone but the soil poisoned with chemicals that can harm not only the pests, but also beneficial insects, earthworms and other organisms key to healthy soil. Over time, chemical pesticides can build up in the natural ecosystem and can even contaminate water in nearby areas. Instead, think about organic methods of pest control that don’t leave lasting toxins behind.

Artificial Fertilizers

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Artificial fertilizers can help the plants grow short term but in the long term, they disrupt the natural balance of your soil. Fertilizers with high quantities of nitrogen and phosphates may give quick growth, but they may also remove other important nutrients, and destroy microorganisms that could otherwise enhance soil structure and fertility. This can be bad for the soil, so if you use organic compost or other natural fertilisers, it’s better for your soil in the long term.

Dish Soap

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Often recommended for pest sprays are a few drops of dish soap but using too much can damage your soil’s structure and harm beneficial insects and microorganisms. Degreasers and fragrances found in many dish soaps don’t belong in soil and they could kill off helpful bugs that help keep pests under control. If you must, try mild, biodegradable soap, and use as little as you can.

Coal Ash

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Burning coal can help keep you warm during the winter but tossing the ashes into your garden is bad news because of its heavy metal content. Often the residues of toxic elements such as arsenic and mercury are found in coal ash, and if this is allowed to seep into the soil, it can adversely affect your plants. However, in small amounts, wood ash is generally safe, as long as it’s untreated wood and used sparingly. Don’t use coal ash in your soil or plants.

Cat and Dog Waste

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Animal waste is generally thought of as great fertilizer, but cat and dog waste can bring harmful bacteria and parasites to the soil. Pet waste isn’t broken down like cow or chicken manure, and it can spread disease to humans through contact with gardening. Whether or not your pet’s waste is small, pick it up and never add it to your compost or garden beds.

Vinegar

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Although vinegar is an excellent natural weed killer, it should only be used in the garden with caution. Changing the pH of the soil to become more acidic and less hospitable to many plants, vinegar can change the soil’s pH quite a bit. It also destroys beneficial fungus and bacteria in the soil and diminishes the soil’s capacity to support a healthy plant world. If you want to use vinegar for weeds, you can add it to areas you aren’t going to grow anything, like walkways and patios.

Bleach

Bleach
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It might seem like a handy way to kill mold or to disinfect surfaces, but it’s a nightmare for your soil. Chlorine in bleach is very toxic to those good bacteria of healthy soil and actually kills plants, because if it leaches in the roots, they die. As well, bleach can change the soil’s pH, making it impossible for plants to absorb the nutrients they need. You can stick to safer cleaning methods, or use bleach only in areas far from your plants.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.

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