One of the most important ways to make sure you have great success in your backyard garden is to ensure you build a good quality soil, which is full of nutrients and life.
In the south of Perth where I live the soil is very sandy, well-draining, and doesn’t hold on to much water or nutrients.
This is what our soil is like not built up 
This is the soil from one of my garden
Below is what I have done to boost up my soil
· Clay – I have found kaolin clay to be better product when starting new ground, however when adding to an established garden I have found bentonite better as it’s a finer product. Due to it being a finer product I find you can just scratch it into the surface and over time with watering the bentonite clay move down into the soil layer.
· Compost – A major part of what I have added to my soil is mushroom compost. Mushroom compost works very well; it has both great nutrients and water holding abilities. Make sure it cools down before you place it around existing plant or it could burn them. I also make my own compost, which I add any organics matter I have to. It’s a great way to put my lawn clippings and kitchen waste.
Worm casting are gold for building great quality soil 
Mushroom Compost is great compost for building you soil
· Worm Casting – I also add my worm casting and worm juice to my garden.
· Coco Coir Peat – This year I have begun using coco coir peat as mulch and as the core of my vegetable garden bed. The water holding abilities of it are amazing. I find by keeping the peat wet, it wicks slowly into the soil keeping it moist.
· Aquaponics water and solids – I also add my aquaponics water to my garden beds when I need to drain the solids filter. I also remove the solids waste, water it down and apply it to the garden.
· Keep your soil wet- Keeping the soils wet allows the mycorrhizal fungi, bacteria, worm and other soil life to keep living and improving the soil for you
Liquid and granular additives – I also use item like Eco-Seaweed, Seasol Powerfeed, GoGo juice, organic granular slow release fertilizer with microbes. Over using fertilizer can actually destroy soil life so read the instruction supplied.
Just remember when starting from scratch, your soil can take while to build up and get going well. Once it gets going, it also needs to be added to on a regular basis with more organic matter, otherwise the soil will eventually die out.
Once you have established good soil it will reward you and you will be amazed at the results.
The result of a great quality soil 
Beetroot getting all the nutrient they need
Stay tuned to my page for tips, tricks, comparisons and lessons learned. Comment to let me know what you think or ask a question, I’d love to hear from you.