Preparing Your Soil

As I walk around my neighborhood, I can't help but smile at everything in bloom.  

Growing up in South Central Texas, spring was almost non-existent; at least in the traditional, four seasons sense. My favorite part of spring there is what we call “Bluebonnet Season.” The first blooms burst forth in mid-March, close to the first official day of Spring, and last just around a month. Families would flock to fields in their finest spring frocks, camera in tow, hoping to get a shot of their kiddos smiling.  

Bluebonnets are well adapted to the rocky, moderately fertile soil that much of the Lonestar State is made up of. The flower also has a heavy root system, allowing it to locate water even during drier months, but would see a loss in number of blooms if you were to add fertilizer to its soil.   

One of my favorite spring blooms that crop up all over Louisville are daffodils. Unlike bluebonnets, daffodils benefit from soil amending. Acidic soil is best for them, so adding a fertilizer that’s low in nitrogen is best. However, it’s important that the fertilizer doesn't come in direct contact with the bulbs, so forethought needs to be given to prepping the soil before planting bulbs. Because they need to be planted in the fall, it is important to prepare the soil to host them throughout the cold winter months.  

After a season of rest, whether for our gardens, or for ourselves, we need to prepare our soil before we start throwing out seed or carefully transplant seedlings we’ve worked hard to cultivate.  

Even if you have taken careful steps to properly overwinter your soil, you cannot assume that the soil is ready to receive new seeds or plants, or that it is even optimal growing conditions for perennials that return yearly.  

We have seen that the health of the soil of your work environment is equally, if not actually more important, than what will be planted there. You could have the most robust variety of flowers and other plants, but if the soil cannot support them, then it is only a matter of time before all your flowers, or employees, wither.  

Like a plant’s life cycle, there is a sequence, The Cycle of the Mind, that we like to utilize when thinking strategically about taking incremental steps in preparing our soil or tending to our plants.  

One of the first things that we do with all of our clients is begin by addressing beliefs, and not actions. Belief drives everything. What we believe about a person, a situation, a conversation, determines how you see the world around you, which is our perception, which then gives way to our thoughts, then feelings, and finally, the last step—actions.  

You can see from the graphic below, that it is cyclical; repeating with every interaction. Often, if we stop to think about it, we realize that we jump very quickly through the first four stages of the Cycle of the Mind, without realizing it. It can seem like we go from belief to action without even pausing to acknowledge our perception or feelings, and did we even give it a thought?  

Going back to our analogy, we like to think of ourselves as students of the soil, anticipating the seeds we look to plant in it and the garden we want to flourish from it. With a student’s mindset, we give ourselves the space to be curious, to understand how the choices we and the other gardeners make can support any type of plant variety in our garden. Or conversely, how we can cause more damage.  

We can ask ourselves some of the following questions: What amendments do we need to make to the environment?  Are there areas of our organization that need more oversight or support? Are we pouring too much into one area and neglecting others? Too much of a good thing can be just as harmful as not having enough resources where they’re needed most.  

Through observation, learning and education, collaboration, feedback from employees, and implementation of that feedback, we are in a position to see fertile and vibrant soil.  

Even with the best of intentions, it can be hard to determine the current health of your soil, or what your soil needs in order to support your current and future teams. Think of us as your master garden trainers. We help leaders like you prepare the soil of your organization so that all your flowers, regardless of their origin, variety, or soil needs, can bloom in your organization.  

Are you ready to unpack beliefs and become a student of your soil? Reach out to us at jaedent@harperslade.com to schedule your free soil assessment today.  

Tune back soon for another edition of this Garden series and more!

-Jaeden