You might think the question is rhetorical but there's a real difference — and it matters more than you might expect. What many of us call "soil" is actually just dirt. Here's a simple way to tell the two apart: soil is defined by the life thriving inside it; dirt is defined by the absence of it. In other words, dirt is lifeless.

The signs are easy to spot. Does your ground feel hard, compacted, and dry? Does water sheet off the surface instead of soaking in? Are worms nowhere to be found? Above ground, the clues continue: plants that look weak, pale, or stunted; growth that stalls during the season; foliage that wilts quickly under heat or drought. If any of this sounds familiar, you likely have more dirt than soil.

The good news is that dirt can become soil — and it's more affordable than you might think.

The Soil Food Web

Healthy soil is teeming with fungi, bacteria, protozoa, micro-arthropods, earthworms, and more — a community scientists call the "soil food web." Think of it like your own body: deprive it of oxygen, food, water, and nutrients, and it begins to break down. Your landscape works the same way. When the soil food web is balanced and thriving, plants have access to everything they need to grow strong.

Brewing Life Into Your Landscape

So how do you invite billions of beneficial organisms into your yard? One method with centuries of history — and growing scientific support — is compost tea. Dr. Elaine Ingham, a leading American microbiologist, soil biology researcher, and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc., points to compost as the best starting point. By brewing what's known as "compost tea" or "compost extract," a small amount of high-quality compost can be diluted and spread across a much larger area than compost in its solid form ever could — delivering more beneficial microbes for less time and money.

Compost tea brewing in house — keeping brew-to-application time short for maximum microbial activity.

Of course, not all compost is created equal. At Columbine Landscapes, we use Table to Farm Compost, a local operation whose product consistently contains the live microbial cultures this process requires. We brew our own compost tea in house, keeping the brew-to-application time as short as possible for maximum microbial activity.

What Compost Tea Does for Your Landscape

Compost tea works on multiple fronts at once. It builds healthy soil structure, delivers vitamins and minerals, introduces beneficial bacteria, fungi, and nematodes that provide natural pest control, and creates a "soil sponge" that retains water and reduces runoff. Over time, it can also reduce your garden's watering needs.