Silver Creek Nursery Planting Day Amendment Strategies

Do I need to amend my soil?

Generally speaking, most soils are not optimal for your plants to thrive. Over the years, we’ve learned that many soils lack diverse biology, structure, carbon, air, and certain minerals. Giving your plants the best start with some upfront amendments can go a long way toward rebuilding your soil and helping your plants thrive.

Your fruit trees will treat you as well as you treat them!

Below are 3 tiers of amendment strategies to suit your budget and situation. Followed by a detailed description of each amendment. Each are the amounts per tree.

The Ultimate SCN Planting Amendment Strategy

(Approximately $35–$65 per tree)

Mix 1 Tsp (5ml) of Root Rescue, 300–500 mL of Crooked Farmz Compost Tea (alternately a couple handfuls of worm castings or compost), and 200 mL of Terra Biosa or EM1 into 20 L of non-chlorinated water, and soak the plant roots in it for about 30 minutes.
Remove sod in a 1.5 m circle, loosen the soil, and dig the planting hole. See planting instructions for more detail.
Apply GRO BioDiverse Compost (11–22 L) to the surface after planting, and work it in gently.
Apply 250 mL each of Wollastonite, Basalt - Huplaso, and Volcanophos Rock Dust or Soft Rock Phosphate, plus 125 mL of Azomite on top of compost. Mix these with the compost and cover with mulch.
Woodchip mulch: Apply 4–6 inches of wood chips over the compost, making sure to pull the mulch away from the trunk. Consider living mulches like Comfrey as well.
Water in with the remaining water from the soak pail (Step 1), ensuring you are watering the root zone.

This strategy is a long-term investment. Topping up mulch (about once a year) and applying compost teas or extracts (2–3 times per year) are likely the only yearly soil inputs needed after that. Rock dusts should last about 5–10 years, and Root Rescue is a one-and-done application.

You should also consider using holistic sprays and following Michael Phillips’ timing and recipes as part of an ongoing program for clean fruit. You can omit the Terra Biosa mentioned above, as you will be applying it to the tree and the soil through your spray program. More holistic spray info here!

To shop this bundle, click -> HERE

The Budget SCN Planting Amendment Strategy

(Approximately $10 per tree)

Mix 1 Tsp (5ml) of Root Rescue and a couple handfuls of worm castings or compost into 20 L of non-chlorinated water, and soak the plant roots in it for about 30 minutes.
Remove sod in a 1.5 m circle, loosen the soil, and dig the planting hole. See planting instructions for more detail.
Apply GRO BioDiverse Compost (3–4 L) to the surface after planting.
Apply Volcanophos Rock Dust 250mL to 500ml of Volcanophos Rock Dust on top of the compost and work into the soil surface gently.
Woodchip mulch: Apply 4–6 inches of wood chips over the sod free planting area, making sure to pull the mulch away from the trunk. Consider living mulches like Comfrey as well.
Water in with the remaining water from the soak pail (Step 1), ensuring you are watering the root zone.

To shop this bundle, click -> HERE

The Bare Minimum SCN Planting Amendment Strategy

(Approximately $3 per tree)

Mix 1 Tsp (5ml) of Root Rescue into 20 L of non-chlorinated water, and soak the plant roots in it for about 30 minutes. Even just adding Root Rescue will give your plant a great chance to partner with mycorrhizal fungi, which will mine the nutrients already in your soil. Read more here!
Remove sod in a 1.5 m circle, loosen the soil, and dig the planting hole. See planting instructions for more detail.
Woodchip mulch: Apply 4–6 inches of wood chips over the sod free planting area, making sure to pull the mulch away from the trunk. Consider living mulches like Comfrey as well.
Water in with the remaining water from the soak pail (Step 1), ensuring you are watering the root zone.

You could also

add DIY compost tea or extract made from good compost
add a small handful of wood ash from your wood stove mixed with compost (be careful, wood ash is highly alkaline, only apply to the surface of the soil with some compost to help digest it)
create fermented plant juices or water extractions from weeds
cultivate Indigenous Microorganisms (IMOs)

There are a lot of free DIY options if you have the time and materials to do it (often free weeds, extra fruit, leaves, etc.). Some useful info here!

For a full list of our supplies relating to soil amendment, tools (including sprayers, etc.), you can check out these items we carry: FELCO tools, a list of organic and natural fertilizers as well as an array of books!

Want to make amends AND receive FREE plants?

Shop our Budget Soil Amendment Bundle

Shop our Ultimate Soil Amendment Bundle

This planting guidance is designed for general Canadian soil conditions and will not cover every situation. In extreme cases, additional or different amendments may be needed, and plants requiring unusual pH levels are not specifically addressed here. Always do your own soil test and consult your local agricultural advisor and organic certifier to ensure this approach fits your specific requirements.

Why We Chose These Amendments

All of the amendments below are chosen to do two things at the same time: grow healthier plants now and regenerate the soil for the long term. The goal is to build living soil infrastructure—biology, structure, and mineral balance—so that over time the system needs fewer outside inputs when managed with a regenerative mindset.

In practical terms, that means focusing on:

Feeding and diversifying soil biology
Building stable soil structure and carbon
Using minerals in slow, plant‑ and microbe‑friendly forms
Keeping the soil covered and protected year‑round

Below is why each amendment earns its place in that system.

Root Rescue (Mycorrhizal Inoculant + Kelp + Humic Substances )

Root Rescue contains both endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi, so it covers almost all of the trees and plants we sell, with the main exceptions being blueberries and the small group of plants that do not form mycorrhizal associations.

Mycorrhizal fungi form a living extension of the root system. Their thread‑like hyphae can increase the effective absorbing area of the roots many‑fold, allowing the plant to access far more water and nutrients than roots alone. They are especially well known for improving uptake of phosphorus, along with nitrogen, sulfur, and several micronutrients.

That is one of the reasons we can rely on slow, insoluble forms of phosphorus (such as soft rock phosphate or Volcanophos). These minerals stay put in the soil instead of leaching, while mycorrhizal fungi and other microbes gradually make them available to the tree over time.

Mycorrhizal networks do more than feed the plant. They also help build soil structure and stable soil carbon by binding soil particles into aggregates and contributing carbon‑rich compounds like glomalin. This leads to better tilth, aeration, and water‑holding capacity—core goals in regenerative agriculture.

In many modern soils, especially where there has been tillage, bare ground, or heavy fertilizer use, mycorrhizal spores can be scarce or slow to recolonize. Over‑fertilizing with soluble phosphorus can even reduce the plant’s incentive to form these partnerships. Inoculating at planting gives your trees a head start rather than waiting years for the right fungi to arrive on their own.

Root Rescue also includes kelp powder, which brings trace minerals and natural plant hormones that help transplants handle stress and establish more quickly.

Crooked Farmz Compost Tea (Biology Booster)

This compost tea is brewed from high‑quality composts known to have a high fungal‑to‑bacterial ratio—exactly the kind of biology that tree fruits and other woody perennials prefer.

A well‑made fungal‑leaning tea delivers:

A wide diversity of beneficial microbes and fungi
Organisms that help build soil structure and stable humus
Active nutrient cycling around the root zone
Biological “signals” that trigger the plant’s natural immune system

Perennial woody plants in more mature ecosystems naturally sit in more fungal‑dominated soils than annual vegetables do. By using fungal‑rich compost teas, we’re nudging our orchard soils in that same direction.

For a budget‑friendly option, a simple worm‑casting extract can play a similar role on a smaller scale, adding helpful biology with minimal cost.

Terra Biosa and EM‑1 (Fermented Microbial Inoculants)

Terra Biosa and EM‑1 are both fermented microbial blends designed to seed soils and plant surfaces with beneficial microbes and their metabolites. They overlap in many functions, with a few practical differences.

EM‑1 includes photosynthetic purple non‑sulfur bacteria (PNSB), which can help with nutrient cycling and redox balance in certain conditions. Terra Biosa does not contain PNSB, but is built around lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, and fermented herbal extracts; in our experience, it behaves as a strong “pathogen shield” in the root zone and on residue.

In the soil, both products:

Compete with and crowd out some disease organisms through sheer diversity and competition for food and space
Speed up decomposition of organic matter and cover crop residues
Help solubilize and mobilize nutrients in rock dusts and organic matter, feeding both plants and the wider soil food web

We use them alongside composts and rock dusts because biology is what actually unlocks those minerals and turns “amendments” into plant‑available nutrition.

Glen Road Organics Biologically Rich Compost

This compost is our main “biology and humus” source. It adds a highly diverse community of soil organisms and stable organic matter that drive nutrient cycling.

The Glen Road Organics (GRO) farm is a certified organic, regenerative teaching farm that produces BioDiverse Compost and Potting Mix and uses compost as their primary fertility input on‑farm. Their compost products are approved as inputs for certified organic operations and are designed to enhance soil health.

GRO compost is described as:

Aiding water retention
Stimulating disease resistance
Promoting strong root, stem, and foliage growth
Helping build soil structure
Containing diverse soil biology and being 100% natural (not sterilized)

For our purposes, GRO is the only source of microscope‑assessed, biologically rich compost we have found readily available in Ontario. Each batch is checked under a microscope to confirm diverse Soil Food Web organisms and good biological metrics, in line with their mission to help growers regenerate soil using living compost.

The organic matter in this compost helps buffer mineral rock dusts, while the life in the compost helps digest those minerals and cycle them into forms that plants can use. It also improves soil structure, water‑holding capacity, and resilience to drought and heavy rain—classic regenerative outcomes.

Rock Dusts (Mineral Diversity and Long‑Term Fertility)

Many of our regional soils are old, weathered, or leached. They often contain the right elements on paper, but those minerals can be locked up in forms that are slow to become available. Fresh, finely‑ground rock dusts provide a more accessible mineral bank that soil life can work on.

Used thoughtfully, rock dusts:

Increase the diversity of macro‑ and micronutrients available to the system
Support stronger plant metabolism and better flavour and nutrient density in fruit
Feed and balance soil biology over the long term, rather than delivering a short, soluble pulse

You could eventually unlock many of the same minerals with decades of cover cropping, composting, and careful management, but targeted rock dusts are a relatively small, one‑time boost to get you closer to that endpoint sooner.

Basalt – Huplaso

Basalt rock dust, such as Huplaso, brings a broad spectrum of macro‑ and micronutrients, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and trace elements.

It is also strongly paramagnetic, and many growers and trials report that more paramagnetic soils are associated with better plant vigor, more active soil biology, and improved water behaviour in the soil profile.

Wollastonite (Calcium Silicate)

Like other rock dusts, wollastonite contributes a wide range of minerals, but its high silica content makes it distinctive.

Silica supports stronger cell walls and more robust plant tissues, making plants less susceptible to certain diseases and environmental stresses like wind and drought.

Volcanophos and Soft Rock Phosphate (Slow‑Release Phosphorus)

Volcanophos and soft rock phosphate both supply phosphorus in forms that tend to stay in the soil rather than leach, releasing slowly as biology and mycorrhizae work on them.

Volcanophos is more reactive and microbially accessible, and its mineral profile significantly overlaps with basalt, which is why it is the single rock dust we choose for a strict “budget” strategy.
Soft rock phosphate is slower and longer‑term, acting like a phosphorus savings account in the soil.

Phosphorus is central to root development and energy transfer in plants, so having a biologically‑accessible, non‑leaky supply is key for long‑lived trees.

Azomite (Trace Mineral Blend)

Azomite provides a very broad suite of trace minerals—more than 60 elements in small amounts.

We do not apply it for any one nutrient, but to make sure the system has access to a diverse trace element “toolkit.” That diversity supports both plant metabolism and a more robust, adaptable soil food web.

Woodchip Mulch (Cover, Food, and Humus Builder)

Woodchip mulch does far more than just “look tidy.”

First, it keeps the soil covered. Covered soil:

Loses less moisture
Avoids extreme surface temperatures that can “bake” the life near the top few centimetres
Suffers less erosion and compaction

Second, woodchips are excellent fungal food. As they break down, they feed fungi and help shift the soil community toward a more fungal‑dominated profile, which is what woody perennials and orchard systems naturally prefer.

Third, over time woodchips contribute to humus formation and better soil structure. They decompose slowly over several years, building aggregates, increasing pore space, and improving both drainage and water‑holding capacity. Regenerative farmers sometimes call this the “cover‑the‑earth effect”—simply keeping soil covered tends to increase biological richness out of proportion to the nutrients in the mulch itself.