Pulling up plant roots is bad for your soil.

This is one of the most common mistakes I see people do in their gardens. It's a common way to remove weeds, or 'flip beds', but it's actually detrimental to the soil health.

It’s MUCH better for your soil to cut plants at the base and let them decompose naturally.

Why?

Beneficial bacteria in your soil actually form mutualistic relationships with your plant roots.

Basically bacteria TRADE nutrients and minerals with your plants. This is why active healthy soil grows such beautiful plants without fertilizers or soil tests. The bacteria know what your plants want, and the plants trade carbon for the nutrients and minerals they need.

Seriously.

Plants and bacteria literally trade nutrients and minerals with each other.

Plants can request specific nutrients and minerals and specific bacteria will come and fulfill the request. This sounds too good to be true. But it's absolutely true, and harnessing this in your garden is the surest way to never worry about nutrient deficiencies ever again.

So bacteria like plant roots and want to stay near. How do they do this without washing away if it rains a lot or if you leave the sprinkler on?

Enter: soil aggregates.

Bacteria pull together discrete particles in your soil (like minerals) and bind them together into something called aggregates. These aggregates allow bacteria to physically stay close to your plant roots.

If you’re a gardener you know that tilthy crumbly texture of good soil. Have you ever felt soil like that? That’s because it’s ‘well aggregated,’ or soil bacteria have made lots of soil aggregates.

This type of soil has too MANY benefits to list here, but basically it’s the #1 goal of any gardener or farmer to have beautiful soil like that.

Every time you pull up your plant roots, you’re also disturbing all the bacteria that have made aggregates to stay close to your plant roots. Disturbing them depletes your soil.

So instead just cut plants at the base, and let the roots decompose naturally.