Protecting the soil on your property is very important if you want grass and vegetation to grow and keep your home's foundation steady and solid. Soil erosion can cause sandy soil to break down under the weight of a foundation or even a concrete driveway. Too much moisture in the soil can mean soft dirt that shifts and cracks around your home. This moisture can also put pressure on the home's foundation and eventually cause leaks.

Certain landscape supplies can protect your property's soil and help you avoid erosion and runoff, or the collection of moisture on your land. Note a few tips for choosing the right landscaping supplies to protect your property.

1. Matting

Matting is a popular option for keeping soil healthy and moist and helping to avoid soil runoff. It's usually made of natural materials like wood chips, and the matting will have holes so that vegetation can grow through it. It will naturally degrade over time so you don't need to remove it, but it will keep moisture and the soil itself in place so you avoid erosion. Matting is usually unrolled right over your property's soil, but to keep it from being an eyesore you can add a layer of topsoil over it and then plant vegetation as you normally would.

2. Weed barriers

Weed barriers work like matting except that they are placed on your property where you don't want vegetation to grow. These barriers are usually long rolls of material that block out sunlight and also keep the soil compacted so that no weeds or other vegetation can break through their surface. A weed barrier can be placed along areas that see high weed growth and in turn, choke out the healthy moisture your soil needs. You can also cut holes in weed barriers to place your own plants or vegetation; this will protect the area around them and ensure that no area of your property has overgrowth of unwanted vegetation.

3. Buried retainer walls

A retainer wall can help to control moisture and soil erosion. You can have a buried retainer wall on your property which might consist of gravel or rocks that are placed under the soil. If you note that there are areas of your property that seem overly moist, you might consider digging a trench and creating a buried retainer wall at the area of runoff. This will protect the soil on your property from losing that moisture or having it collect around your home's foundation.