Testing Your Soil

Article by: Michael Russell

Most plants , Water Garden - Pond Pumps To Pump Up The Volume prefer pH between 5.5 and 7.5. A simple rule is that if your plants , Unusual Daffodil Stories are growing, , Mint: The Herb of Hospitality flowering , Teak Adirondack Chairs and fruiting well, the nutrient levels are fine. If you're just starting out or if you aren't satisfied with the growth of your plants, , The Magic Copier a little testing can help you get to the root , Using Vines to Beautify Your House of the matter. Too high or too low pH can result in yellow, stunted and unproductive plants. , Shrub Roses and Climbing Roses Unhealthy plants , Six Good Reasons For Going Organic are more prone to insect and disease , How to Grow Cucumbers attacks, which translates into more work for you and less satisfaction from your garden. , ing Tips To Excite Toddlers And Preschoolers

Testing your soil , How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way is like doing home , Lap Pools - Great Exercise Inside Or Any Size Backyard repairs. You can do it yourself , Tip-top Trailing Plants for Containers or have someone else do it for you. Doing it yourself , Teak Adirondack Chairs with a home , Lawn Care Tips - Six Easy Steps to a Great Lawn test kit is simple and gives you a basic pH reading and an estimation of the major nutrients in your soil. , Using Vines to Beautify Your House You can buy test kits at nurseries and garden , Give your Seeds a Head Start - How to Start Your Seeds Indoor centers and they range from extremely simple to elaborate. The more sophisticated tests cost more, but give you more accurate results.

You can also send a soil , Easy Pond and Water Garden Construction sample to a lab for testing. You simply take a representative sample of the soil , Teak Adirondack Chairs from your garden, , The Magic Plant Copier fill out a form and mail or take it to the lab. The results are more accurate and detailed that if you do the test yourself , Lap Pools - Great Exercise Inside Or Any Size Backyard with a home , Coneflower or Echinacea - the Best Thing in Your Bed kit, plus testing labs can look for things that home , Mole Myths: How Can I Get Rid of the Moles Destroying My Yard? kits cannot, such as organic , Easy Pond and Water Garden Construction matter and micronutrients. Soil-testing labs can also test for heavy metals , Two Answers to a Poinsettia FAQ: How Can I Get My Poinsettia to Rebloom? and other industrial residues. Soils , Outdoor Lighting Fixtures Increase Safety and Decrease Expense near heavily traveled roads or on old industrial sites can contain lead and other unwanted metals , Lawn Care Tips - Six Easy Steps to a Great Lawn that you may want to know about before planting a vegetable garden. , Conservation

Lab reports give you the current levels of nutrients and soil , Design Your Own Rose Garden pH and also offer specific recommendations about which nutrients to add to your soil , Light Up the Night! Quick Facts about Outdoor Lighting and in what quantity for your plants' optimum growth. Lab tests can get costly, however, especially if you have many different types of plantings, such as perennial flowers, , Mole Myths: How Can I Get Rid of the Moles Destroying My Yard? vegetables , Two Answers to a Poinsettia FAQ: How Can I Get My Poinsettia to Rebloom? and lawn , Using Bulbs in Your Landscaping and you do separate tests for each type. Check the phone , Tip-top Trailing Plants for Containers book under "Soil Testing" for private soil , The Top 10 Tips For Getting Rid Of Weeds In Your Lawn labs in your area or contact your state university's extension service. Many state universities test soil , Discount Patio Furniture - An Easy Way to Get the Best for a small fee or can recommend a private testing lab.

Most plants , How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way grow best in a pH range from 6.0 to 7.0. Some plants, , Azalea 'My Mary' however, suck as blueberries and rhododendrons, like highly acidic soil , Light Up the Night! Quick Facts about Outdoor Lighting (pH below 5.0), so you may need to adjust the soil , How to Grow Cucumbers pH to individual plants. , Lawn Care Tips - Six Easy Steps to a Great Lawn

In general, you add lime or limestone to raise the pH and sulfur to lower it. How much lime or sulfur you need to add depends on the type of soil , Landscape Lighting you have and its current pH. The soil-testing lab will make a specific recommendation based on that information. , Conservation

When adding lime or sulfur to your soil, , Redwood Outdoor Decor: Relax This Season With Furniture You Can Trust remember to wear gloves and a dust mask because this material can be very dusty and irritating if inhaled. You can spread the material by hand or use a drop spreader made to spread grass , Bamboo Plant Information and Care seed. In the garden, , Two Answers to a Poinsettia FAQ: How Can I Get My Poinsettia to Rebloom? work the lime or sulfur into the top few inches of soil , Time for a Flower Garden Tune-Up with a rake or shovel after spreading.

Don't expect results right away. Most limestone or powdered sulfur products , Hydroponics Gardening verses Organic Gardening: Which Grows the Best Cannabis? take a few months to react with the soil , Give your Seeds a Head Start - How to Start Your Seeds Indoor enough to change , Conservation the pH to the desired levels - another good reason to prepare your soil , Patio Canopies: Protecting Your Patio From The Elements a season , Tip-top Trailing Plants for Containers before you plan , Green Grass Cutting: Reel Lawnmowers to plant. , Design Your Own Rose Garden

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Gardening

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Michael Russell - EzineArticles Expert Author

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Testing Your Soil

Landscape Gardening

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