Getting to Know Your Garden Soil

Having a basic understanding of your garden soil and it’s pH level will not only help keep your garden healthy, but will give you a better understanding of the plants that will and won’t flourish within it.   Many amateur gardeners are put off about learning the ins and outs of ‘gardening science’, thinking it might all be a little over their heads. But the reality is that getting to grips with garden soils isn’t particularly difficult, and can help you take your gardening skills to the next level.   Why does your soil matter? Well it can determine the types of plants you grow and how well they grow.   Here we’re going to look in detail at gardening soils, covering everything you need to know in an easy to understand and digestible way.   What is soil? Simply put, soil is a mixture of many different things including fallen leaves, dead animals, decayed plants, decomposed trees, and much, much more. A more formal description of soil would be:   ‘the upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles’ Because of soils often varying properties and makeup, we find many different types of it, with it often coming in different colours and textures. Your average healthy soil sample would contain something similar to: 45% minerals 25% water 25% air 5% organic matter