Soil Sample for Success

It is really tempting to rush out & purchase all the gorgeous plants which will start to become available in just a few, short weeks. After the grey, damp days of late winter, the prospect of bright blooms and lush foliage has us all salivating.

Already, half the catalogs showing up are of people frolicking about on perfect, green lawns and paddle-boarding off of Caribbean islands (perhaps the cruise lines are in cahoots with exercise apparel companies?). Yes, a flowering hibiscus and some palm trees are just what we need!

Of course, the reality is that the turf is just waking up. The weeds seem about a month ahead of everything else. All those spots you forgot to rake the leaves off of last autumn are now bare, muddy patches. For some reason, the children have left toys and shoes all over the front beds and the nocturnal creatures are gnawing the tiny bit of new, fresh growth off of all your favorite plants.

Sometimes it feels as though we could spend all our time in the yard and we would still not get the best results. The good news is that there are some basic things to prepare outdoor spaces for greater success which are not horribly time-consuming or back breaking.

Please think about taking a soil sample. This is a great step so many people ignore. It really can give you good information. What are you working with? Maybe you've been throwing lime every year on your grass to no avail? You might actually have alkaline soil that isn't helped by lime.

It really behooves us to get the right information so that we're not just guessing and throwing random product out. Here's a link for soil testing at our Dept of Agriculture in NC. We also do carry soil sample kits here at the shop.


Once you have the knowledge, then you can prepare for all those irresistible blossoming beauties which will be for sale, on offer from neighbors and which those kids might even be bringing back from school. Speaking of those kids, shouldn't they be out there helping to pick up branches and raking leaves with you?




No comments:

Post a Comment

Adding Outdoor Quality to Our Lives

There certainly is great pleasure in beholding a well-planned & carefully maintained garden. There is also something to be said for the ...