Soil analysis 'can help boost garden productivity'
15:01 4th February 2011
Greenhouse and gardening enthusiasts should perform soil analysis to get the best out plants and vegetables, it has been claimed.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Guy Barter said it is worth checking whether nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium and magnesium are present.
He added that it is preferable to assess the soil quality before planting begins because fixing a lack of these substances is harder once plants are embedded.
Rachael Tanner, manager of the Royal Horticultural Society Soil Analysis Service, said it is not always easy to find out what is going wrong with unproductive earth.
"It is typical of gardening that often there is not a simple explanation for poor plant growth," she continued. "But we have had practice in reading between the lines to work out what could be going on in the soil."
Mr Barter concluded by suggesting the most effective way to enrich a growing area is to add plenty of organic matter such as compost.
In a recent article for the Daily Mail, BBC Gardeners' World star Martyn Cox said simple groundwork will make a huge difference to a garden's potential to grow plants and flowers.
