Whether you are growing organic vegetables at your allotment or prize winning roses in your garden, the quality of your soil is a vital element in having healthy, happy plants.

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Healthy soil will have a good structure, the right pH (neither too acidic or alkaline), and have a good level of biodiversity.

If you are concerned about your soil, working with a good soil remediation company can help, but there are also many things you can do for yourself.

Know your soil

Knowing what kind of soil you have is a first key step to getting it healthy. It will also have a big impact on the kind of plants that will grow best there, as this article shows.

You can purchase a special kit to get to know your soil pH level, but it is also good to pick up handfuls and see how it looks and feels as well as finding out if there are worms present. What kind of soil is it? Is it clay based, sandy etc.? Also, does it look like it needs more hydration? All these factors will impact on how you care for it.

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Go natural

Weed killers are not only bad news for insects, especially bees, but they are also not good for your soil. You may think that just spraying a pesticide or herbicide on one area of your garden won’t affect all the soil, but the chemicals can filter down and out to cover all areas.

No-one likes weeds, but there are plenty of ways to keep them under control that don’t involve nasty chemicals.

Keep it loose

Good news for those of you who hate digging – it really isn’t needed for healthy soil and can actually cause harmful compaction, not to mention harm to the important worms that you want to encourage in your soil. Aerating with a fork is great, but no back-breaking digging is required.

Hydration is key

Soil is like a sponge and can soak up water, which it passes along to your plants. It needs more water than you can imagine, as this shows soilfix.co.uk/services/soil-groundwater-remediation.

Feed it

Adding organic elements such as compost, plant based food scraps, grass cuttings and old leaves is a great, natural way to feed your soil and keep it in optimum health.