Soil & compost.

Get to know your soil and feed it well, the foundation of every good garden. 5 guides.

Guide categories

Identify your soil type
Roll a handful of moist soil to find its texture, add vinegar to check for chalk, test the pH, then choose plants and improvements to match.
No-dig gardening
Stop turning the soil, feed it from the top with compost each year, and let the worms and fungi do the digging for you.
How to make compost
Mix roughly equal greens and browns in a bin in a shady spot, keep it moist and aired, and in six months to a year you will have free compost.
Mulching
Spread a 5 to 7.5cm layer of organic matter over moist, weeded soil each year to hold in water, smother weeds and feed the ground, keeping it clear of plant stems.
Peat-free gardening
Peat-free compost protects carbon-rich bogs and grows plants just as well, as long as you water and feed it a little differently.