Anyone who’s ever tried gardening has experienced a couple plants dying and have done their research into why the plant could have died. What many have discovered is that a good portion of the time it had something to do with what soil was used and how the soil was prepared or treated.

Soil is your needy best friend in gardening and how it gets treated is based off of the plants that are going to take root. For most plants, what soil you snag from the local gardening center is just fine and your leafy friends will enjoy their lives with a little bit of fertilizer here and there. What about trees and berry bushes though? What about those bountiful hydrangeas? Or the orchid you received for Mother’s Day or a birthday?

What I have discovered, and am still discovering, is that everything affects the soil and how the plants grow whether they’re already bushes or seeds. Even more surprising can be the amount of time it takes to prep before you even have the plant.

What do you mean I should worry about acid?

The acidity of the soil you use can greatly affect flowering and harvest and might be why you’ve struggled to get blueberries to grow. It isn’t specifically blueberries that struggle with the pH balance of the soil being used but it is one of the most searched plants with many videos on how to care for them. While most plants may not need acidic soil, many berry bushes and some flowers require lower pH and more acidic qualities in their soil.

What can cause changes in the pH levels? The fertilizer and water can, over time, change soil pH levels. There are shorter term changes you can make to the soil using substances like peat moss, elemental sulfur, manure, compost, or fertilizer. Each option has directions for usage and is made up of different elements, but they all have what preferred plant somewhere on the container.

Many online sites, articles, and videos tell you to measure the pH levels but how do you do that? At your local gardening centers and hardware stores there are tools to help with that for as lows as $10. Many of them have a guide that tells you what type of plant needs a certain pH level. With the water you put in the soil, you can easily use test strips, liquid test kits, or pH meters.

The plant gets watered so why does the amount matter? What does that have to do with my soil?

Plants can drown and dehydrate just like humans, the difference is that they can’t say or do anything about it. Some plants require moisture but also need drainage. Other plants can withstand weeks without being watered and still survive in dry soil for a short time. Most plants a gardener has can be watered the same way however. If the soil immediately soaks up the water and there is no excess at the top (or bottom if it’s in a pot with drainage holes), it’s well watered.

Beginners can get confused about drainage. Put quite simply, it’s how fast the water moves through the soil. There are different mixtures of soil that will effect how the soil drains and contains moisture and are constructed of differing levels of mosses, barks, and sand consistencies. Moss can often help with moisture retention and slow drainage while wood chips can help with the speed of drainage.

So what do you do with the plants that have certain watering standards? There are tools that gardeners can get to check the soil from their local nurseries and hardware stores. They’ll measure the moisture in the soil and often have guides on the packaging organized by a moisture level and the type of plants.

The ground can never be too hard right?

Wrong.

Roots can be stopped, stunted, and suffocated if the soil you are planting in is too hard. You wouldn’t push through a wall to get into a building unless you were the Incredible Hulk. Previously, I mentioned that the soil should be loosened to at least 6-8 inches to promote root growth and allow roots to strengthen and situate the plant into it’s spot.

This may require tilling if you aren’t using pots and that can be done with a hoe, a tiller, or (if you like working harder) a shovel and hands. This is the point you would add in the soil mixtures that will control drainage and the fertility of the land you’re planting in.

So why did I mention suffocation? Just like your feet, the roots need room to breath. What happens when you till isn’t just that the soil loosens, but it also aerates. Aerating a garden or lawn can allow for better water and nutrient absorption while giving the roots oxygen.