Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Soil type affects how it retains water and nutrients.Photograph: iStock/Getty Images (Photograph: iStock/Getty Images) I often ...

Amanda Blum is a freelancer who writes about smart home technology, gardening, and food preservation. Previously, Amanda has worked as a technology strategist specializing in problem solving and ...

Our team of professional journalists has more than 100 years of combined experience writing articles like this. Help us continue producing award-winning content by clicking the follow button above.

The gardener and author shared a genius soil test to ensure you carefully select plants that are guaranteed to grow and ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Gardener spoons soil into a plastic testing tube - William Edge/Shutterstock Failing to conduct a soil test is one of the biggest ...

The question I receive most frequently from vegetable gardeners: How much fertilizer should I apply? The second most frequently asked question: How can I get better vegetable yields in my garden? Both ...

You've probably read countless seed packets and planting guides that use words like "sandy," "clay," "loam," and "silt" to describe the ideal soil texture for what you're planting. But you might not ...

Agricultural soil testing is critical to determining soil’s nutrient concentration and variability across your fields. It is ideal to test your fields’ soil at least every two to three years to inform ...

Add Outdoor Life (opens in a new tab) More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Colleen Hagerty Colleen Hagerty is a writer focused on emergency preparedness.

When farmers talk about their soil test results, the conversation often starts and ends with soil pH. While that one number is important to determining whether lime is needed, that insight is just a ...