Your soil is giving you information. Here's how to read it.
Most gardening problems people try to solve with more products — more fertiliser, more seed, more moss killer — are actually soil problems. The symptoms show above ground, but the cause is underneath.
What your garden might be telling you:
Moss spreading into borders or lawn — Not a disease. It's telling you conditions favour moss: shade, poor drainage, compaction, or all three. Moss killer treats the symptom. Fixing the conditions solves the problem.
Yellow leaves on evergreens — Often waterlogging. Roots need air as well as water. When soil is saturated, roots suffocate. Common on Surrey clay after wet winters.
Soil cracking in summer — You're on shrink-swell clay. This cycle damages foundations, walls, and hard landscaping. Organic matter moderates it.
Bare patches that won't grow — Usually compaction. The soil has lost its pore structure. Throwing seed on compacted ground is wasting seed. The soil needs opening up first.
Water pooling for days after rain — Drainage issue. Could be compaction, clay, or a high water table. Worth investigating before it causes structural problems.
The solution for almost all of these? Organic matter. Mulch, compost, and time.
📍 Surrey
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