Free Soil Testing Sunday at Prescott Farm offers Garden Help

The secret to a great garden lies under your feet.

The quality of the soil in which your flowers, vegetables and lawn grow determines how big and healthy your plants will get. It also can explain why your lawn is overrun with weeds, or why attempts to fertilize seem to make the problem worse.

On Sunday, the URI Master Gardeners will be at Prescott Farm from 10 a.m. to noon to offer free soil analysis and dispense advice about lawn, tree and garden care. Or whatever else you want to ask.

Prescott Farm, located at 2009 West Main Road, is worth a visit either way, with beautiful gardens managed by the URI Master Gardeners.

Collecting a soil sample is simple. Using a trowel, take several small samples in each area you want tested. Collect samples 3- to 4-inches deep for lawns, 6- to 8-inches for vegetables, and up to a foot-and-a-half for fruit trees.

Sampling recently fertilized, limed, or wet soil will throw off the results, which will measure the texture and pH of the soil sample.

Once you’ve collected your soil, spread about a cup’s worth on a piece of paper to dry overnight.

Once dry, put it in a sealable plastic bag, write your name and the type of plant growing in the soil and head on down to the farm.

If you can’t make the sampling event this Sunday, you can catch the next one. They run from April through September.

FOr more information, visit www.newportrestoration.org