Soil Testing and Garden Information at Linden Place, 500 Hope St, Bristol, Saturday April 19, 2025, 9:00 am-12pm
It’s spring and most gardeners are eager to get out in their gardens, pull the weeds and figure out their plans for a productive, colorful garden.
Here in Rhode Island, and New England in general, we have mostly acidic soil with a lot of sand and silt. The best way to start your gardening is to test your garden soil.
Why?
“Soil testing measures the nutrients and other aspects of soil fertility related to crop, garden and ornamental plant growth. Indirectly, soil water is important in that nutrients must be dissolved in it to be taken up by plants.” Jake Mowrer, PhD, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Getting started with the right soil will improve your end results; higher yields of produce, flowers and growth at reduced costs to you now and in the future.
URI Master Gardeners will again conduct free Soil Testing and Garden Information at Linden Place on April 19 from 9: am until noon in the back courtyard.
They will take your dry soil samples from your garden beds and lawns to check pH, soil type and organic material. They will then provide you with the results, make recommendations on adding lime, fertilizer, compost and answer your questions.
Free seeds will also be available for you.
To prepare your samples: Several days before Soil Testing, remove one top 1 inch of soil, or sod if a lawn sample, then dig and remove a vertical slice 6 inch sample of the soil. Place this in a small plastic bag to dry and gather a few more random samples to ensure you obtain a representative sample of your soil.
Mark your bag with indelible ink (Sharpies work well) so you know where the sample was taken. You can test up to 4 areas. Samples must be dry to properly test the soil.
See you at Linden Place for Soil Testing rain or shine.
Joe Velleca
Museum Administrator
Linden Place Museum
500 Hope Street
Bristol, RI 02809
401-253-0390
www.lindenplace.org