Find your garden centre

Back to the overview

Soil and fertilisers in Durham

You’re always hearing gardeners talking about using fertilisers in their gardens, or what they’re doing about improving the quality of their soil, but what does this all mean? Why are good soil and fertilisers so important? Before answering this question, we at The Garden Centre Guide would like to tell you about how awesome our site is for finding plenty of garden centres in Durham, where you can buy all types of fertilisers and a whole array of wonderful products to improve the soil in your garden! Now, onto why you need fertilisers and good soil for your garden.

Fertiliser

Often called plant food, fertiliser can be either natural matter or a mixture of chemicals that are used for improving a plant’s growth. Fertilisers come in water-soluble, granular, or liquid form and can be added as they are to soil or as compost to which fertiliser has already been mixed in. Several organic fertilisers are also available, such as bone meal and chicken manure.

Whether vegetables, fruit, or flowers, plants need nutrients, together with regular watering and sufficient sunlight, in order to thrive. Many compost varieties sold at garden centres contain a balanced amount of fertilisers to give your plants the boost they need.

How fertilisers work

Fertilisers provide all the essential nutrients needed for trees, vegetables and flowers to develop, very similar to what meal replacement supplements or multi-vitamins do for humans. Several fertilisers also enhance the way soil works, by allowing air to flow freely and helping it to retain moisture, both of which are crucial for the roots of plants.

Nitrogen, Potassium and phosphorus are the main ingredients of most fertilisers, with all of these elements being essential for plant growth. Although nutrients are normally found naturally in soil, they can disappear if there is a drainage issue or other problems. You’re giving Mother Nature a helping hand when you add fertiliser to your soil.

Soil

The condition of your soil might not be the first thing you think about when planting time comes around, but after digging a little deeper, you’ll see why having good soil is essential for producing thriving plants. Then you’ll realise why just going ahead with planting in the soil you have in your garden isn’t always a good idea.

Good soil is vital for strong roots, whether you need potting mix for use in containers or for soil in your garden planting beds. Roots need some things to thrive, just like leaves do, and these things include the right environment, air, water and of course, nutrients in the soil. The correct amount of spacing between plants is also important, so that roots can travel freely wherever they need to go. If roots are happy in the soil they’re growing in, then the plant above-ground, will thrive too.

Why are good soil and fertilisers so important? The bottom line is that plants, and this includes the entire plant, roots and all, need good soil and fertiliser to thrive, end of story. Where to get the fertilisers and other things you need to improve the quality of soil in your garden is easy. Simply visit The Garden Guide site, find garden centres in Durham, and start choosing from the wide variety of fertilisers and soil enhancers they have to offer, to suit your particular gardening needs.

No garden centres found in Durham.