Section
Water quality and soil
What is in the water from the tap or a softener, and how the soil it lands on takes it in, holds it and feeds the roots.
Two gardens can get the same amount of water and grow very differently, because the water is not the same and neither is the soil. This section is about both.
On the water side, the pieces look at what comes out of the tap. Municipal water is treated with chlorine or chloramine at levels set for drinking, and whether that harms plants is a question with a fairly settled answer. Water from a salt-based softener is a different matter, since the sodium it adds builds up in soil over time. Fertilizer belongs here too: too much of it leaves salts that pull water out of roots, and the signs of overfeeding are easy to mistake for thirst.
On the soil side, compost and mulch are often confused, though one is worked into the soil to feed it and the other lies on top to keep water in and weeds down. A soil test, taken properly and sent to a laboratory, says what the ground lacks before anything is added to it. One lighter piece gathers a handful of short lines about water by writers long dead. For particular crops and the weather that tests them, the neighboring section is Crops, drought and climate.
