This Time of Year 12 months of gardening tasks for many zones. The consistency and chemical composition of soil also greatly influence plant viability. Some plants prefer a more sandy soil, while others prefer a more clayish soil, and some plants can grow in water without any soil at all. Some plants do well in water-logged soil, while many need good drainage. The pH of soil and the nutrition it provides is vital to a plant's viability.
Some plants prefer a more alkaline soil, while others prefer a more acid soil.
Most temperate-zone ornamental plants, for instance, grow best in neutral or slightly acid soil, although some, such as lilacs, prefer a more alkaline soil. Soils can be amended in a garden or around a particular plant by adding appropriate ferlilizers. Composting the debris of a garden's plants is one way to produce fertilizer. Good horticulturists also must consider how the kind and amount of fertilizer they use will affect the environment around them. Large amounts of fertilizer that soak into ground water and then wash into streams and rivers can cause serious water pollution .