Gardeners urged to keep hold of grass clippings for 1 reason

With spring in full swing, you want to make sure you're doing everything possible to keep and at their best, and one important part of that is using fertilisers. Plant food is essential for growth, as it provides the necessary nutrients that will enable plants to grow larger and bloom more flowers. Many might find it easier to go into a store and buy ready-made fertilisers. However, there are plenty of natural options that are, in fact, even simpler.

There are many benefits to making . Erik Steffrud, soils and compost manager at Longwood Gardens, said: "Homemade soil amendments are a great way to reduce material that would otherwise go into landfills, address climate change through carbon sequestration, and build healthy soils all at the same time," and this one particular thing that gardeners would usually get rid of is the perfect example.

make great fertiliser. This is because, as plant material, they already have plenty of nutrients that are beneficial to your plants, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients.

There are two simple ways to use natural plant food. "You can put grass clippings in your garden and then till them into the soil, where they'll be broken down very quickly, releasing nutrients for your gardening crops," explains Dan Kemper, expert trainer at Rodale Institute, an organisation that supports research into organic farming.

According to , the other way to do it is to sprinkle grass clippings on top of your soil, where it acts as a mulch layer to trap moisture and prevent weeds.

If you go the natural route, using a number of things, from everyday food to scraps, all that matters is that your plants get the nutrients they need to grow. Fertilisers consist of three main elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

However, the use of ingredients that are high in calcium also serves as a great benefit to plants. To find out what your plant needs the most, you can do a soil test, which will help identify pH levels, allowing you to find out what you will need to amend it with.

DIY soil test kits are often available at garden centres. You can also send a soil sample to a lab for a more detailed analysis, including the detection of free calcium carbonate (chalk or limestone).