The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world. Our ...

Fairfax County is known for a lot of great things, but fluffy organic soil isn't one of them. Our famous shrink-swell Marine clay presents more "swell" problems than its name lets on. Luckily, ...

Swelling soils are expanding and contracting soils that can cause broken driveways, sidewalks, basement walls and floors, pipes, water lines, or foundations. Buying a home can be an intimidating ...

To grow good plants, you need good soil. The only way to tell what your soil really needs is to take a soil test. Applying too much fertilizer could be detrimental to your plants. You could waste ...

Soil testing could not be more important preceding tasks like establishing a new garden, diagnosing plant problems, determining fertilizer needs — and much more. But some situations don't require the ...