Does Your Lawn Need Soil Testing?
As things warm up in the spring, you may be noticing sections of your lawn aren’t greening up like the rest. While it’s very possible it’s showing signs of insect or disease damage, or maybe you have different grass varieties that green up at different soil temperatures, one thing you should consider is having a soil test done.
You can get kits on your own or have Lowney’s Landscaping come out and take one for you and send it into a lab, but these tests can be very telling when turf is struggling.
Key Points of Soil Testing
- The most important number to know is your soil pH. Anything over 7.0 can lead certain nutrients like iron and phosphorus to become unavailable to the turfgrass as the soil won’t release them to the plant. In that case, you need to add something like sulfur or gypsum to lower the pH to an acceptable number.
- High pH can also be a sign that your calcium, magnesium and sodium levels are too high or your ground is too compacted at the top layers leading to poor water uptake and runoff.
- Oftentimes soil test results will show the turf has plenty of the necessary elements to survive, but if your pH is too high it isn’t doing anything for the turfgrass.
- Having a pH that is too low, 6.5 or lower, is a sign of acidic soil and again the necessary nutrients aren’t released to the turfgrass. It can also cause elements like iron and manganese to become toxic to the turf causing stress, yellowing or necrosis. In addition, necessary elements like aluminum and phosphorus can combine in the soil to form insoluble compounds. Adding lime, or anything with calcium carbonate, will raise your soil pH and neutralize the acidity in the soil.
If you have areas struggling due to pH issues, no fertilization you give the turf is going to improve those given areas of your yard. You must first work to achieve a proper pH, and after that you can look at options like aerating and overseeding.
