Soil Testing Your Lawn

Doc covers the importance of soil testing your lawn. Without a soil test you are simply GUESSING how to fix your lawn’s problems. You are GUESSING at the right adjustments to make to your soil. Soil tests should be done at least once a year and Doc often does 2-3 a year. Make a SOIL correction and many of your lawn problems will go away.

What to Look for on your soil test results?

Don’t read TOO deep into your lawn soil test. We focus on two main problems. MACRO nutrients of Phosphorus and Potassium. HIGH or LOW phosphorus is usually what we focus on. The second factor is PH. We DON’T recommend following the labs recommendations for fertilizers. All we want to know is if there is a DEFICIENCY we need to address in the MACRO nutrients. The one area we DO follow is the PH adjustment. The ideal soil pH for managing most turf grasses is6 – 6.5 because most nutrients are available at this slightly acidic level. However, various grass species may differ slightly from this pH level. Maintaining the proper pH is important because some vital nutrients become “fixed” (held tightly) by the soil and become unavailable to the turf as the soil pH extends above or below neutral.

Lawn Soil Testing Video

Lawn Product and Links

Clemson Soil Test Sheet

Download the PDF file and it will be editable in your browser or on your PC.

NOTE: in some browsers it will download just by clicking the link.

→ LINK TO CLEMSON SOIL TEST SHEET

All you need is the STANDARD test which is $6 per sample. Take a sample which does not include rocks or organic matter. Take soil starting at 1″ below surface down to 4″. Do not include the thatch layer. Take samples from various spots in ONE area for each sample.

Soil Sample Probes

Click the link below and you’ll see a wide variety.

→ Soil Sampler Probes

Soil Sample Bags

The bags below come in a 25 pack.

General Lawn Care Links

Free Bermuda Lawn Guide.

Click the book to see the free Bermuda lawn guide.

HUMICHAR…
Click the Bag for current listing.

A 50/50 mix of humic acid and biochar made specifically for lawn care.

PGF Complete lawn fertilizer

Sold in 18 and 40 lb bags. Great for all lawns warm and cool season. PGF will help get that thick green lawn.
PGF Complete is the PERFECT fertilizer for established spring lawns, new lawns, and new turf. Can be applied every 3-4 weeks during the growing season.