Benefits of Soil Testing

When your lawn is looking less than stellar, your first reaction may be to apply fertilizer. However, without knowing the exact health and composition of your soil, you could actually be damaging your lawn and wasting your hard-earned money. So how do you determine what your lawn needs? A soil test. There are numerous benefits to soil testing.

What Is Soil Testing?

Perhaps you’re new to the term. Basically, a soil test is like having bloodwork done at a doctor’s office – but for your yard. A licensed professional will come out and take 10-15 small samples from various parts of your yard, combine the results, and deliver a report.

This will tell you several things:

• Which nutrients your lawn lacks or has in abundance
• The pH level of your soil
• If there are any pollutants or contaminants in your soil

Generally, you should conduct a soil test every three to five years.

What Are the Benefits of Soil Testing?

Take Out the Guesswork

Without having your turf tested, you’re essentially blindly throwing darts at a wall. You’ve invested time and money into your yard. Give it the loving care it deserves! You will receive a detailed report that outlines what specific problems your lawn is facing. Once you’ve diagnosed these problems, you can take the first steps toward treating them. Generally, you’ll need to correct an imbalance of nutrients or pH levels.

Know Your Nutrients

A sample of your yard’s soil is removed and tested for nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, and potassium. In this way, your lawn care professionals will know exactly what your grass craves. Plus, you can make sure not to overfertilize in the future. This can lead to damage in the form of burned-out roots, uneven growth, and brown patches.

Be Aware of Contaminants

In addition, you’ll be alerted to any contaminants in your soil that you may not have realized are there. If you do discover something unsavory lurking on the earth, you can discuss removal options with your lawn care professional.

Confirm the pH Level

This is perhaps the most important information you’ll get out of your report. If you’re testing soil for pH, and it’s out of balance, your lawn may not be receptive to the nutrients and fertilizer that is applied. There’s no point in laying down fertilizer if your lawn won’t absorb it. If that’s the case, you’re literally throwing away money. To correct an overly acidic lawn, ask your lawn care professional about a lime application.

Improve the Quality of Your Soil – Contact Harvest Lawn Care

Is your lawn looking a bit lackluster? Is it not responding well to fertilizer? Call the experts at Harvest Lawn Care! Our comprehensive soil test will test us exactly what to feed your lawn to satisfy its cravings, from fertilizer to a lime application.