Don’t guess, soil test is one of the many sayings in the garden industry. If you use the same seed, lime, and fertilizer, you can expect the same results. Successful gardening is like anything else in life: it requires planning and following through.
It is late July, and the last thing many of you are thinking about is fall fescue grass lawn renovation. Late July and early August are the best times for having your soil tested. Before you can test, you need to collect a sample. You will need a shovel, a hand trowel and a clean bucket. A soil test requires a sample size of about two cups of soil. Collect 10 to 12 random subsamples taken throughout the lawn. Each subsample is about the size of your index finger taken from the top three to four inches of your soil. To collect a subsample, remove a six-inch-by-six-inch section of sod with the shovel, dig a small hole and place the soil to the side. Then, remove the subsample from the side of the hole with the trowel and replace the remaining soil and replace the turf. Place the subsample in your bucket. Once all the soil subsamples are in the bucket, stir until the subsamples are blended into one composite sample that equals about two cups. Be sure to remove any grass and roots from your sample. Note: the test results are only as good as the sample, so sample carefully.
Send your sample to an accredited laboratory, such as the soils lab at Virginia Tech, or a private company, such as the one located in the Chesterfield airport industrial park. The cost of the test is around $10. The results take less than a week, will be returned to you either by mail or email, and will include soil pH and a nutrient analysis with information on which nutrients are deficient, as well as soil organic matter content. The lab will also offer recommendations on what amendments the soil needs, such as lime and fertilizer.
Fescue grass, like most other plants, needs five things: heat, air, light, moisture and nutrients. Light comes from the sun, but soil is primarily responsible for the other four. Want healthy grass? It starts with healthy soil, and healthy soil starts with a soil test.
