The soil test is one of the best money savings tools that is available to those involved in managing turf grass sports fields. All of us who are involved in maintaining turf grass sports fields are well aware of the necessity of fertilizer. Unfortunately, this is often the weakest link in the maintenance program. In many cases, quantity is often mistaken for choosing the right nutrients to get the best result for the amount applied. If the proper balance of nutrients is not available to the grass plant – it will not have a fighting chance of surviving the tremendous traffic demands. Furthermore, a person may be applying fertilizer that has only limited uptake by the plant because the soil may be too acetic or basic. The soil test will show the soil ph often an application of lime to correct the soil ph will save you an additional application of fertilizer. Ideally, a ph ranging from 6.2-6.4 seems the best range of microbial health and nutrient availability.

Soil testing

It is wise to use the same laboratory every time you make a soil test. The data is easier to compare if it is in the same form year after year. The initial soil test that you take will be the benchmark from where you assess your progress. Lastly, when taking the samples to be tested it is important that you keep the depth to the effective root zone of the plant. This is usually no deeper than 4″. The sample you submit should contain soil from at least 5 places across the field.

If you would like to further discuss these comments, please give us a call
@ 503-692-1195, and ask for Dick @ ext 2 or Damon @ext 6.