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Just about everyone wants a green, healthy lawn. A green lawn adds value to your home and provides increased enjoyment for your family. Or maybe you want to grow large, good quality garden produce. To help your lawn or garden do its best, you should first determine the condition of your lawn or garden’s soil and the nutrients it needs before buying lime or fertilizer.
A laboratory analysis of your soil is the only practical way to determine the lime and fertilizer needs of your soil. Adding the proper amount and kind of lime and fertilizer can make a big difference in your lawn’s appearance or your garden’s production.
Be sure the soil sample is representative of the entire lawn or garden. You can do this by collecting small cores of soil from five to eight locations in the sampling area, then combining them into one sample. Do not include soil from both a lawn and a garden in the same composite sample. This is because each plant has different requirements for growth.
If you think your lawn or garden has large areas that differ in fertility, divide the area being sampled into two or more parts and prepare a composite sample from each part. With a lawn, take a composite sample from the front lawn and another from the back lawn. Or, take a composite sample from a shaded area and another from an open or sunny area.
A garden trowel, small spade, soil core, or bulb planter is recommended for taking a sample of soil. Sample garden soils to a depth of eight inches, and established lawns at a depth of four inches. Remove all grass and other materials from the composite sample and mix the soil thoroughly. Place one cup of soil in a bag or small container and take the sample to your county extension center for testing. The county extension center will send the sample to the University of Missouri Soil Testing lab. It takes about a week or 10 days to get the results.
Get tested
A soil same test will run $12.50 to $16.50 depending on which Extension office and how many samples are being tested. Your soil test will tell you exactly what nutrients and minerals are in the soil. You will get recommendations to improve the soil's ability to grow the type of plants you desire. It will tell you to how much of each item to add based on the size of your lawn or garden or flower beds.
For additional information, contact the Miller County Extension at 573-369-2394 or the Camden County Extension at 573-346-2644 or go to www.extension.missouri.edu.
