The Results Are In!

Settling In

Okay, I'm back from a month of constantly unpacking boxes and receiving repairmen at my new house. It is a welcome relief to be able to concentrate on my new yard for a change, believe me!

I promised to share the results of the soil test taken from my new front yard at the beginning of October, as well as the advice offered by organic expert Michael Bosco of the local Dallas company Soils Alive. So grab your trowel and let's go.

The Soil Test

For the record, the professional soil test that Michael performed cost about $80. To me, it was well worth it, as the test goes far beyond the little store-bought do-it-yourself kits which only concentrate on pH (acid or alkaline) and NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) levels. In my opinion, a professionally done soil test offers more detailed results, as well as someone to help you interpret them and recommend a plan of action. As Dr. McCoy of Star Trek fame might exclaim, "I'm a gardener, not a chemist!"

Regardless of which method you choose and can afford, a soil test is essential in determining how to care for your landscape, especially if something appears to be wrong with your lawn or, as in my case, I'm inheriting a new landscape without much prior knowledge of how it was cared for in the past.

The Results

Here's where things got a little complicated and a tad boring. Analyzing numbers doesn't interest me much; once the test came in, I really just wanted Michael to tell what I needed to do.

But after talking to him and going over the numbers, I realized how important it is to at least have a basic understanding of what some of the results meant. So, without further ado, here is a table showing most of the "biggees":

	Actual	Desired
pH	7.70	6.5
Organic Matter, Percent	4.00	Good
Sulfate	72	50+ is good
Phosphates	40	100
Calcium	87	80
Magnesium	5	10
Potassium	1.8	5
Sodium	2.22	needs to be lower than potassium

First, you may wonder why I didn't include the Nitrogen level here. The "N" nutrient in NPK is one of the most talked about in landscaping, after all. It is also one that fluctuates constantly, as nitrogen leaches out of soil quite easily, so analyzing it in a soil test is somewhat worthless. My soil test revealed a 90 lbs/acre level of nitrogen.

My pH was on the alkaline side, which is common for lawns here in the Southwest. Soils tend to be more acidic in high-rainfall areas like the Southeast and Pacific Northwest.