Comparing Soil Tests: Spring vs. Fall
At the beginning of this season, before I applied anything to the lawn, I took samples of my soil to be tested. This year I decided to go with Soil Savvy, and was pleased with the product. It’s easy to use, and everything you need is in the box. All you need to do is fill the container, fill out the information on the card, place everything in the pre-paid envelope, and drop it in the mail. About a week later you have your results emailed to you.
If you’ve not done a soil test for your property, I would _highly_ recommend it. Knowing what your soil needs or has too much of makes a huge difference in the strategy you take through the growing season. Because of my test results, I knew that I didn’t need to apply any products containing phosphorus. I also learned that my pH level was high, and that I would need to apply products to help lower that.
For the clearest perspective, here are my spring results. From there, I’ll go over what I put down in the lawn/soil this season, and then reveal the new results I obtained this fall.
For a breakdown on my spring results, check out the video I made, here.
Before getting into any details on the results, I want to be completely transparent about what I applied to the lawn this year.
End of March (after taking soil samples): 23-3-8 from local farm co-op with prodiamine for crabgrass preventative. This gave me a quick blast of nitrogen, as well as a tiny bit of phosphorus, and a decent amount of potassium, as well as a touch of iron, and some sulfur.
May: CarbonX application: 24-0-4. The key factors here being good doses of Nitrogen, no P, and sulfur.
June: Jobe’s organics 10-0-2 / Montana Brand sulfur. Again, no P, and a healthy amount of sulfur to get that pH under control.
July: Milorganite 6-4-0. Slow release N. Little bit of P. Little bit of iron.
July: Bountiful Earth granular humate. No NPK. But this product does contain iron and sulfur (1.5% each)
October: Safer Brand Lawn Restore 9-0-2. Also applied Bountiful Earth granular humate again.
August - October: Miro-doses of N, K and iron from Greene County Fertilizers products (GreeneEfFect and MicroGreene)
With all of that being said, here are my results from the fall sample that was taken just prior to my application of Lawn Restore and granular humate in October.
As you can see, at first glance, pretty interesting results here.
As for the big 3 (NPK), I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to nitrogen. Nitrogen fluctuates a ton throughout the season and depletes easily.
Now the phosphorus, that’s a whole different story. As I said before, P is found naturally in my soil, and I didn’t expect one application of Milorganite to change the level much at all, let alone double it. Going forward, I think a good rule would be to just avoid P all together, and just use what P the soil already offers me naturally.
Potassium will for sure be a point of emphasis for me next season. I was able to get the levels up higher this season, but I feel like there is still a lot of room for improvement, and K is pretty easy to find around here. Shouldn’t be difficult to be a little more aggressive there. Soil Savvy even highlights that in their reccomendation with a 0-0-60 application. Not sure I'll do that, but I will find some potasium heavy products, and go from there.
In the spring, my calcium levels were through the roof. Literally the top of the bar was out of view. Happy to see that my sulfur applications this season have brought the pH down a touch, which has, in effect, brought Ca levels down. Still high, but at least I can see that top of the bar. I for sure plan on adding regular applications of sulfur to my program, especially after seeing these results.
Iron levels are coming up, which is nice to see. I applied a lot of iron, especially as I was bringing the height of cut on the front yard down, to maintain color. I recently stocked up on liquid iron, and plan to apply it often next season.
Lastly, I’m looking at my pH. It’s pretty much the same. A little high. If I want to bring that down I’m going to need to continue applying sulfur. As I’ve previously said, I do plan on being more consistent with sulfur applications in the future. I was happy to see it move down, even if it was only a little bit. Progress is progress.
Of course, your mileage may vary. There are lots of different variables to consider. The biggest variable being the soil you are working with. Bottom line, I’ve found that I have a much clearer idea of what’s going on and how I approach the growing season when I have this data. And as I further understand how these different elements work with/against each other, it makes it even easier to give the lawn and the soil exactly what it needs, which yields better results, potentially with less product being used.
Do I expect to ever achieve a perfect soil test, with everything being in the green target zone? No. Some of those elements can take years to move. But, I did find it interesting that I was able to see the movement I did in just one season’s worth of time.
Utilizing soil tests this year has been a game changer for me. I don’t think there is any other way to go now. Knowing what the soil needs makes planning out your applications so much easier, and gives you a confidence boost along the way. I was much more sure of what I was doing this year because I knew why I was doing it and that makes taking care of your lawn that much more enjoyable for sure.
There are plenty of different products on the market for DIY soil testing. Local universities typically have extensions that offer soil testing as well. I just happened to start with Soil Savvy, and it was a good experience for me. It was affordable, and easy to use.
If you would like a soil test kit, you can get one through Yard Mastery, here.