ISO Soil testing company advice

14 years ago

Hello,

I'm new to the world of soil (and gardening in general), but I'm trying to get up to speed. We live about 30 miles south of San Francisco and we are finishing up 6 years of indoor renovations (with much of it DIY by DH) and turning to landscaping our front and backyards (7200 sq ft lot).

Before we spend a lot of time/money on plants, we'd like to figure out why things don't grow well in our backyard. We really struggle to get the grass to grow (new sod 5 years ago with adequate sunlight and water), and the beds in between the grass and the fence (where we want to focus our new plantings) have grown almost nothing in the 6 years we've lived here -- 10 year old dwarf fruit trees struggle, weeds don't even take root. The front yard will take more intensive landscaping, but if we need to make significant changes to the backyard soil to help things grow, we figured that we should probably do that before we do the front yard (we have to go through the front yard to get to the back).

Under these circumstances, would you recommend soil testing? If so, by whom?

I've read here that California doesn't seem to have county extensions to do soil testing and so we called the native plant nursery and they recommended

http://www.perrylaboratory.com/index.shtml

and the prices made us gasp. Is it important to use a local firm or can we mail the sample to UMass or U Wisconsin?

Any advice/suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks so much!

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Comments (9)

terran
14 years ago
The link is information on the basic types of soil tests. It might be a helpful place to start.

Terran

Here is a link that might be useful: Types of Soil Tests
Kimmsr
14 years ago
Apparently because your legislature believes that having your University of California do soil testing is competition for private labs they have prohibited that. However, UC Extension offices will provide you with a list of companies that do soil testing, many of which do not charge an arm and a leg to do that. Talk to those people because they can be a very good resource.
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A tall fescue lawn in a northern California winter is going to look a bit bedraggled, and hardly grow much. The thinning of the grass is probably due to lack of sufficient irrigation suitable for best growth in the hotter months, in combination with insufficient top soil with organic content added before you sodded it, and not fertilizing often enough to encourage better health and growth of grass. How many inches of topsoil did you add before rototilling, and how often and which months do you fertilize, and what is the N-P-K ratio of the fertilizer you are using? As to whether 20 minutes of spray irrigation is sufficient for a lawn in northern California conditions, especially if applied 4 times a week on a flat site, if anything this is overwatering, even with heavy root competition from the redwoods and oaks across the fence. It looks to me that you need to build up soil fertility in both the lawn, and particularly for the citrus tree, which shows signs of nitrogen deficiency in particular, and is probably also not getting water in summer sufficient to get rooting deeper. Just adding a mulch with chicken manure in it, or mushroom compost or similar as a 4 inch mulch, ought to help the citrus tremendously. I'd also suggest adding some time release fertilizer such as osmocote and work into the soil in March, for longer term/slow release of nutrients, and check with a soil auger how deep your irrigation is penetrating with the irrigation you are giving it. The lawn can also be top dressed with a light screened mulch after having it aerated with a core type aerator, and the top dressing raked in to help fill the holes, but it might be better to simply use a sod cutter to skim it all off, add a healthy 6 inches of organic compost to the lawn area, and resod. Lawns here typically benefit from several fertilizing periods, at least once in mid spring and again in summer and early fall, or refer to the web site referred to previously for recommendations. You might also consider using a mulching lawn mower that chops up the grass blades so that they return to the soil, and preserve the nitrogen that is otherwise thrown away with each clipping. As to Ink's complaint about "cliche" eyebrow plantings around the edge of the lawn, I don't think you are really looking at other solutions if you mean to keep the existing lawn size and layout, but I do second Ink's opinion that the narrowness of the planting areas against the fence is rather dull and static. Planting of vines to cover the fence, and widening the borders to allow at least some layering of shrubs and herbaceous plantings is entirely possible if borders were widened to minimum 4 to 8 feet wide if you can give up some lawn space. The proximity of those large redwoods and oaks across your fence is definitely tapping into the irrigation you are supplying. The vigor of the trees, and even some of the plants in your own backyard indicates to me that yours isn't so much a soil fertility problem, as it is poorly timed fertilizing and no ongoing attempts to increase organic content of your clay soils via mulching with compost, as well as not checking to see if your irrigation schedule is adequately wetting the soil to sufficient depth to encourage better growth and plant health under drought/heat stress of summer. Having dealt with many California gardens under or adjacent to redwoods and live oaks, the soil ph is unlikely to be the problem, as I am willing to bet your soil is only mildly acidic or even close to neutral. We just don't have moist enough conditions year round to create acidic soils from dropped leaves in a suburban garden setting. The problem is the root competition of water, and any plantings you add will greatly benefit from adding tons of organic component, mulching with compost on a yearly basis, selecting plants that tolerate root competition with redwood tree roots, shade and constant debris, and closely monitoring your irrigation cycles to see that the plants are getting what they need. Beyond a soils test and a landscape design, you need some help from a good horticulturist who can advise you what you are doing wrong/right in your particular circumstances. I'd also make darn sure the natives you have on your plans are compatible with redwood tree competition, as well as potential overspray from the lawn irrigation. Fertilizing more frequently for plantings below/adjacent redwoods is extremely helpful, and if you prefer the organic route, stick with a good organic mulch that has some manure in it, and reapply a couple of inches every year.
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Yep, it's entirely possible you got a flawed reading last year, with the better (but not what I'd call stellar) soil that came with the sod. I reproduced last year's recommendations below with some modifications. If it isn't inconvenient for you, do this again. It won't hurt, but might not help--we won't know until 2017. I stepped up the amount of calcium considerably and cut the boron. We'll ride that for a year. Don't bother to top dress. Peat moss contains no nutrients, cow manure contains far too much nitrogen. :-) Just keep tossing the organics around, it's easier, cheaper, and will do the same job. I didn't include most things like cracked corn below as they can be dropped whenever you wish, even on the same day something else goes if you want! Recommendations for 2016: May 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at bag rate. Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. May 15: Apply Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime at 4 pounds per thousand square feet. June 1: Apply 1 pound Epsom salt per thousand square feet. Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. June 15: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. July 1: Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. August 1: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.. Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. September 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at half the bag rate. October 1: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. October 15: Apply Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime at 3 pounds per thousand square feet. November 1: Apply 1 pound Epsom salt per thousand square feet. November 15: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.
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Let's start at the beginning. Sort of, I tend to bounce around a little bit. pH 7.9: This is being set off by the high magnesium, but it's not out of bounds for an excellent lawn. More as we go below. CEC 12.9: A nice soil that holds plenty of resources and doesn't drift terribly quickly. Once balanced, re-testing every two to four years will be sufficient. Organic Matter 1.2%: Poor, but that's normal for new construction. Always mulch mow, mow all your fall leaves (if any), import neighbors' leaves who are discarding them at the roadside, and consider feeding organically for the little boost that'll give you. Raising your OM will make the pH matter a lot less as well, so while not critical with your high CEC, it's a help given your high pH. Phosphorus 21: Pretty close to optimal. If you want to use some starter fertilizer once when you redo things, go ahead, but it's not necessary. I don't feel strongly about adding it or not adding it, this isn't a decision that has any long-term consequences. But once will be more than enough. Calcium 1500: Fine! Next time, I'd like to see you get a Logan test so we can see how the calcium is competing with the magnesium, but you should be within spitting distance of Good to Very Good levels. Magnesium 630: Very high, but not off the charts (although it's getting close). Again, Logan test next year as saturation percentages get hard to predict when you have an excess like this. It's likely making your soil sticky, cracked when dry, and generally hard to dig. While gypsum can help, I don't recommend that at this time as you already have optimal calcium levels and I'm not a fan of imbalancing one resource in favor of another unless I absolutely have to. In this case, I don't expect any issues with plants and the numbers aren't high enough to cause the magnesium to full-scale block other optimal resources. Raising OM will help with the tight soil and cracking issues as well. Potassium 74: I'd really like to see this around 150 (bare minimum) at your pH and soil CEC, and knowing that magnesium is dominating the soil profile (while K can make your soil tight and make the problem worse in the presence of high magnesium, I'm balancing that against the excessive magnesium blocking the uptake of other cations, including potassium). The other thought here is the faint, probably vain hope, that the sulfates will bond with a bit of the Mg and wash out. But let's not count on that. To fix it, we use potassium sulfate, which you can sometimes get at garden or landscape stores, or some will order it for you. Online is another option, but it does tend to be a bit more expensive. Get the granular, it's much easier to apply. Recommendations below. Minor Elements: Not tested. Recommendations, General: * In this case, to feed the lawn I'd be tempted to use urea or ammonium sulfate, both acidifying fertilizers (ammonium sulfate more than urea). With use, you'll see some lowering in the medium calcium levels, and a general slight lowering of the pH, at which point we can pour on the calcium sulfate (gypsum) to abolish a little magnesium and bring the calcium back up. Over the course of years, this soil could be rebalanced that way, although it will take some work and considerable attention. Most off the shelf synthetic fertilizers are urea-based. * The potassium sulfate is a technical mistake, but this is a most unusual case where I feel more comfortable making the mistake than not making it. In any case, the mistake (slightly tighter soil than you already have) is fairly minor. I'm only adding about four pounds of available potassium per thousand square feet. * I didn't mention it above, but even though not tested, at that pH your available iron levels are going to be low even if the soil iron levels are sky high. Any time you like, you can feed the lawn with Milorganite to slowly raise soil iron levels and provide the lawn with a small amount of immediately-available iron. * The potassium application won't impact your seeding in September at all, but if the lawn is short and you're not comfortable walking on it yet, you can push it back to October 15th easily. Just so long as you have at least four weeks until ground freeze, you're fine. Recommendations, Soil Balancing: October 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate. April 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate. May 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate. June 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
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The blades spin at full speed on a mower like yours, all you control is ground speed & you should definitely slow it down. Those torn blades & clumping are symptoms of going too fast. Especially while you're dropping the height, slow & steady is the method. If you see clumps while mulching you're going too fast. I can't imagine you have fungus this time of year, your temps are pretty low. That other thread was coincident with a heat wave a while back, so the same advice won't apply to your situation. My advice, slow down, raise your blade back up a notch until next year. Over the winter, send a few hunks of soil over to Logan labs or whoever yardtractor prefers so he can read your test for you & get you on the right track for soil amendments next spring.
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beeman_gardener
14 years ago
Definitely get a soil test. You obviously have a nutrient shortage of some sort, but it's difficult to diagnose what you need.
I had a test done this year, poor growth etc, only to find it was short Magnesium which prevents the proper uptake of NPK, leading to restricted root growth. Just shows you how easy it is to head in the wrong direction.
You could send a sample to A & L Canada Labs, London, Ontario.Canada.
At $20 a test it's hardly expensive.
riskaverse
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks so much for your feedback & suggestions. I'll need time to digest the soil testing info, but it looks as if we'll continue to head down the route of soil testing, but we'll see if we can't find a reputable place that is a little more affordable than the one that the plant nursery suggested. We hadn't thought of contacting the UC Extensions.

Thanks again!
Michael
14 years ago
FWIW: a thought about choosing a lab. When it comes to recommendations from the lab, choose a lab that is accustomed to doing soils from your area as they will be familiar with those soils. You can also use your extension service for the recommendations with your soil test results in hand, so to speak. And to muddy the waters a bit, not all extension offices have specialists in all areas of horticulture so, don't be surprised if you need to contact more than one to get help.

Michael
luckygal
14 years ago
Riskaverse, you've only said you put down "new sod 5 years ago with adequate sunlight and water" but nothing about amending your soil or how you fertilized this area. The word soil can mean many different things to people. Your soil could be totally devoid of nutrients because it was subsoil from construction and if it was never amended it certainly can't be expected to grow much.

If you have amended this soil and it still doesn't grow anything well, then you certainly need a soil test.

Hope you stay around here and learn about soil as good soil is the only way to have a good garden or lawn.
Kimmsr
14 years ago
No one should ever have to contact more than one of their universities Cooperative Extension Service offices since all the resources of that university are available to each office. If the hoticulturist at your local office does not know the answer to your question that person can get the answer, from any ag specialist in the state university.
Those CES offices are there for your use and if we do not use them we could loose them, espcially today when cutting unnecesary expenses from budgets is the big thing.
gargwarb
14 years ago
If the hoticulturist at your local office does not know the answer to your question that person can get the answer, from any ag specialist in the state university.

"Can" does not always mean "will". The person has to be willing to take the necessary steps. Besides, knowing what question to ask and who to ask is a skill all its own. I've worked with good ones and I've worked with bad ones. People are people after all. Sometimes you have to just say, "thank you very much" and move on to the next phone number down the list.
Michael
14 years ago
RISKAVERSE: in a perfect world I would agree with kimmsr's statement about each office being capable of getting you the information directly or indirectly but the world isn't perfect. Also, some states have extension specialists in certain areas working out of the office others do not. States like mine have a very narrow focus for their entire extension system and rely on specialists in other land grant colleges in neighboring (usually) states for fielding questions. I use the plant pathology people from MO for fruit questions as there is extremely little interest and expertise in the KS system. Your state may provide one stop shopping, if so, you are fortunate.

Be willing to look to more than one extension person for your answers. Some states have several specialists each working in different aspects of horticulture such as in vegetable crops where you might find Phds. focusing on post-harvest issues, crop nutrition, weeds, irrigation and so on. It is the job of extension to get that research info to the public. Sometimes you may be able to speak to the people who do the research and have the deepest, broadest understanding of a particular situation.

Michael

ISO Soil testing company advice

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