MENUYou probably thought you were done with tests once you finished school, but nooo — lawns, gardens and other landscaping areas need soil tests every so often! Luckily, these are easily managed projects with important benefits for the long-term health, vigor, growth and beauty of your landscape.
The why of it
Soil in any landscape, whether it’s a small flower garden or a huge commercial property, can develop a wide range of issues. Either naturally because of your setting or region, or over time due to changing weather conditions, new plantings, fertilizer use, pesticide use, chemical runoff from neighboring properties, organic matter breaking down, etc., the soil in your landscape can lack nutrients that trees, shrubs and flowers need to thrive and look their best. It takes a professional soil test to know if your plants need more or different types of nutrients.
What to look for
The soil in your landscape or garden has to provide a certain level of nutrients and quality for everything living in it to do well. That means an ideal pH — a balance of acidic and alkaline levels in the soil leading to a neutral environment. If the soil in your landscape has issues, your plants will let you know. You might see browning or dying leaves, stunted growth, wilting, foliage turning yellow, and other symptoms of soil that is too acidic.
How it works
Soil testing is pretty straightforward. Our landscape professional will take samples to measure the pH level in
various locations throughout your landscape — how acidic or alkaline the soil might be.
While garden and home centers do offer a wide range of tools for doing this yourself, the results will depend on how well the soil sample is taken and assessed, so you might want to use a professional for this process. Even if you perform a soil test on your own, it’s smart to turn to the pros for your next steps.
If the soil in your landscape is too acidic or alkaline, don’t despair: Our landscape professionals can help with remediation. We will look for the ideal soil quality for your area and plantings. With that information in hand, it might be suggested that new planting choices that will be happier in your soil environment should be considered. But often we provide advice about ways to improve the soil quality so your existing plants can thrive as well as performing the treatment.
Passing the test
Once the soil testing is done, you can sit back and let your garden grow. Enjoy knowing that your landscape is healthy and ready to carry you through the next few seasons with your mind at peace.
