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My husband and I enjoy taking evening walks around our neighborhood. It is a great way to get out, enjoy the weather, and get in some great exercise too. For me it is also a wonderful way to get inspiration for landscaping my own house. However, it was also a wakeup call to me that our lawn was a disaster.
As we were walking around we saw lots of green luscious yards, very few weeds, and not too many dandelions. There may be one or two here or there in someone’s yard, but for the most part these yards were pretty free of the yellow flowers. And then there was our yard. Which pretty much was covered in a sea of yellow. The rest of the summer it is easier to convince myself our yard is not horrible because even our weeds are mostly green, but when the dandelions were in full bloom and I stood on the sidewalk comparing my yellow lawn with my neighbors’ green yards, it was pretty hard to fool myself into no longer thinking our yard was not that bad.
In the past, I have tried all sorts of weed killers and fertilizers that kill dandelions. So far none of them have truly worked. I even purchased the Fiskars 3 Claw Garden Weeder
After a lot of reading and learning online I learned there are two things I can do to help my situation now.
- My husband was setting the deck of the mower too low when mowing. When we first moved into our house he thought it would be a great idea to cut the grass very short so that he would not have to mow as often. This was nice for him at first until I started realizing that the grass was looking worse and worse each year and decided to look into what was going on. What I learned is that it is not healthy for the grass to be cut too short. Only the top 1/3 of the grass should be removed when mowing because longer grass blades promote longer roots, absorb more nutrients and prevent weeds by being hearty enough to out-compete them. Since we were mowing the grass too short we were making room and opportunity for more weeds to grow in our grass.
- The other thing I could do was some light fertilizing to help the grass grow stronger. In the fall, I need to seed and do a heavier fertilization which will help my lawn the most, but right now (in the spring) I can do a smaller fertilization. It was recommended on some of the sites I was reading to have a soil test done to see which nutrients are lacking. I purchased the Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit
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I chose this test because I could complete the soil test on my own without sending it out for analysis. It provides you with all the tools to do the full analysis at home easily. This kit tests the pH and levels of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and has easy to follow instructions.
PH SOIL TEST
The first test I completed was the pH test. To test the pH, you use the green container in the kit above.
- You fill soil in the test chamber up to the soil fill line.
- Next you take one of the green capsules, carefully separate the two halves of the capsule and pour in the contents into the test chamber.
- Then using the dropper provided you add distilled water into the test chamber to the water fill line. Note that using distilled water for this step is important as tap water can vary subtly in pH from one area to another and skew your results.
- Next you close the lid, shake the solution thoroughly and then allow the color to develop for a minute.
- Compare the color in the test chamber with the color chart. As you can see my soil is Alkaline.
NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS & POTASH SOIL TESTS
The next three tests are each completed in a different test container, however the steps are all the same for these three tests.
- Collect 1 cup of soil and put it into a clean container.
- Then add 5 cups of distilled water. Stir thoroughly and then let it sit until the soil settles.
- Next you take one of the purple capsules, carefully separate the two halves of the capsule and pour in the contents into the test chamber of the purple container. Repeat this step putting the contents of the orange capsule in the test chamber of the orange container and the contents of the blue capsule in the test chamber of the blue container.
- Then take the dropper and add the water / soil solution to the test chamber. This time also add it to the reference chamber to compensate for any discoloration from the water / soil solution.
- Put the caps back on, shake the containers and let the colors develop for 10 minutes.
NITROGEN TEST RESULTS
So according to the test the Nitrogen in my soil is depleted. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for your lawn and most plants. It helps promote healthy leaf growth by encouraging the production of chlorophyll. It is responsible for lush, vigorous growth and the development of a dense, attractive lawn.
PHOSPHORUS TEST RESULTS
I think I was a little better on Phosphorus. According to the results I think I am deficient and not fully depleted. Phosphorus helps your lawn develop healthy roots and stems.
POTASSIUM TEST RESULTS
Unfortunately, I do not think this one photographed very well. In person, it was 100% clear that my soil was depleted of Potassium. Potassium is important because it helps your lawn resist drought and disease.
MY SOIL TEST EXPERIENCE
Overall, I was really pleased with the soil test. It was really easy to use and now I know which nutrients I need to focus on most when searching for a fertilizer for my lawn. In addition, instructions are provided to guide you with how much of each nutrient is needed depending on your results. And it also provides some recommendations to get your soil to a sufficient level of the nutrients and tips on how to get to a balanced pH.
Next step is to find a fertilizer for my lawn!
This is really cool. My husband and I are just about to plant our new lawn this will come in handy.
That’s great! It was really easy to do the test.
This is a handy tutorial. I haven’t tested my soil in awhile and it’s needed!
This looks cool! I was interested in doing a soil test on my lawn since it is our first Spring having it, but they all seemed very complicated. This looks pretty straightforward so I will have to give it a try!