Soil Care For Lawn And Garden
Chemistry in soil has direct and huge impact on how garden plants and lawn grass will grow. Doing a soil test is mandatory before starting a lawn. Soil test result gives clear indication on how much water and nutrients are required for the lawn and garden.
Basic Soil Care - pH Test
Soil test usually starts with finding the pH balance. Commercial test kits are easily available with clear instruction. pH level indicates the amount of nutrients required to balance out the soil.
Soil Type
There are 3 basic types of soil: sandy soil, clay soil and loamy soil. Sandy soil is usually airy and light, unable to carry large amount of water or nutrients due to its grainy nature. Sandy soil is more difficult to maintain as it requires a lot of nutrients and frequent watering. Clay soil has a thick texture and is able to absorb water and nutrients better than sandy soil. However, its thick texture makes it difficult for water and nutrients to reach the plant roots. Loamy soil is the most preferred balanced soil, able to hold water and nutrients as well as drains properly.
There are lots of variations in between these 3 basic types of soil. A quick way to determine the type of soil is to scoop up a handful of soil and examine it physically. Soil clumps together is more clay type while soil falls out of hand easily is sandy. Loamy soil stays in hands but does not clump together.
Soil Care
With the proper knowledge on soil type and its pH balance, lawn and garden owner will be able to determine how often to water and how much nutrients to apply for proper soil care.
Soil diseases can be developed over time with fungus as the main culprit. In general disease causing fungus will be dormant in soil until condition is prevailing for it to develop. These fungi require susceptible host, moist environment, source of nutrition and hot temperatures.
Soil diseases can be checked during routine maintenance by spotting brown patches, frog-eyes and fairy things. The best soil care approach is to take a lab examination on infected soils and select the appropriate chemicals for soil treatment. One other soil care alternative is to replace the affected patches with hybrid disease resistant grass variety to prevent occurrence of the disease.