TheMondayGarden.com

Most of us know that too much fertilizer, particularly the chemical kind, is a BAD THING. It costs money, pollutes the water, kills the plants, and otherwise causes general mayhem. Most of us also know that the professionals use soil tests, while us amateur guess. However, did you know that the end result was that the guessing amateur-gardener home owners use more fertilizer per acre than commercial farmers? And we thought that they were the ones polluting the streams, lakes, etc. (Remember when Pogo said “we met the enemy and he is us”?)

I found out that guessing about soil fertilizers (feeds the plants, e.g. nitrogen) and soil amendments (corrects the soil, e.g. lime) is like running around blind-folded, dumping both your money and the chemicals directly in your local water supply. Yuk!

Take a breathe. Here’s a close-up of the fern:

OK, now, are you ready for the REAL secret of the professionals? Well, here it is: SOIL TESTS ARE EASY!

Who knew? I was under the impression that soil tests were some kind of big deal, with a pain level akin to doing my tax returns. Not so. All you do is:

• wash your trowel and bucket,

• stick the trowel in the ground 5 to 10 times,

• take out small scoops of soil,

• mix the samples together (in the bucket, with the trowel),

• pop one cup of the mix in a zip-lock plastic bag,

• fill out a very short form (hardest question : name and address); and

• mail it to your state soil testing place.

The tough part is going down to the post office to get exact postage.

About a week later, you get back a letter, IN ENGLISH, of all things, that tells you the level key nutrients in your soil, what kind of soil you have, and makes suggestions about fertilizers, amendments, and PH correction.

I did one just to see (also ‘cause it was a course assignment). In Connecticut, we have a choice of UConn’s Plant Science Department (which costs $5.00) or the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station (which is free).

My mother hasn’t put any type of chemical on her lawn in years because she’s right on the Long Island Sound. However, last summer, the lawn had some brown patches, and she was concerned that the lawn needed lime (to make the soil less acid). So I dug my 10 holes down the specified 4 inches, in different parts of the yard, having first carefully washed my trowel and bucket. This took all of ten minutes. I stirred the stuff up, let it dry it a bit and popped the requite one cup in a zip lock bag, checked the “lawn” box on the form, etc., etc. This took, may be, another 10 minutes.

Picture: from Russia with love: scilla, a great favorite of mine, in my mother’s garden

A week later, the letter came and said the lawn’s PH was fine, so no lime needed. The test also covered the calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium levels and noted whether any of those were needed (in this case, no). It also gave the soil type (here, sandy loam—a good thing) and the percentage of organic matter (here, medium – also good). There also was an enclosure that explained what the results meant.

This testing service doesn’t test for nitrogen, so the testers assume that some‘s always needed (which might not always be true, especially if you don’t over-mow or over-water, plant clover, and leave the clippings on the lawn). Anyway, it turns out that the brown patches were probably a fungus; from watering late in the day. If it’s a lawn fungus (and there are many), the worst thing for many of them is to add fertilizer, particularly nitrogen. So we just added some clover seed and will see what happens over the summer.

To find out fast where to get your test done: do a Google search for: “soil test”+ [the name of your state]. You can also go through at the cooperative extension system’s web site . It’s worth shopping around because some tests cost more than others and some are more comprehensive than others.

picture the natural beauty of a ‘cide-free lawn; here a Stamford churchyard.