GreenNews...

In an attempt to help you, our valued customer or potential customer enjoy and understand the outdoors, we offer tips and tidbits to help you on your journey to outdoor bliss! If you have a question or comment that is not answered below, please feel free to contact us, and we'll do our best to answer your question.

An Ounce of Prevention...

Spring will soon be sprung and the many activities and chores on our lists will undoubtedly overwhelm us. As you make your list, make sure that you put a crabgrass pre-emergent on the top of that list!

Crabgrass is a light-green, wide-bladed grass that invades thin lawn, bare patches, and next to sidewalks and driveways during the summer months. Crabgrass is best controlled with maintenance that produces a dense lawn, but additionally, a pre-emergent herbicide can be applied in early spring to help prevent it. There are products available that will control young crabgrass plants, but it is best to prevent it. So, if you had crabgrass in your lawn last year, stop it before it starts this year by treating it yourself (read and follow label directions on any products you apply), or by calling a qualified lawn fertilization firm, like Schulte Landscaping.

Checking your soils growth potential...

The most important thing about planning a proper lawn care program may be knowing at what fertility level the lawn is when you start.

A soil test sent to a reputable lab can give you an accurate plan of what nutrients are needed to make a productive lawn, flower, or vegetable garden.

A soil test result sheet will give you guidance on what actual nutrients may be lacking and what elements are in plentiful supply. An uneducated attempt at lawn fertilization without this helpful information may lead to expensive and/or lackluster results.

The basic soil test will give you values for pH, phosphorus, and potassium levels in the soil. The lab will then generally give you recommendations for the addition of lime, phosphorus, and potassium.

A soil test once every three years is usually adequate. However, if fertility and pH levels for specific plants are important to your plans, test more often.

Take the soil sample well before planting, so there is time to treat the soil. Soil samples can be taken any time the soil is suitable for spading or rototilling, but late summer or early fall usually permits the least possibility of contamination from fertilizer applied during the growing season.

Soil sampling does not require a special tool; but some tools work better than others. A soil probe or auger is ideal, but a sharp long knife of trowel can be used if you remove the same amount of soil for each sampling area. A clean pail or box for holding the sample and a clean mailing container are important.

1. Plan where you will take your samples. Take samples in places that are representative of the area. Separate samples should be taken and sent where the ground or management history has varied greatly.
2. Take your shovel or spade and remove a representative slice of the soil profile for 8 inches. Take these slices in ten sites of designated sample area.
3. Mix and air-dry the sample thoroughly before shipping it to the lab.

--Phil Sutton
St. Joe Extension Educator

Stop by the Porter County Extension office and pick up a soil test kit and instructions for reading your results, or call Schulte Landscaping and we'll test your soil for you!!