Great lawn starts with soil test

Q. How reliable are soil test kits from magazines, the Internet or local shops?

Angela from Youngstown

A. The No. 1 problem I see in lawns relates back to the conditions of the soil. Many of the plant problems we see at our office are due to mismanagement of the soil in which the plants are growing. It’s not that we mean to mismanage the soil, we simply don’t understand what’s going on beneath our feet.

Thus, there is always room for improvement in our soil, whether it is correcting the pH, increasing the amount of organic matter or managing the levels of nutrients our plants require for proper growth.

A soil test is not something to be taken lightly. Keeping your soil healthy should be the end goal in growing plants or a lawn to be sure our plants will grow to their fullest potential.

Testing the soil involves chemistry. Home soil tests are very easy to mess up, or may not give you a very accurate reading based on the type of kit you purchase. You are better off having an expert test your soil and spend your time working on your plants in the garden.

Soil testing kits that test for pH give a general reading or a range, not a precise pH. Also, the amount of water and the pH of the water you use with the kit makes a big difference in what the end reading will show. Distilled water is necessary to make these kits work properly. But in the end, they are still not going to give you the accurate reading you need to make decisions for soil amendments.

Finally, our experts at Ohio State tell us that a soil-testing laboratory is the only way to get a buffer pH for your soil. This buffer pH is what is used to calculate the liming requirements for your specific soil. Each soil is different and thus may need more or less lime depending on the make-up of the soil. Home test kits will not give you this information.

Eric Barrett is OSU Ext. educator for agriculture and natural resources in Mahoning County. Call the office hot line at 330-533-5538 from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Thursdays to submit your questions.