Soil pH. This an extremely important subject when it comes to the health of your lawn. Unfortunately, many lawn treatment companies overlook this or just don’t know how to address this. Fertilization and weed control practices suffer due to pH oversight.
Ask any Master Gardener and they will tell you that soil pH is critical to plant health. On this scale (ranging from 0-14) the lower the number, the more acidic the soil is. The higher the number, the more alkaline the soil is. Neutral is considered a pH value of 7. Since soil generally does not achieve acidic or alkaline extremes, the scale is centered on values between 4.5 to 9 for plants.
Most southern grasses prefer more neutral to slightly acidic conditions in the 5.6-7 pH range; we don’t naturally have those conditions in North Texas, though. Our soil tends to be on the more alkaline side. All of the yards that we tested last year were in pH ranges higher than 7. Some were way higher. At higher pH levels, the soil can no longer express nutrients such as iron and manganese; critical for plant growth. Higher pH levels also liberate aluminum (not a plant nutrient) and is toxic to most plants.
Here at American Lawnscape, we’ve developed a program that tests for, monitors and adjusts your lawn’s pH level. We’ve created this program for our clients because we know that if the soil pH is too high, all other treatment applications are going to suffer as a result.
Reach out to us for more information regarding soil pH testing a treatment options.
