Why Checking Soil pH is Essential to Achieving a Lush, Green Lawn

Almost 10 years ago, my wife and I hosted several international guests for my daughter’s wedding. She married a man from Austria, who she had met through their international travels. The plan was several events over the three-day affair, ending with inviting 60 domestic and international guests for an all-day picnic in our backyard. Many of these guests had traveled a long distance to get to know our family and we wanted to have a special time being outside and enjoying our finely manicured outdoor space. In my mind, the primary focus was to ensure the grass was in tip-top “turf” space. It goes without saying, that the “garden celebration” was a very special day.

After the tents were removed and the garbage and recycling were put in their proper place, at first glance, my backyard took a real beating. Not a beating where all of the grass would reappear once the fall rains came our way. There were common brown spots scattered throughout the backyard, and considering it was summer with direct sun for many hours, I decided to wait until the fall or the next spring to address this situation. Much of the Kentucky bluegrass mix and perennial ryegrass would probably be addressed in the spring. At least, that’s what I told Mother Nature as I whispered in the wind.

I didn’t get a chance to plant seed that fall, so I waited until the spring. I purchased 10 pounds of a seed mixture conductive to our growing regions. I had limited success in the spring; the seed seemed to catch after endless watering but then slowly died throughout the summer. Sometimes the seeds didn't germinate at all, even though I closely followed the directions. I was sad as my grass seed slowly died, disgusting weeds that loved the alkaline soil took its place. This scenario seemed to repeat itself, year after year.

I began to question my methods. Was it too sunny in the backyard? Did I use the correct grass seed? Did I water enough? My overall experience was that after I planted the seed, the weather typically turned dry, so I had to manually water or use the sprinkler, moving it around after about 30 minutes. This happened more than not, and each time this occurred, I wondered if Mother Nature was trying to teach me something out of my normal paradigm of lawn care.  

I must also include, over those years, I also aerated, which was intended to loosen the soil. Not every year, but usually every three to four years. I did that to ensure the ground wasn't too hard and to enable grass seed to grow in the especially bare areas of my yard.

A few years after I noticed the bare spots, I wondered about the soil condition. In other words, was the PH in my soil too acidic or too alkaline? Not being a scientist, I couldn't analyze this on my own. There were several providers who could examine each of my soil samples for $50, but I never went through the trouble. Was it a gimmick or was this something I really needed to do? Every year, when I attempted to grow seed, I wondered about the soil test, but never went ahead with it. I thought a test would be important, but perhaps not a critical piece of my troubleshooting.

Moving to February and March of this year, I was about to give up on the grass in my backyard. I had spent about six days in Berlin months earlier and noticed that crushed gravel was used in high-traffic areas near the Brandenburg Gate and the very large Tiergarten (large park). I thought that might be the fix, so I inquired with my brother, who had years of experience in landscaping, about which gravel would be best. He gave me some good recommendations although I decided to wait with the gravel and give it one more shot with my own TLC.

About six weeks ago, I submitted a soil test to the County Extension office from my front and back yard. If I were so close to adding gravel to my backyard, I needed to scientifically know the condition of my soil. The results arrived several weeks later and the results rather surprised me. The PH levels in my front and back yards were 7.3 and 7.2, respectively (recommended range is 6.2 - 6.5). Wow, I was in total shock. Too much alkaline soil. Therefore, the agronomist recommended 30 pounds of elemental sulfur per 1,000 square feet for both places. They also recommended adding 5 pounds of pelletized gypsum to help flush excess magnesium from the soil, improving soil structure and water infiltration. Sulfur is roughly $10 to $15 per six pounds, so hundreds of dollars would be needed to address this situation. I needed to know what setting I used in terms of distributing the sulfur so I followed up with my agronomist contact and he implied that, at this point, I couldn’t overdo it with too much acidity to add.

My paradigm had shifted, no longer focusing on the type of seed I tried to grow, the time of year to lay down seed, or the amount of watering I had to do. While ordering the sulfur, I began researching high pH soil and how it manifests. In other words, what vegetation might flourish in these soil conditions? The results produced weeds that I might see under these conditions, including Chickweed, Spotted Spurge Weed, Garlic Mustard, Bindweed, Peppergrass, Plantain Weed, and Sheep Sorrel. Besides doing the soil evaluation, if I had been engaged in holistic thinking earlier, I could have identified my situation of too much alkaline in the soil bases on what weeds would be prevalent in such a situation. Life sometimes is all about learning.

Besides knowing what I had to do moving forward, I sought a second opinion from TurfCare Lawn Service. A representative came out and determined my lawn was heavily impacted. So, his recommendation was to aerate twice a year for at least 2 years to soften the soil. I told him about the soil analysis results, and he appeared to agree with me. For at least this year, I will get the lawn aerated in May and then maybe in October. In the meantime, I will apply the sulfur and pelletized gypsum to the soil.

At least now I had a plan. It was too late to plant seed in May, besides, why plant if the ground is too impacted and the PH significantly deviated from the recommendation? So, I ordered a “double pass aeration” to be done in May, as this was a critical starting point. With a significant number of weeds in the back, I used a grass-friendly herbicide to kill those nasty weeds. I also need to heavily apply sulfur to add acidity to the lawn. Gypsum would also loosen the soil and water infiltration. My plan was now in place, so I had plans in mind, especially considering that summer was right around the corner, the climate was something I had to work with too.  

Why do I write this story? First, isn’t it idiocy if someone does the same thing year after year and expect different results? I questioned things as I went, but didn’t get to the root of the matter (no pun intended). I focused solely on seed, time of year and how much I should water. After five or so years, why was I so resistant to getting a soil analysis done? What was I thinking? It’s quite late to make this discovery, however, it’s still not too late to have an holistic yard plan moving forward.

Why Checking Soil pH is Essential to Achieving a Lush, Green Lawn