A complete nutrient analysis will provide you with recommendations for adjusting the soil pH and the need for phosphorus and potassium applications. In some cases your soil may have an adequate supply of nutrients to sustain your lawn so fertilizing will not be necessary. In other situations proper applications of needed nutrients will help produce a dense turf when applied at the correct rate and at the right time.

Nitrogen in the soil is a very dynamic element and soil levels of nitrogen can fluctuate rapidly. At this time, a useful nitrogen test is not available so other parameters are used to estimate the nitrogen recommendation. Factors that influence the amount of nitrogen needed include: kind of grasses, amount of soil organic matter, site conditions such as sun or shade, amount of irrigation, quality expectations, and degree of use.

If you do fertilize your lawn, you should re-evaluate your fertilizing practices just in case you are routinely over doing it. Remember overfertilization is wasteful, can harm the lawn and may result in excess nutrients reaching our groundwater and surface waters.

Proper sampling is essential

All soil testing laboratories request background information on how you have managed your lawn so that they can fine tune the fertilizer recommendation.

Many routine practices, such as removing or returning clippings, irrigating or not, and adding soil amendments, influence the amount of supplemental fertilizer that will be needed. Soil testing can help you be more precise in your lawn fertilizer practices hopefully resulting in the desired lawn quality while minimizing the chance of the fertilizer leaching to our groundwater or running into our surface waters.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension Soils Lab in Riverhead is able to test soil pH and can provide instructions on how to take and submit a soil sample to their lab. More information on the lab. They can also direct you to a labe (Agro-One) that is capable of providing a complete nutrient analysis and fertilizer recommendations.