Now that lawn care season is about to unfold, I've been doing some research on soil testing. I plan to run a couple of MySoil kits alongside kits from my local county extension office (UConn) for comparison purposes. In reading UConn's paperwork, they strongly recommend fall as the ideal time to test in Connecticut. Part of that is due to the volume of testing during the spring, and part of that is about allowing time for soil amendments like lime to work into the soil over the winter.
Ideally, I'd like to get into an annual soil test routine for yearly comparison purposes. A number of websites also recommend fall as the best time to test cool season lawns, and I searched here, but couldn't find a discussion on the topic. So I'd like to pose that question and draw on the wisdom of the group:
What is the ideal time to soil test a cool season lawn?
In my case, I plan to put down fertilizer this season during late May before the summer heat, and then again in early fall, and one last time in late fall (UConn recommends no fertilizer apps between October 16-April 14 in any year). So if we assume for practical purposes that fall begins around August 20 (zone 6a), would taking soil samples around then (but before any fall soil amendments) yield the most accurate data that would guide fall amendments, and the following season as well? Or would I be better off to wait until November/December after my final fertilizer app before the soil hard freezes? I believe there is a lag time that soil should not be tested after fertilizer and/or lime applications, so if I were to apply amendments as late as October 15, six-eight weeks would put me into December when the ground might be frozen and soil testing would be difficult if not near impossible.
Or, is March/early April still preferable for annual lawn care soil testing? Right now, I still have a significant amount of snow yet to melt, so I'll have to wait that out before spring testing. Clearly there won't be any issues with spring testing and the last fertilizer or lime app from the previous fall in that scenario. But March can be brutal for snow in some years around here, so weeks might go by in any given year before I can even see my lawn in the spring, let alone pull soil cores.
I'm very interested to know your strategies and thoughts on this topic. If you don't want to fully comment, maybe everyone can leave a quick post with when they perform soil testing on their cool season lawn and we can see if there's a consensus.
As always, thanks in advance!
Ideally, I'd like to get into an annual soil test routine for yearly comparison purposes. A number of websites also recommend fall as the best time to test cool season lawns, and I searched here, but couldn't find a discussion on the topic. So I'd like to pose that question and draw on the wisdom of the group:
What is the ideal time to soil test a cool season lawn?
In my case, I plan to put down fertilizer this season during late May before the summer heat, and then again in early fall, and one last time in late fall (UConn recommends no fertilizer apps between October 16-April 14 in any year). So if we assume for practical purposes that fall begins around August 20 (zone 6a), would taking soil samples around then (but before any fall soil amendments) yield the most accurate data that would guide fall amendments, and the following season as well? Or would I be better off to wait until November/December after my final fertilizer app before the soil hard freezes? I believe there is a lag time that soil should not be tested after fertilizer and/or lime applications, so if I were to apply amendments as late as October 15, six-eight weeks would put me into December when the ground might be frozen and soil testing would be difficult if not near impossible.
Or, is March/early April still preferable for annual lawn care soil testing? Right now, I still have a significant amount of snow yet to melt, so I'll have to wait that out before spring testing. Clearly there won't be any issues with spring testing and the last fertilizer or lime app from the previous fall in that scenario. But March can be brutal for snow in some years around here, so weeks might go by in any given year before I can even see my lawn in the spring, let alone pull soil cores.
I'm very interested to know your strategies and thoughts on this topic. If you don't want to fully comment, maybe everyone can leave a quick post with when they perform soil testing on their cool season lawn and we can see if there's a consensus.
As always, thanks in advance!
