You have to be very careful on this. I put down a general turf fertilizer
last year, only to find out that the phosphorus levels in my soil are
crazy stupid high. I just sent off my sample to A&M for the routine analysis.
They sent back the analisys with a long list of suggested ways to amend the
soil. The local Ag office mentioned that high phosphorus is a VERY common
problem in Austin-area soils. The problem is that it binds to iron easily,
and can result in nutrient uptake problems for your plants.

The A&M test is somehting like $12. Well worth it, even if just for
curiosity's sake.

-parc


animaux wrote:
Save your money. Unless you are growing fancy exotic plants you can, in mid to
late April put down fertilizer for your turf, which will also feed trees.
Buying compost from a reputable compost maker, like The Natural Gardener, is a
good idea. You can spread that out over the lawn area at 1/4 inch and if you
want to really do something to help the turf, aerate with a core aerator. You
can hire someone to do it very inexpensively. Leave the plugs on the lawn and
they will break down when you water or after it rains.

We have very calciferous soils in N.Central Texas. The pH is going to be
between 7.5 and 8.5. If you stick with native plants, which include trees,
shrubs, perennials, conifers, etc., you will not have to amend soils, only top
dress them with organic matter.


On Sun, 02 Mar 2003 22:15:51 GMT, "news.houston.sbcglobal.net"
wrote:

Moved into a house a while ago and am just getting around to sending in soil
samples to see what I need to feed it with (yard with some St Augustine and
bermuda, normal suburban shrubs and trees). There are a LOT of options for
the test including:

- Routine analysis (pH, NO, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and Conductivity)
- Routine +Micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn)
- Routine +Micronutirents +Boron
- Routine + Detailed salinity
- Routine + micro+salinity
- Routine + micro+detailed Lime requirement
- Routine+ micro+Boron+Lime+organic matter+salinity
- Routine+texture analysis
- Routine +organic matter

This is way too many choices. I am gardening organically if it changes
anything. Anybody know what test I should get?

Thanks,
Hank Longino



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