Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Kate Morgan wrote:
Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

What are you expecting to gain from the soil analysis? If it was an
orchard then it sounds as if there will be nothing particularly nasty
there, apart from that my approach would be 'suck it and see'.

We have 9 acres with two horses on it and also about an acre of
orchard. Good general maintenance - regular topping and removal of
nasty plants - seems to keep it all in pretty good condition. In the
long term I think it needs some lime (alkali) but it's not going to
suddenly all turn brown if we don't do that too quickly (we've been
here 12 years or so now and the grass is better this year than it has
been for a while).

--
Chris Green

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

I think the RHS offer a service, but I seem to think it wasn't that cheap


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 27/06/2011 19:23, Kate Morgan wrote:

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Why do you think it needs a complete and thorough soil analysis done?
- they can be incredibly expensive depending on how many potential
contaminants you want looked for at how many replicates over the site
and at what trace level. If you have reason to suspect actual
contamination then it makes sense to test specifically for eg arsenic.

If you were on a brownfield site like an old gasworks or a yard used for
railway sleepers or CCA treated timber then it would make sense.

A quick and dirty test is grow some mustard and cress in a soil sample
and look out for any abnormalities.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Why do you think it needs a complete and thorough soil analysis done?
- they can be incredibly expensive depending on how many potential
contaminants you want looked for at how many replicates over the site
and at what trace level. If you have reason to suspect actual
contamination then it makes sense to test specifically for eg arsenic.

If you were on a brownfield site like an old gasworks or a yard used for
railway sleepers or CCA treated timber then it would make sense.

A quick and dirty test is grow some mustard and cress in a soil sample
and look out for any abnormalities.


Thank you all for your interest and comments.
Horses have been put into the paddock in question in the past and have been
unwell, removed and they recover. This has happened once more. The paddock
is looked after, weeds removed droppings picked up etc, I know because I do
it.
I have never heard of the mustard and cress test, I will try it.
Thanks

kate

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:18:13 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
wrote:


Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Why do you think it needs a complete and thorough soil analysis done?
- they can be incredibly expensive depending on how many potential
contaminants you want looked for at how many replicates over the site
and at what trace level. If you have reason to suspect actual
contamination then it makes sense to test specifically for eg arsenic.

If you were on a brownfield site like an old gasworks or a yard used for
railway sleepers or CCA treated timber then it would make sense.

A quick and dirty test is grow some mustard and cress in a soil sample
and look out for any abnormalities.


Thank you all for your interest and comments.
Horses have been put into the paddock in question in the past and have been
unwell, removed and they recover. This has happened once more. The paddock
is looked after, weeds removed droppings picked up etc, I know because I do
it.
I have never heard of the mustard and cress test, I will try it.
Thanks

What you say about the horses is worrying. If the land had been used
as an orchard for any years, there could be traces of old insecticides
eg DDT. That would build up in the soil if used annually, and would
affect animals grazing there now. It would not show up in the mustard
and cress test.

On 28/06/2011 10:18, Kate Morgan wrote:

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

A quick and dirty test is grow some mustard and cress in a soil sample
and look out for any abnormalities.

This only really works to detect residual weedkillers that stunt plant
growth. There are plenty of things poisonous to animals that can be in
the soil without bothering plants at all. Some of the rarest UK orchids
grow happily on the highly toxic spoil heaps of old lead smelting sites.
They don't get disturbed by rabbits...

Thank you all for your interest and comments.
Horses have been put into the paddock in question in the past and have
been unwell, removed and they recover. This has happened once more. The

Does the vet have any suggestions on what might be responsible?

The only thing I can think of might be copper or arsenic pesticides used
in old orchards but I would be surprised if either hung around in
sufficient quantity to harm animals. The apples were eaten or used for
cider in the past after all.

paddock is looked after, weeds removed droppings picked up etc, I know
because I do it.
I have never heard of the mustard and cress test, I will try it.

Afraid it may not help if the problem is either toxic plants in the
meadow or soil containing toxic compounds that the grass can pick up.

If you really need to do a full soil test then talking nicely to your
local university with a geochemistry department might be worth a try. A
commercial or semi-commercial lab will charge per species measured so be
careful what you ask for. RHS also worth a try.

Obvious suspects would be arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, antimony,
copper but the list goes on and on if you include the more obscure
possibilities.

What you are asking for goes well beyond the capabilities of the soil
test kits sold to amateur gardeners. You want someone with a cheaper XRF
or expensive ultratrace ICP for elemental analysis and extortionate gas
chromatogrphy mass spec with a suitable library of compounds and a
resident expert for the organics. These services do not come cheap!

And then you will need an expert to help you interpret what the analysis
finds. For instance 2ppm of uranium is soil sounds bad but is actually
quite normal in many soils as it is a fairly common element.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 28/06/2011 12:05, Fuschia wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:18:13 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
wrote:


Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Why do you think it needs a complete and thorough soil analysis done?
- they can be incredibly expensive depending on how many potential
contaminants you want looked for at how many replicates over the site
and at what trace level. If you have reason to suspect actual
contamination then it makes sense to test specifically for eg arsenic.

If you were on a brownfield site like an old gasworks or a yard used for
railway sleepers or CCA treated timber then it would make sense.

A quick and dirty test is grow some mustard and cress in a soil sample
and look out for any abnormalities.


Thank you all for your interest and comments.
Horses have been put into the paddock in question in the past and have been
unwell, removed and they recover. This has happened once more. The paddock
is looked after, weeds removed droppings picked up etc, I know because I do
it.
I have never heard of the mustard and cress test, I will try it.
Thanks

What you say about the horses is worrying. If the land had been used
as an orchard for any years, there could be traces of old insecticides
eg DDT.

DDT would not affect horses unless they have taken to eating small
mammals and laying eggs! DDT is incredibly bad news for avian raptors at
the top of the food chain but it is relatively benign in mammals. The
trouble is that it concentrates in carnivores.

Arsenic is a possibility but I'd be surprised if there was enough.

That would build up in the soil if used annually, and would
affect animals grazing there now. It would not show up in the mustard
and cress test.

I think it would have to be something fairly nasty and in moderate
amounts to make a horse poorly. One option would be to split the paddock
into two or four and try to isolate the problem area.

Are you certain there is nothing nasty growing around the boundaries?

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:04:26 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2011-06-28 12:56:59 +0100, Chris Hogg said:

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:23:59 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
wrote:

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Googling for soil analysis brings up lots of ads down the right hand
side. Probably give you some ideas on prices, elements and timing.

It also occurs to me that Kate's local branch of the NFU might be able
to help with advice on testing and reliable people etc.

Kate, it strikes me that you should probably make your vet the first
port of call: whether or not there's anything serious going on, he or
she will know what to do next. There may be insurance implications,
too: they're famous for finding reasons to invalidate one's cover.

--
Mike.

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:17:27 +0100, Mike Lyle
wrote:

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:04:26 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2011-06-28 12:56:59 +0100, Chris Hogg said:

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:23:59 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
wrote:

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Googling for soil analysis brings up lots of ads down the right hand
side. Probably give you some ideas on prices, elements and timing.

It also occurs to me that Kate's local branch of the NFU might be able
to help with advice on testing and reliable people etc.

Kate, it strikes me that you should probably make your vet the first
port of call: whether or not there's anything serious going on, he or
she will know what to do next. There may be insurance implications,
too: they're famous for finding reasons to invalidate one's cover.

A friend who keeps horses encountered a problem last year and early
this year and her vet has said the culprit is himalayan balsam, which
is now rife in this area. She cordoned off an area of her field and
invited friends to a "himalayan balsam picking party" with free food
and booze. So we carefully cleared the area of hb and the horses have
been let loose in that area and are fine. She rechecks the area a few
times a week and removes any new plantlets she finds.

The remainder of the field is being sprayed with glyphosate regularly
to kill all the growth of anything with the intention of reseeding
with grass in the autumn. Trouble is that the hb growing all round the
area will also reseed itself so she's fighting a losing battle.

I was not aware that hb was toxic at all, though.

"Martin" wrote ...

The soil analysis that was done on the ground of the allotment that my
wife uses indicated what were significant levels. The ground where the
allotment is located was at one time a bulb field, there was concern
that the ground contained heavy metals and pesticide residues. It
didn't


For some reason our Council had a soil analysis done on a site in Chertsey
some years ago and it came back with terrible readings, they were thinking
they would have to close down the site completely. On speaking to older
allotment holders they found out that a previous elderly gardener used to
dump his old engine oil on part of his plot and it just happened that that
was the spot the soil was taken from. The rest of the site was then tested
and got a clean bill of health.
Our plot when we took it over was full of bricks, broken and whole bottles,
large bones (?) and bits of plastic, amazes me what people put in the soil
on an allotment.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

On Jun 27, 7:23*pm, "Kate Morgan" wrote:
Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

Test

Can anyone one recommend where I can get a complete and thorough soil
analysis done, it is for use on a bit of land that was an orchard in the
past but is now needed for animals.

kate

I would like to thank all who answered my post and offered comment`s. I now
have a list of web site and some people to contact but I fear a full
analysis is going to be too expensive. So the animals must go somewhere else
for the time being.

kate

I'm probably teaching my grandmother etc. but the horses can't get hold
of acorns, can they?
--
Sacha

No acorns Sacha but we are going to go along the hedge and note exactly what
is there :-)

kate