Program offers free lawn care soil tests

A component of a 319 Grant through the James River Basin Project is the Urban Lawn Soil Testing Program, which provides the opportunity for residents of the James River Basin to find out what’s in their soil and what nutrients the soil lacks.

The James River Basin spans parts of seven counties beginning in Marshfield and stretching down to Cassville.

“When you’re able to get a soil test and then bring the results back to someone that can interpret them for you, you can get an interpretation of what type of fertilizer you need and how much you need to apply it,” said Clay Robertson, resource conservationist at the South Missouri Water Quality Office.

James River Basin Project Executive Director Holly Neill said that 250 individuals have taken advantage of free soil tests.

Too much fertilizer

The major problem Neill said she has seen in the James River Basin is over-fertilizing.

“If you over-fertilize, especially on lawns, there’s a very high potential of runoff,” Neill said.

“When that runs off, it goes straight into the storm water drain system, and that’s not treated whatsoever. That’s direct conduit to our surface waters.”

Excess nutrients in surface water lead to an increase in algae growth, Neill said. Increased growth of algae reduces water clarity. When the algae dies, it lowers the oxygen levels in the water, harming the aquatic species and affecting the animals above the aquatic species in the food chain.

“Everybody’s responsible to be a little more friendly to our environment,” said Gaylord Moore, horticulture specialist for the University of Missouri extension, Southwest Region.

“It’s not our neighbor’s problem, the people who live along the creek; it’s all of our problem.”

Lawn care education

Show-Me Yards and Neighborhoods is a resource through which residents of southwest Missouri can become educated about lawn care. The program targets both homeowners and lawn care professionals with informative workshops and training.

Barbara Lucks, project coordinator, said that the first thing the program encourages people to do is to get the soil tested prior to the application of chemicals or fertilizers.

At the workshops, attendants learn of the importance of keeping as much storm water in their yards as possible.

“Storm water goes into storm water inlets and then it eventually goes into a creek or a river, whatever is closest, and it is not treated,” Lucks said. “The ultimate would be that everybody handles their own water on their own property, but that is not always possible.”

Some ways lawn caretakers can deal with their storm water include planting areas, having mulch areas and having a good grass or turf cover.

Soil improvement

In order to have a good grass cover, the quality of the soil has to be improved.

“We’re not downplaying the use of fertilizers, organic or inorganic, because we realize that these plants need a certain amount of nutrients in order to grow grass,” Moore said.

Lucks said that in the Ozarks, the primary way to improve the soil is to add organic matter, improving the actual texture and the quality of the soil. But sometimes the soil requires the use of inorganic material.

“Sometimes it’s necessary to use chemicals, but what we try to get people to do is to use the least amount and the least toxicity possible,” Lucks said.

Many homeowners and lawn care professionals are spreading fertilizers and chemicals without knowledge of what the soil needs, Robertson said. Having a nutrient plan also avoids wasting unnecessary chemicals or fertilizers.

In addition to having a good grass cover, avoiding excessive watering is another way to reduce runoff.

“Put no more water on the lawn at one time than the lawn can absorb to avoid run off,” Moore said.