testing your soil

It's quite shocking to think I have been fussing with flowers for so many years now and have yet, until now, performed a soil test. This season, my husband is taking a Soils class, and needed to perform some tests for a paper he was writing. Lucky me because I got to learn something, too!

If you garden, do as I say and not as I do, and collect a sample to see what your soil conditions are. The test is inexpensive and kits can usually be found at your local County Extension office. It takes just a few minutes to collect the sample, and not long before the results are returned to you--taking the guesswork out of what sort of amendments (fertilizers/organic material) should be added for optimum growth.

Jesse is demonstrating how he performed a "ribbon test" on the top layer of soil. You will need a spray bottle (not shown) in order to wet the soil enough to roll it into a ball. The ribbon test demonstrates very quickly if your soil is loam (ideal) or has too much sand or clay. An ideal ribbon is approx. 2.5 cm in length before it breaks.

These photos were used in Jesse's paper which demonstrate the layers and composition of our soil. It's pretty much greek to me. As a gardener, though, I can appreciate that the various horizons demonstrate the mineral and organic content of the soil in our yard.

These are our test results. Of course, there would be variations from location to location. (Were we to sample the soil in our rose garden, which has already been amended, we would end up with different results.) Additionally, this test was very general. You can choose to have more specific results (such as organic content) for an additional fee.

Jesse and I plan to put this soil test to use in order to amend our soil for our vegetable garden. but I'm also thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to submit a sample specifically for optimal rose-growing conditions. You know I love my roses.