Q: Why do I need a soil analysis?

Q: Why do I need a soil analysis?

A: Actually I don't get that question as often as one might think. To most people it makes perfect sense to have a soil analysis done on a property. A soil analysis answers many questions like: how long has the turf grass been robbing the soil of nutrients? Just how deficient in organic matter is the soil? Are these trees trying to develop roots in construction fill?

It's not that we have no idea what the trees need. Actually we can do a great job fertilizing with Texas Boost®. We have been providing excellent soil nutrition without a soil analysis for years. But after all, we are Bartlett, and we do like to take a scientific approach to things. It’s simply the most responsible thing to do: base your formulation on the results from that property.

Furthermore, prescription fertilization (based on soil analysis) is legislation or pending legislation in several states, and it may one day be the law where we live.

Then there’s Liebig’s Law of the Minimum. That agricultural principle states that as long as one nutrient is deficient, then the application of any of the others will do no good. There are plenty of us who may argue that principle until the sun goes down, but it illustrates the efficacy of finding out nutrient levels. The soil analysis helps strike that balance.

I don’t always get a soil analysis. Sometimes I see a tree putting forth an immense effort to push out a flush of foliage following a severe stress event, and I feel the timing is critical to give it a little nudge. In that case I don’t want to wait for lab results.

Here’s an example. A neighbor’s water softener burst and concentrated salt water ran down the driveway to the neighbor’s yard—or so the story goes. Within two days there were massive scorch symptoms on multiple species: pittosporum, turf grass, Asiatic jasmine and one beautiful Texas red oak. A week after the event I was called out, and by this time the red oak had some tiny emerging foliage on it. In that case I fertilized immediately and did not wait for lab results on the soil analysis. (I don’t mean to be disingenuous and credit the fertilizer, by the way. Fertilization was one small part of what we did to try to help stabilize the tree. The tree looks great right now, and bounced back very quickly, more quickly than I think it would have without the TLC we gave it. It could be that we increased its watering regime to try to flush out the salt, it could be that we fertilized, or it could be that it was going to be fine anyway.)
     Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.