hi guys Joe here from lawn solutions Australia your soil plays a vital role
in the success of your lawn. In most cases some soil improvement is necessary
to get the most out of it. Knowing the fundamental components to a
successful lawn will enable you to enrich your soil to give your grass all
the nutrients that it needs. Here are the five key components... organic matter
improves soil structure and also provides essential nutrients to plants
and lawns. grass clippings are a great source as well as compost and organic
composted manures minerals provide essential nutrients for your lawn. The
three main minerals lawns require are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Air
Existing pockets among the soil particles which provides oxygen and also
helps water to penetrate into the soil and drain quickly. Aerating your soil is
a good way to improve the amount of oxygen to your lawns roots. Like all
living things your lawn requires water water also contains dissolved nutrients
essential to growth in a form that is accessible to plant roots. Living
organisms range from microorganisms some of which help root growth - earthworms
which improves soil structure by creating air spaces and breaking down
organic matter. Soils varys a lot because they have different proportions
of these components arranged in different ways, this in turn affects the
way they behave. There are three main soil types being sand, loam
and clay. There are also many different soil types in between these three
varieties like a sandy loam or a clay loam for general gardening and lawn
purposes you can't beat a loam soil it's got all the good gear and the right
structure. Loam soil contains a mixture of sand silt organic matter and clay.
Providing the right balance of nutrients, oxygen, water and drainage which are just
what your lawn needs. It is important you know what sort of soil you have as this
will tell you what you need to do to improve it to get the most out of your
lawn. To analyze your soil you can carry out a ribbon test to find out what size
and sort of particles your soil contains whether it be sand loam or clay
and in what proportions. Pick up a handful or core of soil and work it
together adding a little bit of water at a time until it is moist. Note the
different textures sandy particles are coarse and easy to fell while the
smoother particles are clay silt and humus. Now squeeze the sample and try
to form it into a ball if the soil contains a fair proportion
of clay and humus this should be easy but if it contains a lot of sand
it will keep breaking up next gently squeeze the ball to lengthen it into a
strip or ribbon and see how long you can make it before it starts to break up the
more clay the soil contains the longer the ribbon will get and the more plastic
it will feel to touch soil ribbons can range in length from about 30
millimetres to 100 millimetres with sandy soils being shortest loamy soils
in the middle and clay soils the longest if your soil contains a lot of clay or
silt you may need to work on improving them. The soil beneath your grass is the
foundation for a well performing lawn if you don't get this right your lawn
will continue to struggle if you think your soil base is good but your lawn is
still struggling you may want to look at your soils pH. To do this check out our
video on testing soil pH where you'll get some good tips to get your soil into
the optimum pH range check out the lawn solutions Australia
website for more help lawn care tips and advice and don't
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Solutions Australia and we hope to catch you next time