# What is ideal time to soil test cool season lawns?



## spraying_and_praying (Feb 24, 2021)

Now that lawn care season is about to unfold, I've been doing some research on soil testing. I plan to run a couple of MySoil kits alongside kits from my local county extension office (UConn) for comparison purposes. In reading UConn's paperwork, they strongly recommend fall as the ideal time to test in Connecticut. Part of that is due to the volume of testing during the spring, and part of that is about allowing time for soil amendments like lime to work into the soil over the winter.

Ideally, I'd like to get into an annual soil test routine for yearly comparison purposes. A number of websites also recommend fall as the best time to test cool season lawns, and I searched here, but couldn't find a discussion on the topic. So I'd like to pose that question and draw on the wisdom of the group:

What is the ideal time to soil test a cool season lawn?

In my case, I plan to put down fertilizer this season during late May before the summer heat, and then again in early fall, and one last time in late fall (UConn recommends no fertilizer apps between October 16-April 14 in any year). So if we assume for practical purposes that fall begins around August 20 (zone 6a), would taking soil samples around then (but before any fall soil amendments) yield the most accurate data that would guide fall amendments, and the following season as well? Or would I be better off to wait until November/December after my final fertilizer app before the soil hard freezes? I believe there is a lag time that soil should not be tested after fertilizer and/or lime applications, so if I were to apply amendments as late as October 15, six-eight weeks would put me into December when the ground might be frozen and soil testing would be difficult if not near impossible.

Or, is March/early April still preferable for annual lawn care soil testing? Right now, I still have a significant amount of snow yet to melt, so I'll have to wait that out before spring testing. Clearly there won't be any issues with spring testing and the last fertilizer or lime app from the previous fall in that scenario. But March can be brutal for snow in some years around here, so weeks might go by in any given year before I can even see my lawn in the spring, let alone pull soil cores.

I'm very interested to know your strategies and thoughts on this topic. If you don't want to fully comment, maybe everyone can leave a quick post with when they perform soil testing on their cool season lawn and we can see if there's a consensus.

As always, thanks in advance!


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

I do my test in February- March because all the stuff I put in during the fall should have incorporated by then.


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## spraying_and_praying (Feb 24, 2021)

That makes sense @Lawn Noob. That was my original thought too, but these instructions have got me thinking.

I suppose if first fertilizer app is in late May, there's plenty of time. But any lime apps that late in the spring won't help until we're well into the season, maybe into the fall.


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## RichS (Jan 28, 2019)

Same time every year, at least 4-6 weeks after any treatment.

I do mine as it warms up - usually the last week of February or first week of March - so I can get current data and set a plan for the year. Results in early March leaves me a few weeks to plan and purchase.

As you can see from the volume of test results popping up on the soil forum (and other sites), this is by far the most popular time of the year.

(I'm not clear on why lime working in over the winter means a fall test. You can get a spring test and still put it down in the fall for over the winter. Or spread it throughout the year to get it working earlier. I don't know how waiting an entire growing season for results would help.)


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