3 signs of HIGH soil PH & How to fix it!
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Hey Everyone,
PH balance in the soil is key on the road to an awesome lawn. I did soil tests on a lawn that has't been looked after that well and one on my own. I compare the PH results and talk about what to look for if you suspect you might have a high soil PH and also what to do to fix the issue.
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First!
haha you are the man Wayne!
2 yrs later
I really like the way you explain your steps. Thanks for the content and your time.
Thanks mate, really appreciate it 🙏🙏
Hey sam, greetings from colorado u.s.a., about to begin my fall lawn overseed next week. Thanks for all the great videos. Waiting for the next one my man!
Hey mate, thanks so much, appreciate the support. Colorado is a special place for us Swedes, Forsberg ground :D
Also, having a soil with a low PH can also have the same symptoms of a high PH soil such as compacted soil, weeds, and bare/dead spots. As you mentioned, having a soil test is the first step in determining what the soil PH is and determine what course of action to take based on the results of the soil test.
Exactly right mate!
Inspired by this video I found my lawn soil has a pH of 8.5! I can easily get sulphur chips in the UK which is much less messy to spread. Hard to tell how fast I can apply it as I need a big correction. Went on at 50g/m^2, monthly applications are recommended on the tub but I might assess the surface pH every couple of weeks or when the chips appear to have completely disintegrated to apply at a good pace without damaging the grass. 🤞
Nice work mate, PH is one of the most important things to get control of, much more than NPK levels or anything else. So it´s good that you are tackling that problem. But I don´t think you need to test the PH every few weeks, usually PH corrections take a looong time, so just be patient and consistent and you will get there, no doubt!
You ard, oc course , right. Cloved is a seed. Even fescue can be a weed. Weeds are sismply plants that are growing where they are not wanted. They are generally plants that are fast growing and thrive in most types of soil. Not only are they unsightly, but they also compete for any available food and water and provide shelter for a number of garden pests and disease. Many seeds are edible.😊
For sure, the way I see it if you don't want it in your lawn then it's a "weed". Many people even seed clover and that's fine, but I don't want them in my lawn :)
Lots of good information!
Thanks JD 🙏
Not long ago I use iron to get rid of some clover. Unfortunately I did not wash it off of my cement sidewalks fast enough. It's stained it. It took me a long time to find a product that would delete or get rid of the iron Now, I am much more careful.
I am actually working on a video on that, what kind of iron did you use? I think it's so strange that's not a bigger deal over here in Europe where pretty much all herbicides are banned, then chelated iron would be perfect to use, but we don't have a single iron based product we can use. So strange.
The product I use that caused huge headaches all over my patio and my driveway and even the curbing was a product called Moss Out. This is one of the items that it has in it according to Amazon.... Contains 32.0-percent ferrous sulfate monohydrate and 68.0-percent calcium carbonate. Please note that I am an old age (67) beginner when it comes to lawns. My ignorance on not sweeping the granules off of the patio and driveway Not only caused iron spots that were next to impossible to get out but almost cost me a marriage. Lol I tried everything. Anything that said it would get rid of iron spots. And then I got this Singerman laboratory stuff. To say the least as a newbie I am not sponsored by them and they know not who I am. I just know that it was like a miracle. You have put it down, they say you don't have to scrub, but I of course did a little. But nothing backbreaking. In fact I barely scrubbed. And then wash it off 5 minutes or 10 minutes later. I was simply amazed. I can't wait to see your video. Let me know if you need to know anything more.
@@SamsLawn I replied to your question in your UA-cam. I just figured out I could hit this button. If you cannot find what I sent you in reply please let me know and I will copy and paste it here. I am very much a newbie to lawn care and UA-cam.
@@rodgersandrodgers8191 yeah iron is a real pain to get off once it stains, it should really be clear on the package that you should be careful, I had no clue either the first time I used it, I stained some stones and a bit on the patio, but not that much so marriage was fine :)
Did it actually remove weeds with just ferrous sulfate? I tried it several times but never works, the one thing that did work was to switch over to chelated iron, that did the trick!
@@SamsLawn No. I still ended up having Moss. I'm going to have to try the chelated iron. Maybe that will work. But I still will be more careful with the patio.
I've been bringing mine down over the years. Started with 7.49 in 2021, this year down to 7.01 using disintegrating sulfur.
Awesome mate, sounds like slow and steady good work from your part! Where do you aim to end up?
@@SamsLawn I’m thinking anywhere from 6.5-6.8
Brenntag in Malmö advertises citric acid, food grade, used in candy and many other things.
Some citric acid and pelleted sulphur combined will give you a "now" and "then" I know you said "no chemicals" and powder sulphur is evil to breath!!!
But pelleted it is much tamer....
...some more things to consider...
Didn't even know it was available in pellets form, awesome input Wayne 🤙🏼
For me soil PH of 6.2 or 6.5 is the optimal range to grow my swamp white oak tree.
good channel ! thanks for posting content Subscribed !
Thanks mate, appreciate it! :)
Mr. Sam, i have a good bit of bahiagrass next to my driveway and patches of it throughout my lawn, how do i get rid of that mess?
Wish I could give you a good answer mate, but warm season grasses are not my thing really. But I think I have read somewhere that there are herbicides against bahiagrass.
Do I have to break up the soil first so that the fertilizer will penetrate? My soul is hard in most places.
Hey Susan, if you soil is hard then I would suggest aerating it, best method would be hollow core aeration, but any aerating is better than nothing. Just to get the soil to break up and loosen. The roots of the grass and the microorganisms don´t really like hard soils. As far as the fertilizer goes, it will penetrate the soil when it´s mixed with water and the ground absorbs it so no worries there.
Sam i just purchased and will be using the sea kelp, silica, and humic acid. Wish me luck!
It's going to be awesome dude 🥳🤙🏼👌🏼
Hey Sam, hope all is well, been a while since you posted… you asked about my lawn. Did a renovation but went for a Rye rather than the fescue (the fescue just took too long on a test patch) gotta say it’s looking good after 4 weeks. Would send a pic but no idea how I can post to you site. P.S when is the next video 🙏
Hey Steve, oh you ended up going with rye, nice! Welcome to the rye fold :) If you have instagram you can just send me a message there, would love to see how it's looking after 4 weeks (samslawn_sweden)
I have videos ready, just haven't edited them, had a bad case of covid, had a hard time breathing because of all the coughing, so I've just not had any energy to do anything. Hopefully I can get one out soon mate. Glad to see that there are some out there who want more :)
My water is about 8.2 ph and my soil is compact rock hard clay. The roots of the grass are a about an inch down and i live in a hot semi arid area. How do I manage that? Im digging some out and roto tilling the rest with organic material and then im going to give it a gew inches of top dressing. Not sure if this will work.
Hey Mate, You can do what I do, fertilize with something containing sulphur, you can use ammonium fertilizer, that will also reduce the PH. Peat moss also makes the soil more acidic. You can try a combination of these things. Also top dress with organic matter as much as you can, good compost is the best. That´s the only way to break up hard clay soil in the long run. Just remember that none of these remedies will work "fast", not a quick fix, bringing soil PH up or down or breaking hard clay takes time, years.
@@SamsLawn thank you for responding! Great info.
Nice video. In the video when you are talking about compacted lawn at 2:45. There is a weed on left side of your hand. What’s the name of that weed? I recently got that in my lawn and I do not know what is it called.
Hey Yasser, thanks man. I have some of those as well, be sure to pick the up by the roots as soon as you se them. They are called "revsmörsblomma" in swedish and i think the common english name is buttercup flower. It spreads reaaaaally quickly. They spread like clover, they cover a large area but they all lead to the same plant, so try and find the root of the main plant and dig it up and you should get all the ones attached to it as well
Thanks Sam. Keep on making these nice and informative videos. 👏
@@yasirrasheed and thank you for wathing my man, appreciate it :)
I have two more questions:
- where to get soil tested in Stockholm at good price?
- how to reduce thatch layer in lawn. In my front yard, I have 6 cm thick thatch. Since it was the hot summer, the grass died when We were not at home during the July vacations. I am planning to use scarifier, and overseed the lawn now since the weather is good. In many UA-cam videos from US they use some liquid chemicals which increase microbial activity and reduces the thatch thickness. Is there any product like that available in Sweden?
You can either contact eurofins directly to do a soil test, not sure how much that cost. xeed is where I did it, they have one to give you the soil PH only, that one is cheaper than the one I do. Then you can go to hydrogardens webpage, they have a soil test you do yourself and it only cost 89:-. So there are some options.
As for the thatch. If you have that much of it you need to go at it mechanically with a scarifier for sure. Increasing microbial activity is also a good complement and hydrogarden has a product called BioBizz, they have awesome stuff. One called fich mix is for microbial activity. They are based in Gothenburg, but you can also order online. I buy all my humic acids and stuff there :)
@@SamsLawn Thanks for suggestions and tips 😄
Any recommendations for pH test? Some kits or gadgets?
Not really, depends on where you live, In Sweden I think we only have two options. I used the soil test from Xeed. Other countries have more options I think and it seems to be cheaper too. Since we only have two that also makes it a bit more expensive. Where are you based?
@@SamsLawn Sweden, Gbg. So I can reuse your experience to the fullest. :-)
@@Shorrey awesome! 🥳🤙🏼
My garden is Alkaline what should I do
Add sulfur to make it more acidic!🙏 same as Sam did in video
How does compacted soil indicate a high ph?
Well there are several factors but one is that organic matter won't break down as efficiently in a compacted soil and when organic matter breaks down it usually produces acids that lower the ph, so if this process is slowed down it will cause the ph to go up. Same reason why microbial activity will reduce and again when the microbes decompose matter in your lawn they produce acids.
So there are several of these factors, but as I say in the video, these are just indicators and signs and would be a reason to do a proper soil test.
@@SamsLawn I see thank you for the explanation.
You did not say were to purchase the Master LAWN fertilizer
Hey Mate,
I just bought it from an online store. I think they changed the name of it now, it´s called HPJ Garden here in Sweden at least. Just google it :)
I believe you could be good on pH and still have compacted soil. At least in my case, that’s because I’m high in magnesium.
Could be mate, these are just some general stuff, there could be a lot of differences, so many factors involved.
Where can I find the sulfur product. Name?
Hey Mate, the fertilizer I use with sulfur is called Florovit Masterlawn. It may only be sold in Scandinavia, not sure. Where about are you located? I can try to find something similar that is available for you.
Actually 5.5-5.6 ph is where most minor elements are available
Some species need acidic soils. Clover isn't a weed-it is great to shade and feed lawns. Sounds like I've got a gnarly high Ph. Probably need a test.
Right you are Andrea, not really a weed but I think most people, including myself, count it as weed :)
It never hurts to just do a soil test, no need to do one every year, but every couple of years is awesome, just to check the health of the lawn :)
@@SamsLawn I have about 38 arces of land. Do I need to sample only one spot of the land to test for ph.
@Alonzo Gonzalez No, you can take samples from all around and it will give you a indicator on what ph you have "overall"
But if you have specific parts that look worse than others you could just take samples from those areas to see what might be wrong.
@Sam's Lawn Thanks for replying so quickly. I'm trying to research the process of growing alfalfa in my land and ph is one thing I need to know.
Clover is not a weed it is a beneficial plant not only to soil but also bees and so much more
Hey Gary, I agree, I actually have clover on the other side of the deck towards the trees, I keep it there and want the bees to thrive, but not in the lawn.
Any recommendation for a lawn with 5.8 Ph?
Hey mate, good question! The other fertilizer I use which raized my PH is the one with a lot of lime in it, so the best and most natural way of doing it is either hit it with lime or use fertilizer that has a lot of lime in it. Lawns will naturally go down in PH due to rainfall and debris so a little lime is always good.
Clover is NOT a weed. I actually spent over $100 to have clover spread on my lawn. It's a very good nutrient restorer for the lawn, it's edible, it doesn't grow very high, and it's soft to walk barefoot on.
Hey Timothy, maybe not but I would still put it in the unwanted category when it comes to plats you want in your lawn. I do have clover on the other side of the deck, those I keep for all the bees, but I don't want the clover in the lawn.
Anything growing in your lawn that is not your primary grass/ground cover by definition is a weed.
Have you ever found a 4-leaf clover?
Man, I would look for days on end
@@willi6880 NEVER!! I know exactly what you mean mate, everytime I am out picking clover I always end up just looking for a 4-leaf one, its addictive! 😅
@willi6880 there not that hard to find I even found a five leaf
I wish you state your location.
Hey mate, I am in Stockholm Sweden 🇸🇪
You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. You must love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus the Anointed is Lord! Repent and be baptized and believe the Evangelism.
Thank you.
Var köper du Florovit? Hittar ingenstans
Tjena, Den har bytt namn till HPJ Garden Masterlawn. Dock skulle jag nog inte köpa den, den har blivit löjligt dyr. Inte alls värt längre. Vet inte om det finns några bra substitut, men försök och se om du hittar något annat med järn och svavel i.
@@SamsLawn tack! Köpte den ändå, hittade inget annat. Hoppas på mindre klöver och att få ned pH:t 👍👍
@samslawn, vad blandade du ut den med exakt? Eller kör du den endast?
Clover is much better than grass.
haha well, to each his own, I still prefer grass on the lawn and clover on the other side of the deck for the bees.
are you persian
Well, I would say I am Swedish but yes, Persian roots ;)
@@SamsLawn same..hi 5
@@RH-zc5dq What gave me away, the nose?! haha
@@SamsLawn the accent hehe..
hve u heard of dust sulfer..it mixes well with water n with wetting agent the solution cn get deeper into the soil..but im not sure whether or not this is used only for lawn or for other plants too ..on the pack it says to kill germicides n parasites with no mention of reducing soil ph..
also, do u think 1 kg of pelleted/powdered sulfur is fair amount to apply to 10 sqm of soil, dividing it into 4 applications being 250 g 4 times a yr? ..and how much more sulfur cn you add ..is it ongoing thing until u reach your desired ph? As i heard tht too much sulfur can be toxic to plants..