We Test Your Soil, So We Know What Your Lawn Actually Needs
In-depth lab soil testing for every new lawn treatment client, because at Treppendahl Landscape we'd rather measure first than guess.
Lawn Soil Testing
A healthy lawn starts below the surface. That's why every new Treppendahl Landscape lawn treatment client receives a professional soil test. Without soil testing, lawn care can become a guessing game: you keep adding fertilizer, treating weeds and trying different products without ever understanding why the grass isn't performing the way it should. We'd rather measure first. It's the first step in how we approach lawn care.
Your soil test gives us a baseline for what's happening underground, so we can make better decisions about how to improve your lawn over time. We take samples across your lawn and send them to a lab, and you get the results with our recommendations, usually within a few weeks.
What Our Soil Testing Looks At
Our in-depth lawn soil analysis gives us a much better picture of the environment your grass is actually growing in. We pay particular attention to three areas.
Soil pH
Soil pH affects how available nutrients are to your grass, so the soil pH test is where we start. Even if nutrients are present in the soil, or we're adding them through fertilizer, your grass may have trouble accessing them when the pH isn't in an appropriate range. Different grass types can also perform best under different soil conditions, so we take your turf type into account when we evaluate the results.
Nutrient Levels
We look at the nutrient profile of your soil to find deficiencies or imbalances that may be limiting your lawn's color, density, root development and overall health. That helps us make more informed fertility decisions instead of assuming that every struggling lawn needs more fertilizer.
Organic Matter
Organic matter is an important part of healthy soil. It helps soil hold moisture and nutrients, improves soil structure and supports biological activity below the surface. When organic matter is very low, a lawn can struggle even when it's getting regular fertilizer and weed control treatments.
Looking at pH, nutrients and organic matter tells us far more about your lawn than looking at the grass from above.
New Construction Lawns Can Be Especially Challenging
This is one of the biggest reasons we believe soil testing is so valuable. Around newer construction homes, we frequently see a combination of high soil pH, low organic matter and compacted soil.
During construction, the original topsoil may be disturbed, removed or mixed with subsoil. Fill materials may be brought in, and heavy equipment can badly compact the soil before the lawn is ever installed. Then sod is placed on top. From the surface, everything may look great at first. Over time, though, homeowners start seeing thin grass, poor color, shallow roots or a lawn that just doesn't respond the way it should.
The natural reaction is to apply more fertilizer. But more fertilizer isn't necessarily the answer. If the underlying problem is poor soil structure, compaction, low organic matter or an unfavorable pH, we need to understand and address those conditions, not keep piling on product. That's exactly why we test instead of guessing.
What We Do With the Results
We don't soil test just so we can hand you a report. We use the results to make better decisions about your lawn:
- If nutrients are deficient or out of balance, the results help guide our fertility recommendations
- If the pH isn't where we'd like it, we can look at strategies for improving the soil environment over time
- If we find low organic matter or other poor soil conditions, we may recommend services that improve the soil itself
The goal is to understand why your lawn is performing the way it is and figure out what we can realistically do to improve it.
Core Aeration and Topdressing Can Help Improve the Soil
When we find poor soil conditions, particularly compaction and low organic matter, core aeration and topdressing can be extremely useful tools.
Core Aeration
Core aeration physically removes thousands of small plugs of soil from the lawn. That relieves compaction, creates pathways for air, water and nutrients to move deeper into the root zone and gives roots more room to develop. It's especially valuable on newer construction properties, where heavy equipment may have compacted the soil before the lawn went in.
Topdressing
Topdressing is a soil amendment: we spread a thin layer of carefully selected material across the lawn. Depending on your existing soil and the material we use, it can help increase organic matter, improve soil structure and improve the environment around your grass's root system. On high-pH soil, choosing the right topdressing material can also be part of a longer-term strategy for improving those conditions.
Why We Often Recommend Them Together
Core aeration and topdressing complement each other extremely well. Aeration opens up the soil, and topdressing brings better material into and around those openings. Instead of simply placing material on top of a compacted lawn, aeration lets it become part of the root zone. It isn't an overnight fix, because improving poor soil takes time. But that's the point: we're trying to improve the environment your lawn will grow in for years, not create a temporary green-up.
Why Does Soil Testing Matter?
Two lawns on the same street can look almost identical from the surface and have very different conditions underneath.
- One may have a pH problem
- Another may be short on certain nutrients
- Another may have extremely low organic matter
- Another may be growing on heavily compacted construction soil
- And another may have perfectly reasonable soil and simply need consistent, properly timed lawn treatments
Without testing, you're making assumptions. Soil testing replaces those assumptions with actual data. We combine that information with your grass type, the condition of your lawn and what we see throughout the year to make better recommendations.
Soil Testing Is Only One Part of a Great Lawn
A soil test isn't a cure-all, and we don't want to pretend it is. Building a thick, healthy lawn takes time and consistency. Soil health is one part of a larger strategy that includes properly timed pre-emergent, weed control and fertilization, insect and disease management, and ongoing monitoring throughout the year. That's what our 7 Step Annual Lawn Treatment Program is built to do.
What the soil test gives us is something extremely valuable at the start: a better understanding of the lawn we're actually treating. Instead of treating every property the same and hoping for the best, we pay attention to what's happening both above and below the surface.
Our Signature Program
7 Step Annual Lawn Treatment Program
Every program client gets an in-depth soil test, so the treatments that follow are built on your lawn's real numbers. The 7 Step Annual Lawn Treatment Program is how most of our lawn clients start.
- Lawn health assessment and in-depth soil test before the first treatment
- 7 treatments a year, timed to the season, with grassy weeds like nutsedge and crabgrass included
- Weed Kill Guarantee: If you have not seen substantial visual improvement to your weeds after 4 consecutive treatments, we will refund your last visit.
- Pay as you go: no contract and no surprise visits
Questions & Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Visit our FAQ page or call (225) 405-1816.
What does a lawn soil test measure?
We focus on soil pH, nutrient levels and organic matter, and we read the results alongside your grass type and the condition of your lawn.
How long does it take to get results?
Samples go to a lab, and we send you the results with our recommendations, usually within a few weeks.
Is soil testing included in the lawn program?
Yes. Every new lawn treatment client receives a soil test as part of the 7 Step Annual Lawn Treatment Program.
What happens after the test?
We use the results to guide fertility decisions, look at ways to improve pH over time and, when we find compaction or low organic matter, recommend soil-building services like core aeration and topdressing.
Can a store-bought soil test kit do the same thing?
A kit can give you a number. What it can't do is turn that number into a plan. Our samples go to a lab, and we combine the results with your grass type, the condition of your lawn and what we see throughout the year, then act on them.
Related Services
More Lawn Care Services
Why Choose Us
Why Baton Rouge Homeowners Choose Treppendahl
We Soil Test All New Lawns
Every new lawn treatment client gets a soil test, so we know what your lawn needs instead of guessing.
Weed Kill Guarantee
No substantial improvement in your weeds after 4 consecutive treatments? We refund your last visit.
No Contracts
Pay as you go. You stay because the lawn looks better, not because you signed something.
No Surprise Visits
You hear from us before a technician shows up, so you are never caught off guard.
Local Since 2012
A Baton Rouge company that knows south Louisiana heat, rain and soil because we work in it every day.
We Share What We Know
Rob's library of how-to videos gives away our best advice for free, so you can see how we think.
More From Treppendahl
Additional Services
Let’s Get Started
We Don't Guess What's Happening Underground. We Test It.
If you're going to invest in making your lawn thicker, greener and healthier, we think we should understand the soil it's growing in first. We service the Baton Rouge area, including towns like Prairieville, Geismar and Gonzales, as well as the Lafayette area, including towns like Broussard, Youngsville and Maurice. Call (225) 405-1816 or get a quote to get started.
