Lawn Care Blog

At Hillside Lawn Service, we’re offering granular potassium applications to our Harford County, MD residents during the winter months. Why is it important to have the right level of potassium in the soil? This nutrient is needed by plants and lawns so that they can tolerate drought and disease. It is also thought that plants need potassium to move water, nutrients and carbohydrate molecules inside the plant itself. According to the University of Minnesota Extension website, plants with a potassium deficiency lose their green color and often turn brown and die from the ground up. So, it is wise to have your soil tested for potassium.  

The University of Maryland Extension recommends soil testing every three to four years for lawn care in Harford and Cecil Counties. Soil testing will provide results not only for potassium, but also for pH (the alkaline or acid levels in your soil), phosphate and magnesium levels. You can test your soil yourself or have our experts at Hillside Lawn Service do it.  If you are doing it yourself, the University of Maryland Extension offers a soil test fact sheet on its website. It gives tips on taking a soil sample, interpreting test results and steps to take for fertilization. It also recommends eight soil testing labs in the region.

Regardless of whether you do it yourself or have it done professionally, if your soil shows a potassium deficiency, you’ll need to fertilize now to have the soil ready for springtime lawns and plants. Potassium is found in most fertilizers, and you can determine the portion of potassium by looking at the third number in a three-digit fertilizer number. Natural potassium comes from rocks in the soil, as well as wood ash and manure.

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