Fall good time for soil test
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

COMING EVENTS

Tuesdays through Nov. 13 - 7 to 9:30 p.m., Principles of Landscape Design Classes, Franklin County Master Gardners, Franklin County Human Service Building, Call 263-9226 for information.

Nov. 8 - 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Holiday Daze, Chambersburg Mennonite Church, Register by Oct. 31.

Nov. 13 - 6 p.m., Commodity Queens Reception; 6:45 p.m., Farm-City Banquet, Kauffman Community Center. Call 263-9226 for tickets.

Nov. 13 and 14 - 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., Composting Workshops and Free Backyard Compost Bins, Franklin County Extension, Call 263-9226.

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PH OF SOILS

We often talk about a soils pH and that it is important to test your soil to be sure that it is in the proper range. But few people understand why a little change in pH is so important.

Without getting into soil chemistry to the point your eyes glaze over, I will try to give a brief explanation. PH is how we express the acidity of soil. The scale is from 0, which is very acid to 14, which is alkaline. Neutral is a pH of 7.

An important fact about pH is that when we go from a pH of 7, which is neutral to a pH of 6, which is acidic. This is not a one point change. This change is actually a factor of 10, which means that the pH of 6 is 10 times as acidic, as pH 7. A pH of 5 is 100 times as acid as neut

ral. Some plants like a lot of acidity, while most plants in our yard prefer a pH in the mid six

range.

Some of the things we add to soil can make it more acidic over time, so we have to use lime which is ground limestone to tie up the acidic particles in the soil solution. The lower your original pH on your soil tests the more lime you need to bring it back closer to neutral. People often ask why so much lime? It is because all the changes are based on a factor of 10 as we showed above when the acidic soil at pH of 5 was 100 times more acidic than neutral.

This discussion is a reminder to you that it is important to know the pH of your soil. Farmers test their soil about every three years, but most homeowners never test theirs, yet it could be an important tool to help correct problems in your landscape.

Fall is a good time to do a soil test on your garden, flower bed or lawn. We have the kits available in our office for $9.00 each. Stop by to get a few kits to test the soil in your yard, especially if you have a new home.

WOOD ASHES

More people have some type of patio heater that burns wood and with high fuel prices, wood stoves are being used more. You may be tempted to just dispose the wood ashes on your property. You can do this but you need to use some caution.

Wood ashes contain nutrients like potassium, but they also can change the pH of the soil and they can be tricky to spread evenly in the yard. If you are going to dispose of wood ashes in your yard, never use them around any acid loving plants like the azaleas & rhododendrons as the plants will not do well with a more alkaline soil.

Use ashes sparingly on your vegetable garden or flower beds when you can mix it into the soil. Apply about one-half inch of ashes over the area and these can be tilled into the area. Ashes would also be good to use over the areas where you have spring bulbs planted.

Wood ashes should not be used in the same area year after year. Every three to four years is as often as you would want to use wood ashes on an area and you should do a soil test on the area every three years to be sure you aren't over applying the wood ashes. Do not use ashes from a coal stove on your yard or garden. They will not be beneficial to your soil at all. Dispose of cool ashes in a landfill.

ROTZ RECYCLING

CENTER

Homeowners now have a new site in the Chambersburg area to dispose of non woody yard waste. Harry Rotz has been approved to be a recycling center to the public for leaves, grass clippings and garden waste. The material dropped off must be free of trash and if you bring it to his facility in bags, you must take it out of the bag and take the bag with you. This is a composting center, not a landfill, so I hope everyone will respect the rules of the facility. If you use it and you notice that someone else dropped off bags, do all of us a favor and tear open the bags and dump the contents for Mr. Rotz. We need facilities like these in our area so we can recycle waste products from our yard and be able to get good compost in the area.

To get to the composting center, go out of Chambersburg on Rt. 11 North and go through the intersection of Rt. 997. Turn right onto Pine Stump Road. Then turn left onto Rice Road. Go less than a mile and the facility will be on your left. You are able to go there seven days a week. Again, please no trash, only leaves, grass clippings and garden waste.

CONTROL WEEDS IN

LAWNS

There is still time to apply a fall application of broad leaf weed killer to your lawn with the recent much needed rains, the weeds are more actively growing and we haven't had a frost yet. An application of weed killer would be rapidly absorbed and translocated to the roots of weeds like dandelions, plantains, winter annuals like chickweed and henbit. As long as we have days that the temperature is 50 degrees or more, the chemicals should be absorbed. Temperatures less than 50 degrees will slow down the translocation process.

Keep in mind that this will not be a quick kill. These weeds may not even show a sign that they have been sprayed with a weed killer. But they will gradually disappear over the fall and winter and next spring your lawn should be weed free.

PINE NEEDLES NEEDED

This is a reminder of our offer to take any pine needles you want to bag up and bring to Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg. We can use them to mulch our Wildlife Area. If you have some to dispose of, bring them to the north side of the county barn on Franklin Farm Lane and leave them at the back side of the lawn. We will spread them in our wildlife area to help naturalize the area and to control weeds. If you have any questions, call us at (717) 263-9226.