Module 6:

6.3 Soil science

1   Introduction

For the first two parts of this section of the module the questions we will ask and provide answers to are:

• 6.3.1 Plant nutrition:
• Why is it important to have an understanding of plant nutrition?
• What is a fertiliser?
• What is a plant nutrient?
• What does fertiliser origin mean?
• What is the nutrient release rate for a fertiliser?
• What are the main nutrients given to turfgrasses in a fertiliser?
• What are the figures on a fertiliser label?
• How are fertilisers supplied?
• What are the different ‘types’ of fertiliser?
• What is the most important plant food?
• What factors affect the uptake of nutrients?
• How much fertiliser does my pitch need?

2  

• 6.3.2 Soil pH
• What is soil pH?
• How is pH measured?
• Why is pH important?
• How does pH influence pitch quality and playability?
• How can soil pH be changed?
• How does soil pH influence the availability of plant nutrients?

3  

Before we come to these questions a more fundamental question is often asked:

Why do I need to know anything about soil science because grass seems to grow almost anywhere?

Indeed, it does. However, if you look more closely you will find that some grass areas are healthy, hard wearing, and cover the ground very well, whilst others are thin in ground cover, straggly and do not stand up very well to foot traffic or mowers.

The soil provides the grass with a rooting medium in which the grass roots can become well anchored, improving soil and surface stability. This provides the foundation for the development of strong grass growth that is more resilient to wear. Applying sound principles of soil science helps to get the most out of your pitch.

There are many areas of soil science that are relevant to the groundskeeper, but we will focus on a few of the key ones which can be more readily influenced by maintenance practices.