What is soil amendment?
Acidic soils, a myth or a reality?
Your soil’s pH fluctuates from week to week. These fluctuations are mainly caused by acid rain. To work effectively, your lawn’s root system needs to be in soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. If that’s not the case, here is what your lawn will face:
- Roots will have difficulty absorbing nutrients in the soil
- Yellow patches may appear
- Weeds will settle more easily into your lawn
Fortunately, all our packages include a quantitative analysis of your soil’s pH so that we can make the right recommendations based on your specific soil type!
One of the best ways to avoid weeds
Soil amendment in 3 steps
Analysis of your soil’s pH
Our 3 packages offer a soil pH analysis service. To do this, one of our certified technicians takes data by inserting a pH meter at different locations on your property. These measurements allow the technician to evaluate the acidity and humidity of the soil and to verify if there is a large variation from one location to another.
Technician’s report
Once the lawn care services are completed, your technician will give you a personalized sheet that provides recommendations for your lawn, which can include sharpening your lawn mower’s blades, watering in a specific area, etc. This report will also indicate your soil’s pH as well as the locations where it has been checked on your property.
Soil amendment if needed
If the analysis reveals that the soil is too acidic, the technician will apply lime where necessary to restore the proper pH balance. Conversely, if the soil is too alkaline, sulfur will be used to restore the balance. If you think your soil is too acidic or too alkaline, opt for the cCurity package, which includes soil amendment.
Want the chance to pay according to your satisfaction?
Choose our cCurity package that includes soil amendment!
cRenity
Includes soil amendment
- Granular spring fertilizer with green booster
- Summer liquid fertilizer
- Fall granular fertilizer with green booster
- Weed control
- Harmful insect inspection
- Harmful insect control (if needed)
- Technician’s recommendations
- Unlimited proactive service calls
- Pay according to your satisfaction the following year
- Aeration
- Soil amendment
- Bag of grass seeds
- Treatment of insects on and around the house
- White grub treatment
cVert
Includes soil amendment
- Granular spring fertilizer with green booster
- Summer liquid fertilizer
- Fall granular fertilizer with green booster
- Weed control
- Harmful insect inspection
- Harmful insect control (if needed)
- Technician’s recommendations
- Unlimited proactive service calls
- Pay according to your satisfaction the following year
- Aeration
- Soil amendment
- Bag of grass seeds
- Treatment of insects on and around the house
- White grub treatment
cCurity
Includes soil amendment
- Granular spring fertilizer with green booster
- Summer liquid fertilizer
- Fall granular fertilizer with green booster
- Weed control
- Harmful insect inspection
- Harmful insect control (if needed)
- Technician’s recommendations
- Unlimited proactive service calls
- Pay according to your satisfaction the following year
- Aeration
- Soil amendment
- Bag of grass seeds
- Treatment of insects on and around the house
- White grub treatment
For superior results, opt for the cCurity package
The cCurity package contains our overseeding service which is provided immediately after the aeration of your lawn
Overseeding your lawn after aeration will improve your soil’s genetics. Indeed, the seeds will settle directly in the holes in your lawn and will germinate much more easily. It will increase your lawn’s density, which in turn will reduce the number of weeds present.
Discover our other services: lawn treatment, insect control treatment, lawn aeration, white grub treatment and tree, hedge and shrub fertilization.
Did you know that cVert offers its soil amendment services in most regions of Quebec? Trois-Rivières, Centre-du-Québec, Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec City, North Shore of Montreal, South Shore of Montreal, Sherbrooke.
Here is what our customers all over Quebec think
Learn more about soil amendment
Soil amendment refers to the process of adding materials to the soil to improve its physical, chemical and biological properties, with the ultimate aim of optimizing conditions for plant growth. This practice is fundamental to gardening, as it directly stimulates plant productivity and health.
Soil improvers can be organic or mineral. Organic matter, such as compost, manure, leaf litter and forestry compost, enriches the soil with nutrients and increases its water-holding capacity, while promoting the activity of beneficial microorganisms such as earthworms and mycorrhizae.
- Improved soil fertility : some soils may lack nutrients due to inadequate cultivation practices. Our soil amendment service can help restore and increase soil fertility by adding essential organic matter and minerals.
- Correct drainage problems : soil amendment can improve soil structure. This improves drainage and aeration, which is essential for plant health.
- Adjusting soil pH : soil pH can have a significant impact on the availability of nutrients for plants. Generally speaking, the pH of Quebec soils is too acidic. A soil amendment service using lime can neutralize excessive soil acidity. Conversely, in the case of soil with an alkaline pH (uncommon in Quebec), sulfur is used.
- Plant disease prevention: the soil improvers used by our teams promote a healthy microbiological community in the soil. These microbes increase your lawn’s natural resistance and protect it against various diseases.
Poor grass growth
Poor plant growth may be due to a lack of essential nutrients or a pH imbalance. Certain indicators – such as pale leaves and diminished growth – may point to the need for a soil amendment.
Expert advice: to improve lawn growth, you can apply compost or manure to your lawn. In this way, you’ll enrich the organic matter and promote a rebalancing of nutrients in the first few centimeters of soil, for a healthier, more beautiful lawn!
Drainage problems
Inadequate drainage, either too much or too little, can compromise the health of lawn roots.
Expert advice: you can add organic matter such as forestry compost or mineral soil improvers. This improves the physical properties of the soil, enhancing its ability to retain or drain water.
Frequent weeds or disease
The presence of weeds and/or the recurrence of disease can be symptoms of poor soil quality.
Expert advice: an organic amendment, through the addition of compost or minerals, can strengthen soil structure and grass health, making it more resistant to disease and weed invasion.
Soil texture and structure
Compact or sandy soils can benefit from an amendment to improve their structure. Incorporating organic matter (such as potting soil or compost) can increase the soil’s capacity to retain water and nutrients. In this way, soil structure and texture become healthier, and this helps grass roots to grow!
- Regular mowing : mowing contributes to a dense lawn and weed prevention, while stimulating root growth for greater drought resilience. We don’t offer a mowing service, but we do offer our best advice on how to cut your lawn.
- Lawn fertilization: regular apportionment of fertilizers, such as compost or green manure, provides the nutrients needed to keep your lawn healthy and vigorous.
- Grub treatments: targeted treatments against grubs – a common pest in Quebec lawns – protect the lawn and maximize the beneficial effects of other treatments.
- Lawn aeration: soil aeration improves soil structure, making it easier for air, water and nutrients to reach the grass roots. This is essential for good lawn growth!
- cVert agronomists’ favorite type of soil amendment:
- Lime: Used to adjust soil pH, lime is particularly effective in acid soils, where it helps raise pH and make nutrients more available to plants.
Other known soil improvers:
- Compost: rich in organic matter, compost improves soil structure and fertility, supporting healthy plant growth.
- Green manures: grown and incorporated into the soil, green manures (such as alfalfa) add nutrients and improve soil structure, thanks to their organic matter.
- Peat: used to increase water retention and improve soil texture, peat must be used judiciously to avoid negative environmental impacts.
Regular soil amendment is essential to maintain a healthy lawn. Generally, an annual lime application is recommended, but this may vary according to soil type and the specific needs of the lawn.
Insect pests (chinch bugs, sod webworms) or grubs can adversely affect plant growth and reduce the effectiveness of soil improvers. Proper treatment of these pests ensures that the benefits of soil improvers are fully exploited, supporting grass health and growth.
Acid soils limit the availability of nutrients, affecting plant growth and health. Using lime or iron sulfate to adjust the pH can improve the availability of essential nutrients.
Yes, lime application is the soil amendment used by cVert at our customers’ sites. Lime is an excellent option because it corrects soil acidity, improving the availability of nutrients such as calcium. There are also other soil amendments, including organic and mineral materials, aimed at improving overall soil quality, affecting structure, fertility and water retention capacity, beyond pH correction.
