5% organic matter by dry weight, or 10% by volume, is considered good. If you don't know which way they measure, call the county agent. I think dry weight is the usual.

pH of 6.2 sounds fine to me unless you are fighting a downward tendency in the soil.

The analysis doesn't say whether it is dry or not. But I think the first thing they do is to dry the sample.

I have a pH meter so tomorrow I'll check it against there result.

Now why didn't I use it to find that out! But I will check my other beds to see if they are the same or possibly lower.

Thanks, Michael

The pH sounds fine to me. If P & K are high, why would the recommendation be to add 10-6-4 instead of a nitrogen-only fertilizer?

Adding organic matter by mulching with good quality compost or ground bark works well. Some soils tests won't make recommendations for adding an amendment like organic matter to an established garden. The process of increasing organic matter through mulching is a multi-year process that works wonderfully. It does keep soils cool in the spring, however.

If your soil is high in Calcium and the pH is 6.2, why would you add lime?

It does not read - to me - that you have "poor soil" as you assumed, does it?

I would work on increasing the organic matter by mulching with shredding leaves, top-dressing with compost, etc. 4.6% isn't terrible, and they say 5% is good, but that is assuming you will be doing all your fertilizing with chemicals.

Jim, I just checked my "mature garden soil" test. The recommendation was for no significant amendments.

ph 6.3
organic matter 5.6%

Did your soil test include any minor nutrients like iron, zinc, manganese, copper, sulfur?

Berndoodle

Iron 7#/acre, Zinc 68.4#, manganese 64# no copper or sulfur

My pH was 6.2 and also no amendments.

Ceterum

After checking a soil draingage test, which turned out to be fine, it appears my calling my soil poor is wrong. Must be something else? What this I don't know at this point.

If you have a rock layer, it's surprising if drainage is good. I think you can get by pretty well with a drainable 12" for roses. The procedure is to dig 14-16"" and, if the soil is not very moist, fill the hole and let it drain to pre-wet the subsoil and surrounding soil. Then refill and measure the depth of water with a stick immediately. If 12" drains within 12 hours, drainage is fine. If it takes 24 hours, that's considered poor drainage.

I checked a spot earlier this year that has hardpan 15" down. The first 10" went fast because it drains laterally in a raised area. The next 2" took hours but passed the test. The last 3" had poor drainage but roses wouldn't have many feeder roots at that depth anyway, or at least can do without them.

Lime adds some calcium, but the most significant thing lime does is to raise the pH. Quite often, in my area, I have to add lime to my lawn as my soil tends to become too acidic at times. It depends on what type of rainfall we are getting.

There are many weeds that thrive in very acid soil, Dollar Weed is one of them, and as long as I keep the pH where our cooperative extensive says to, I do not have a weed problem in my lawn, and do not use chemicals on it. All the people who are dumping herbicides on their lawns in an effort to control weeds more than likely has a soil problem, and/or waters too much.

Cornell University is the best that you can get for agriculture, especially for the northeast. I would trust what they say. (They are also experts on animals).

Sandy

Jim, my soils tests use different extraction techniques, so the ppm's don't translate. Iron is an important micronutrient. Unless I'm badly confused, and that happens all the time, I wonder if you need to find a source of iron for this soil. If the range of adequacy of 0 -49 lbs/acre and you have 7 lbs/acre, that seems on the low end of things.

Here is a link that might be useful: Iron deficiency in ornamentals like roses

Michael

Good points on doing the drainage test. I'll try filling with water again ( the hole is still there).

Berndoodle

Yes I thought the iron was low too. But my leaves show no sign of chlorosis. One ailing plant has some older leaves with dark red parts on the edges.

My last thought on this subject is perhaps there is a toxic element or compound in the soil. Years ago this used to be a farm but it was a time when few pesticides where in use so that's a slim possibility,