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Free Soil Testing to Protect Corpus Christi Bay
Posted: Jan 15, 2013 5:23 PM by Caroline Flores - cflores@kristv.com
Updated: Jan 15, 2013 6:52 PM
CORPUS CHRISTI - With the cold wet weather we're seeing right now, you're probably not even close to thinking about how you'll start prepping your yard for the spring. But you may not realize, what you do to your yards in the coming weeks could have a major impact on our bay.
It's about that time for people to begin fertilizing their gardens and lawns. So the city is offering free soil testing so Corpus Christi residents can find out what kind of fertilizer they need, if they need any at all.
"In many cases we all tend to think more is better, but in the case of fertilizer it's not," said Environmental Services Superintendent Danielle Converse.
This is because too much fertilizer will run off into storm drains and get dumped into Corpus Christi Bay feeding the algae.
"So when they have enough food they grow and multiply which actually chokes out the water," said Converse.
This is because algae is using all the oxygen. So this then leads to more problems.
"It can lead to fish kills and impaired shrimp and oysters. All of those things, because all these organisms need oxygen to grow," said Converse.
So if you have a garden and want to test the soil to see if you need fertilizer, it's just three easy steps. All you have to do is fill out a sheet of paper that says what type of plants you have in your garden. Then fill up the bag that comes with the sheet of paper with some soil from your garden. Then close this bag up and drop it off at either City Hall, the city Water Utilities Department on Holly, or the Texas A&M AgriLife Center in Robstown.
And everyone agrees, only good can come from getting your soil tested.
"You know if we don't need it, we're wasting money. You know we can save money if we don't need to put out any kind of fertilizer," said Jeffrey Stapper with the A&M AgriLife Center.
Any of the tests can be picked up at Gill Nursery on Airline Road or South Alameda, and Turners Gardenland on S.P.I.D.
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