Men's Journal Features SavATree Expert on Soil pH and Lawn Health Our Team Bob Shinn, Lawn Care Services Line Director at SavATree, was featured in Men's Journal, where he explained how soil pH affects lawn and garden health and how homeowners can test it at home. The article, published on September 11, 2026, walked readers through how to test soil pH at home and what the reading means for plant health. Shinn was the sole expert featured in the piece, and he explained that soil pH measures how acidic or alkaline the soil is on a scale from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral. He compared it to a home thermostat. If it’s set too high or too low and things get uncomfortable at either extreme, nutrients may stop reaching the roots. Most turfgrasses, shade trees, and landscape ornamentals thrive in slightly acidic to neutral soil between 6.0 and 7.0, the range where nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are most soluble and most readily absorbed by plant roots. When a soil test shows the pH has drifted outside that range, targeted amendments paired with a well-timed lawn fertilization program restore the balance grass and plants need to grow. For homeowners doing the testing themselves, Shinn recommended pulling samples from four to six spots in a yard or planting bed at a depth of about two to eight inches, below the turf thatch layer, then combining them in a clean container and removing any turf, leaves, twigs, or rocks. Soil that reads too acidic can be corrected with agricultural or dolomitic limestone to raise pH, while soil that reads too alkaline responds to elemental sulfur to lower it. He noted that late autumn is an ideal time to apply either one, giving the soil chemistry the winter to adjust before the spring growing season starts. A SavATree ISA Certified Arborist can test a property's soil, interpret the results, and recommend the right amendments and lawn care program to keep a lawn and landscape healthy through every season. Read the full article here