Facts

• Conduct a soil test to determine how much your specific nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium you soil needs. The report will list needed fertilizer numbers in an X-X-X manner. You should select the fertilizer that best matches these numbers. For example, If the soil report indicates your area of Texas soil needs 2-1-1 fertilizer, this means the soil requires two pounds of nitrogen and one pound each of phosphorous and potassium. Select a soil fertilizer labeled 20-10-10; this should work best for you.
  
  

Treatment

• To add fertilizer to your soil, follow this formula: recommended nutrient rate times lawn area times nutrient multiplier. For example, 2 pounds of nitrogen divided by 1,000 times 6,500 lawn area divided by 1,000 times 5 (100/20 to compute the multiplier) divided by 2 pounds of nitrogen equals 65 total pounds of fertilizer needed for your soil.
  
  

Considerations

• Generally, the soil in Texas tends to be more acidic than is preferred by the average gardener. However, that does not mean you can't grow anything in your soil. Instead, look for native plants, those that work well in a region with your type of soil, which tend to need less water and fertilizing than other plants. Azaleas, for example, thrive well in East Texas soils with low pH levels.