MFR78's first soil test from Logan

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MFR78
Posts: 36
Joined: September 11th, 2013, 9:08 pm
Location: VT
Grass Type: N MIX
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MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by MFR78 » October 29th, 2013, 4:04 pm

First soil test post. Background is Reno'd 15000 sq ft Backyard and Sideyard Sept 2013. So Im about 50 days into the Reno. Im no expert, but the soil doesnt look too great and probably needs a good deal of work.

whats been done

9/8/13--seed down with peat and Tenacity pre/m
9/8/13 half app starter
9/20/13 half app starter
9/21/13 bag rate MILO
10/14/13 Urea 1lb/1k
Current--spot treat with tenacity

that about it really, I looking at the test results, wish I would have done the test last fall or this spring, but just found this site recently and decided to reno this fall. The only other thing I did was throw some weed and feed down last spring and some Scotts organic when I had no clue what I was doing. The lawn right now around day 50 with what looks like pretty poor soil, looks pretty good and probably the best within a couple miles (thats not saying much really though). The lawn itself has had nothing done to it since 1959 :shock: I know this because the previous owner told me(lived in the house from 1959 till we bought it)They also did not touch any shrub or bush, so its been alot or work. The lawn was 30% creeping bent, 10% fescue, then a hodpage of creeping charlie, wild violets, wild starwberries (i think) chickweed, poa A, some poa T, crabgrass, wild onions and other weeds.

Hopefully i can amend the soil and not have my reno fail going into 2014.

appreciate any input I can get!
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Last edited by MFR78 on October 29th, 2013, 10:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ez2luvlawn
Posts: 539
Joined: June 20th, 2011, 4:31 am
Location: Southcentral, MN
Grass Type: Blueberry / Emblem / Prosperity / Moonlight SLT KBG
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Re: MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by ez2luvlawn » October 29th, 2013, 8:55 pm

Hello MFR78 and welcome to the site.

The soil crazies will be working up a game plan for your soil test that you will begin with next spring. It is to late in this season to begin with any soil amendments now as we are to close to ground freeze. I just wanted to let you know we have begun analyzing and discussing your soil test data. I would recommend that you do a final winterizer feeding this year after your new grass completely stops growing to help it through the winter months and give it a strong start next spring.

Couple of questions for you. Have you had to cut the new grass yet and how is the new grass filling in as far as coverage? I also want to confirm that you took all your soil samples at the 6" depth as the soil test shows or did you take samples at a different depth?

More information along with soil recommendations will be coming in the next couple of days.

MFR78
Posts: 36
Joined: September 11th, 2013, 9:08 pm
Location: VT
Grass Type: N MIX
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by MFR78 » October 29th, 2013, 10:41 pm

Thanks for the reply ez2luvlawn

i have cut the lawn probably 6 -7 times with the reel mower and once with a riding mower....sample depth was actually 3 to 4 inches. overall coverage seems pretty good to me, it seems to be filling in fairly well and tillering fairly well also....I will get a pic up tom

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MFR78
Posts: 36
Joined: September 11th, 2013, 9:08 pm
Location: VT
Grass Type: N MIX
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by MFR78 » October 30th, 2013, 9:34 am

ez2luvlawn wrote:Hello MFR78 and welcome to the site.

The soil crazies will be working up a game plan for your soil test that you will begin with next spring. It is to late in this season to begin with any soil amendments now as we are to close to ground freeze.
Is it too late for lime also? I think I need a whole bunch. We are pretty far off from ground freeze in my neck of the woods and winterizer is about a month away give or take.

Found this also

http://aroundtheyard.com/soil/lime-appl ... t3357.html

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ez2luvlawn
Posts: 539
Joined: June 20th, 2011, 4:31 am
Location: Southcentral, MN
Grass Type: Blueberry / Emblem / Prosperity / Moonlight SLT KBG
Lawn Size: Not Specified
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Re: MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by ez2luvlawn » October 31st, 2013, 7:34 am

Your soil pH is very low and this is a result of having very low cations of Ca which will be our first order of business to correct. We want to increase your Ca cations and the pH will rise as a result of the increased Calcium. Turf grasses do best in a pH range between 6.1 and 6.8
Apply 9 lbs/K of good calcitic lime with 2 lbs/K of Epsom salts mixed in next spring after ground thaw. 90 days later after the initial application repeat the 9 lbs/K of good calcitic lime only, without the Epsom salts added. (Pennington, JG Mag-I-Cal or Encap are good quality calcitic limes to use.)

OM is on the low side so make sure that you always mulch mow, mow up all fall leaves, steal your neighbors leaves and mow them up on your lawn. Anything you can find to improve your organic matter will also help your soil.
The TEC indicates that your soil is sandy based and this limits it ability to hold nutrients however improving your OM may also improve your TEC slightly.

The P in your soil is sufficient and I don't suggest adding anything to raise the P at this time. K levels are very high so nothing is needed there at all.

Iron is very low for good color. Apply Milo as often as the budget can bear and another good source to improve iron levels is ferrous sulfate. The higher limit of ferrous sulfate is 9 pounds total of ferrous sulfate per 1,000 sq ft per year broken up into 3 seperate applications of 3 lbs/K in each application, I would not exceed that amount myself.

Andy will need to look at the other micros and advise you on these if you are interested in addressing them. He handles all the micros.


MFR78
Posts: 36
Joined: September 11th, 2013, 9:08 pm
Location: VT
Grass Type: N MIX
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: MFR78's first soil test from Logan

Post by MFR78 » October 31st, 2013, 11:42 am

thanks EZ2Luvlawn, I never would have thought I had sandy soil, I assumed it was more clay, but guess not. I have plenty of trees around so I dont need to steal any neighors, which is why i thought the OM would have been higher too. I can tell I have soil issues beacuse I trucked in some good top soil last year to fill in a 15 x 15 area where an above ground pool was and that area is noticeably darker than the rest of the yard at this point in the reno. Guess I have some work to do to get this in order.

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