aroundtheyard.com Forums

Hello, All

It's been a long year--laid off for 3 months and unable to justify spending money on the lawn, then found a great job. Unfortunately, it involves being in the car for a 2:30 round trip commute, after which who feels like doing anything but picking up my guitar and a bourbon and playing the blues? Until, at least, someone in the next room yells, "You gotta turn that damn thing down!" So, with apologies to all (and to Alice Cooper), I am submitting my soil analysis results from Logan Labs.

First, here is a link to the results and discussion from 2014:viewtopic.php?forum_uri=soil&t=15639&start=

And from last year:viewtopic.php?forum_uri=soil&t=18662&start=

And here are my results from this year, taken in early November: https://postimg.cc/image/majhk9ak9/

I followed the instructions from ST6, which were identical to what was needed in 2014. I will not assume to interpret anything myself, but do look forward to the excellent advice of you guys to continue the rehabilitation of my lawn. Thanks again.

Dave

Those are some pretty nice results!

You've been doing this for some years, so I'll just hit the parts that need a bit of work. Or where I have something to say.

pH 7.7: This isn't something you can do much about, so it's fortunate that you can raise a nice lawn at this pH. I might consider that, when feeding synthetically, you might wish to use acidifying feeds like urea or ammonium sulfate. It's possible to turn this down a little bit over the course of years, but it won't change much and won't change quickly.

Phosphorus 142: For your pH, I'd actually prefer to see around 300 (250 would be my floor figure). Recommendations below--although you can substitute Milorganite for the starter if you wish, I'd actually rather see a controlled dose of starter going instead.

Potassium 1.9%: Personally, I think this is a bit low, although it's certainly not an emergency. Your excessive Ca and slightly high Mg do try to block K uptake just by competing with it in terms of soil adsorption, though, so I'd do something about it. We use potassium sulfate to change this, available at many garden shops or landscape stores (or they'll order it for you). It's also available online, but tends to be a bit pricey that way.

Sodium 0.6%: This fell nicely, and it's no longer of any concern.

Minor Elements: They all look good. Boron is high, but that's not an issue. Copper and zinc are fine even for your pH. I do mention iron below.

Iron 175: This is fine, and at your pH there's not much to be done, but whenever you like, you can use Milorganite (as you do) to slowly raise this and give the roots some chance at some iron before it soil binds.

Recommendations:

May 1, 2017: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.

Memorial Day 2017: Apply starter fertilizer at the bag rate.

Labor Day: Apply starter fertilizer at the bag rate.

September 15: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.

October 1: Apply starter fertilizer at the bag rate.

Thank you, Morph! Glad to see you back, and to be the beneficiary of your expert advice. Looks like a very doable plan; I look forward to beginning my soil supply shopping in a couple of months. Thanks again!

Dave