guisertj Soil Test 2017

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
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guisertj
Posts: 34
Joined: May 5th, 2016, 7:52 pm
Location: Northern Indiana
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by guisertj » May 1st, 2017, 11:19 pm

Posting my first soil test. I pulled samples from the front and back yards separately. Home is 4 years old. Square footage roughly 12k square feet. Lawn was put in by the contractor and was applied by hydro seeding. Not exactly sure on what seed was used, but my best guess is a northern blend. I have since overseeded any thinner areas with TTTF sod quality seed. The past 3 years I have always put down a spring pre-em, the first 2 using crabgrass preventer with fertilizer and this year sprayed prodiamine. Last year I began using Milo as my primary fertilizer applying 3 apps throughout the year. The past 2 years I have also done the less aggressive urea fall apps.
Overall the yard doesn't look to bad. I practice good mowing techniques, typically mowing 3.5-4 inches most of the year. It does seem to struggle when summer really starts to warm up. As of now I have no regular irrigation strategy. I have let the lawn go dormant and let her wake up naturally when temperatures start to cool back down
Not many noticeable weeds at all. That being said I know I have some POA annua that I recently got some tenacity to go at and I am sure I will find more that I wasn't aware of.
My goal is to try to thicken up and improve appearance. Overseeding every or every other year with a better quality seed should help as well. Trying to improve soil health which should in turn give me a better looking lawn.


Image

Very much looking forward to any advice. Let me know if any other info would be useful. Thanks.

Tommy

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Grass Type: Blueberry KBG
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » May 19th, 2017, 12:09 pm

Welcome to the soil craziness, Tommy!

That soil looks a lot like my yards further south lol

It's a heavy soil with those TECS of 18 and 21. It's likely you have a lot of silt or clay in there. If you want to know more, you can do the particle test in the soil management article. A silty or clay based loam is going to be really tight, and crack sooner than it otherwise would as the ground dries out. You'll have to adjust your watering habits accordingly. And, if it doesn't drain well, look into using BLSC or a commercial wetting agent to help open up the soil a bit. There's an article for that too

Both zones are very similar, with slight differences, so I don't have differing plans for the two.

The Organic Matter levels in both are poor, more so in the front. Mulch mow, mulch leaves - add free sources. This also helps that soil from drying out so quickly and retain water. It takes many season and tons of material to adjust this number.

In the major cations, you have a lot of extra Calcium (Ca). It's pushing your pH up to 8 - very alkaline. This will present it's own set of challenges. I'm going to assume it's free Ca, and your soil is not calcerous based on most of Indiana having a silty loam type soil. If you suspect otherwise, or it is EXTREMELY hard like a limestone quarry - do the calcerous soil test in the soil management article. Your K is low. Mg I want to leave alone, I think you have enough raw levels there.

Sodium ok. Sulfates meh.

Phosphorus is AWFUL. BLEH.

Iron is ok, but your soil will never use it with that pH binding it up before your grass gets to it.

So - the plan?

Get a balanced fertilizer and post the NPK if you want application rates. Apply the balanced fertilizer May, June, early August, early September. This will help your P, K, and add some sulfur. Be mindful of that early September app - don't do it late or you risk increasing snow mold problems - and with your extended snow cover you don't need to encourage it.

Apply milo at bag rate monthly, or as often as your budget allows.

That leaves a Nitrogen plan for fall. The balanced fertilizer will be most of it, and you can split it up like it's the urea in the fall program for lighter more frequent apps of N. You have a little more room for N there if you don't go too crazy with milo. You could squeeze in a little more P if you find a no-K fertilizer with P to use October before "the pause" instead of just N in urea. And, don't forget the winterizer!

Other than that, if you are wanting to look at micronutrients, you'll want to wait for andy.

Good luck!

guisertj
Posts: 34
Joined: May 5th, 2016, 7:52 pm
Location: Northern Indiana
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by guisertj » May 19th, 2017, 2:03 pm

Looking at 10-10-10 and 13-13-13. Any advantage of one over the other?
Also, do these applications need to be irrigated in? Scheduled around rainfall? Thanks.

guisertj
Posts: 34
Joined: May 5th, 2016, 7:52 pm
Location: Northern Indiana
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by guisertj » May 19th, 2017, 3:02 pm

guisertj wrote:
May 19th, 2017, 2:03 pm
Looking at 10-10-10 and 13-13-13. Any advantage of one over the other?
Also, do these applications need to be irrigated in? Scheduled around rainfall? Thanks.
And 19-19-19 at a local ag center.

guisertj
Posts: 34
Joined: May 5th, 2016, 7:52 pm
Location: Northern Indiana
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by guisertj » May 20th, 2017, 1:43 pm

Went with the 19-19-19. Am I applying at 5.2 lbs/1000?


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andy10917
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Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
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Re: guisertj Soil Test 2017

Post by andy10917 » May 20th, 2017, 2:16 pm

Yup, monthly except July.

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