Boshii's 2017 Soil Test

[Boshii]

This is my first house and it was built and bought in November 2015. My house is the first in the neighborhood. The last thing I was worried about was the grass being that this is my first home and I was more focused on getting the inside situated.

Spring 2016 rolled around and I think my first mow was in late May/early June I didn't have a mower and I received a nice letter from the HOA saying that my yard looked like crap . Weeds were everywhere, mainly dandelions and crabgrass. I knew nothing about pre-emergent. After that letter I started taking more pride in my lawn and I found this site.

I spread some Scott's Halts last fall to prevent winter annuals along with some lawn food to give the grass a nice start in the spring. So far this year I've sprayed prodiamine and Celsius and did 1 app of Milo at the bag rate on April 1. I plan on spreading Milo monthly.

So that brings me to my soil test. My main area of concern is the front yard as the back yard is hidden behind a fence and it actually doesn't look that bad. The front, however, has some greening up and some filling in to do. Here are my soil test results.



The yard is about 2,750sqft. I don't mind using chemicals. My goal is to have a fuller, greener yard in the shortest time possible even though I know it won't be that quick. I look forward to your expert recommendations! Thank you!

[Boshii]

Here are some pics so you can see what I'm working with.

This is the biggest part of the front yard:


This is a closer look at a trouble spot of the front yard. I think it's soil compaction but I'm not 100% sure about that:

[Boshii]

Here's a pic of the side yard that's connected to the front. You can see the brown grass from the previous picture here as well. It looks like that from the front to the fence all along the edge between mine and my neighbor's property:


Here's the other side. I'll be mulching under the trees. The grass actually grows nicely over here. There's just a few parts that could use some filling in:

[andy10917]

The soil test shows a very sandy soil with mediocre OM numbers - in other words a soil that doesn't hold nutrients well. Any source of lots of OM will be important.

In the cations, only Calcium has a substantial shortage, but I also like to see the Potassium higher. Apply calcitic lime every 90 days at the "Heavy Rate" on the bag.

For fertilizer, apply a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 19-19-19 and post the NPK for app rates and frequency.

The Iron number is low, and will affect the color of the lawn. Apply Ferrous Sulfate at 3 lbs/K every 60 days but not near Lime apps.

In the micro’s, it’s Boron, Copper and Zinc. Get Twenty Mule Team Laundry Soap (grocery), Copper Sulfate (Amazon/EBay), and Zinc Sulfate (Amazon/Ebay) and apply each at three tablespoons/K every 60 days. Read the Micronutrient Application Guide for application specifics.

[Boshii]

Thank you Andy! I figured I would have a lot of work to do.

I'm able to source 10 10 10 fertilizer rather cheaply. Please let me know the app rates.

Also, when you say apply lime every 90 days, is this including in the winter or is this only for the growing season?

[andy10917]

10-10-10 goes down at 10 lbs/K, monthly except July.

Lime goes down whenever the soil isn't frozen. Your soil doesn't freeze in ATL, does it?

[Boshii]

Doesn't freeze often but it can happen.

Thanks again! I'll be getting on this this weekend.

[Boshii]

I have another question Andy. I found some 13 13 13 fertilizer as well. Will that change the app rate significantly?

[andy10917]

The rate for 13-13-13 is 7.5 lbs/K