Adam_M Soil Test 2017

[Adam_M]

Hello,
Thanks in advance for taking the time to review and advise on soil test results.

Background:
~15,000 SF, Elite KBG blend, equal parts Bewitched, Prosperity, and Midnight, renovated in fall 2016. I water manually when the grass just starts to look stressed/dry, and mow at least 1x a week. I just brought the height up to the max height on my mower for the summer, but like the look more a bit shorter.

The house was built in 2014, and the "topsoil" is really thin. Basically, the soil is decomposed shale with little tiny flakes all over the place. Its hard as a rock, borderline impossible to dig and holds onto water forever (when it doesn't run off). Oddly enough, its not too terribly rocky - as far as stuff bigger than about gravel goes.

Ultimately, I don't seek the perfect lawn, although I want the dark green, uniform color and I'd like the KBG to spread and knit together into a thick mat.

I've got something like 40 bags of milorganite left that I was putting down during the spring every few weeks at bag rate. I also put down 2 doses of high N synthetic to get everything going 1 month apart. I don't need to be organic, and will drop synthetics or anything else that will help the lawn out. I'd rather not put down so much N that I need to mow 2x a week frequently.

I mow the leaves into the lawn (the lawn is eventually bordered by forest on 3 sides, although it gets essentially full sun almost everywhere) and mulch the clippings. I'd like to avoid bringing in large quantities of compost/topsoil if I could, but not sure if that's realistic or not.

I'll take any nitrogen recommendations as well if you would like to offer them.

Thanks again.

[Adam_M]

I should add that as we're approaching planting season, I'm going to be re-seeding a number of patches that didn't fully take and/or were thin. I'd appreciate if you could offer recommendations with that in mind for the short term and of course the long-term improvement as well.

Thanks,
Adam

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Well, I'm back after a long hiatus for personal family business priorities.

Late July is pretty late in the season for recommendations.

It looks like a pretty heavy soil with TEC of >18, and the rockiness as you describe. Honestly I've seen worse.

The OM is very poor - keep adding free sources as you can.

The pH is alkaline at 8. Probably all the Ca and Mg.

In the major cations, you have plenty of Ca and Mg. The K is shy in the ratio. Phosphorus is also low.

Iron is good, but your pH makes it unusable.

So - here are my thoughts.

Keep up with OM to help with water retention. Check your root profile to see how deep your roots go. Apply BLSC + KH with the OM to help loosen the soil.

Apply a starter fertilizer with as LOW a third number as possible now and Oct 1 at the rate on the bag. (like 11-22-3, etc) Split these up if you like for more frequent doses, but don't apply it past beginning of Oct.

Apply milorganite at bag rate now and in 2 weeks at bag rate. Space heavy applications a week fro the starter above.

Winterize properly when top growth stops but roots are still growing.

That will take you through EOY.

[Adam_M]

Thanks for the response!
I just ordered the ingredients for BLSC + KH. Should I apply every 2 weeks as directed in the article? How late in the year should I continue the applications?

How do I check to see how deep the roots go? Is it as simple as put a shovel in the ground and see where the roots end? ...That getting the shovel into the ground as deep as the roots may be is a non-trivial job. How can I make sure I am below the roots?

Would it be beneficial to find a starter fertilizer with lots of fast release N, so it also serves as the early season doses of N for the winterizing? Does such a thing exist? Will the milorganite help with the fall nitrogen?

When should I get a soil test next year so that I can continue improving the soil?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Thanks for the response!
I just ordered the ingredients for BLSC + KH. Should I apply every 2 weeks as directed in the article? How late in the year should I continue the applications?

How do I check to see how deep the roots go? Is it as simple as put a shovel in the ground and see where the roots end? ...That getting the shovel into the ground as deep as the roots may be is a non-trivial job. How can I make sure I am below the roots?

Would it be beneficial to find a starter fertilizer with lots of fast release N, so it also serves as the early season doses of N for the winterizing? Does such a thing exist? Will the milorganite help with the fall nitrogen?

When should I get a soil test next year so that I can continue improving the soil?

Best time to take soil samples is when the ground thaws and you can take a good sample late winter / early spring. Don't do it after you've recently applied things as it can skew the results.

Just stick a spade in the ground and dig up some turf to see your root profile, pretty simple!

The BLSC / KH needs applied heavily initially, then you can go to monthly apps. Every 2 weeks now is fine. It really is one of those things that is up to how you think it is doing and how much / how frequent you need to apply it. It's pretty safe to apply in any realistic quantity. For the microherd it stimulates to be active, it needs to warm, so it's going to be less effective in stimulating it the colder it gets. First frost is probably a good gauge of when it's becoming less effective.

Stick with straight, fast-release Nitrogen for a winterizer. The reason being that the grass is largely shutting down and N is quickly taken up. P isn't going to be put to much use - better to save it for spring. And, starter fertilizer has K in it, which we generally try to avoid applying later in the fall. As an added bonus, straight nitrogen sources like urea (46-0-0) are very inexpensive when purchased from co-ops. They can easily be 1/3 of the price of a bag of starter fertilizer. I get 50 lb bags of urea for $16 for instance.