FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
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FarmhouseLawnGuy
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FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by FarmhouseLawnGuy » October 12th, 2017, 11:58 am

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I just built a new house this year and so this is a brand new lawn. My landscaper said that they put down a "Badger Blend" of grass seed, which consists of the following, along with a 13-13-13 starter fertilizer:

24.63% Creeping Red Fescue Aruba
23.86% Perennial Ryegrass Accent
19.88% KBG Nublue
9.94% KBG Everest
9.93% KBG Bluemoon
9.92% KBG Liberator

He also told me he thought I should do another round of 13-13-13 before the end of October.

The lawn is approximately a half acre.

My goals are to get a nice dark green grass that is soft, but durable for the kids to run and play in.

I am in South Central WI, so it is starting to cool off for fall and will likely be snow covered over the winter.

I would appreciate any advice on what I should do as the next steps. Thanks.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 12th, 2017, 2:33 pm

I just happened to catch this as it came in, otherwise I'd have pointed you to post it to the Queue thread :)

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South Cental WI's season is just about to wind down for the year.

Assuming your average first frost is imminent, then there's not much time to work with this season. I'll make this plan for next year then basically. I would recommend doing tests in the late winter / early spring when the ground becomes workable in the future - it makes for an easier planning cycle, and gives nutrients plenty of time to work through the soil over winter to where we test them.

The soil is a slightly heavy loam with TEC of 14. Plenty of exchange sites, this will be fine to work with.

The organic matter (OM) level is poor. Mulch up all your leaves this fall - see if your neighbors want to contribute. It's a lot of work on 1/2 acre, and it takes many tons of materials to raise this noticeably, so don't try to buy your way there - find free sources. Keep mulching the turf next year too, so long as you don't have fungus or other reasons to bag it up of course!

The major cations are a bit out of line, but the raw levels look ok to me. In the ratio, the Mg is high, and the Ca and K are low. The net result is a more alkaline pH of 7.0. We don't really need to "raise" your Ca or K - more or less maintain them.

The P level is low. This is something we can hit NOW, if we act fast. Source Triple Superphosphate (TSP 0-46-0) and apply it @ 2 lbs / K by your avg first frost date. If not, just skip this and we'll work on it next spring.

The Iron level looks good, but your pH of 7 makes it mostly unusable. So, I'll recommend a nice, inexpensive, and somewhat local remedy - MILORGANITE. A favorite here! It's too late to apply now, but we'll use it next year.

This fall, you'll want to winterize with a fast release Nitrogen source like urea (46-0-0). Apply it at 2 lbs / K before a good rainstorm when top growth has stopped but the roots are still growing this fall.

Next spring, we'll use a good starter fertilizer and milorganite to increase P, supply Iron in a way your turf can use it, maintain K, and feed N. Milorganite can be had pretty inexpensively in your area, so you have that working for you.

Find a starter fertilizer you want to work with and post it the NPK for application rates and timing. A starter fertiizer is one with high 2nd number in the NPK. Find one with as low a third number as possible. like 11-23-7, for instance. This is the simpler approach in terms of sourcing materials. You'll need a fair bit of it.

FarmhouseLawnGuy
Posts: 9
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Location: South Central WI
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by FarmhouseLawnGuy » October 12th, 2017, 4:18 pm

Dang, I thought I had this in the right place, but I guess not :D

If a moderator wants to move it, I would appreciate it.

Anyway, thank you for the response. I'm pretty much a beginner at this lawn stuff, so I may ask a lot of basic/dumb questions, but here goes...

It should be pretty easy for me to get mulch. I live on 40+ acres and have plenty of woods. Lots of trees around the yard that will drop leaves over the next few weeks and I have a Ferris mower with a mulch kit. I also have some areas on the property that were planted in alfalfa, but haven't really been maintained much, other than regular cuttings by a farmer, for the last few years. Do you think I should mow that off, bag it and spread it on the grass? I have a fast vac triple bagger for the Ferris that I could easily collect it with and spread it on the lawn if needed.

The landscaper did put straw down when they planted the grass and it hasn't really broken down yet. I'm wondering if that will add some organic matter to the soil over the winter as it breaks down.

Do you have a recommended place to buy things like Triple Superphosphate (TSP 0-46-0), urea (46-0-0), and 11-23-7 from? This is probably a really dumb question, but was is the "K" in 2lbs/K?

Thanks again for the help!

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andy10917
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » October 12th, 2017, 9:52 pm

No, you were incredibly lucky - an ST6 member tripped on it when he had time - that hasn't happened in a few months. Normally, you'd be told to put a link into the waiting line (currently empty).

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 13th, 2017, 12:17 pm

Sorry if it's a bit overly-technical, sometimes I forget to check in where people are at - we're all learning :)

The /K is per thousand square feet. Sometimes referred to as 'M' in more professional circles.

The NPK is listed as a percentage of each nutrient on the bag per lb, ala 10-20-30 is 10% Nitrogen, 20% Phosphorus, and 30% Potassium (K)

Urea can be found at most garden specialty stores or farm suppliers like Crop Production SErvices, maybe Tractor Supply Company, Rural Kings. TSP may be at those same places, but another product like Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP 11-52-0) or Diammonium Phosphate (DAP 18-52-0) may also be available there, which will work well too. Take some big plastic bins or heavy paper sacks to carry it out in.

The starter fertilizer doesn't need to match that NPK, just find one with a lower third digit in the NPK. You have all winter to source starter fertilizer :)


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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 13th, 2017, 12:22 pm

OK - on the mulching question.

You don't want to apply "mulch" per se - like you'd get at the store. The larger wood chunks will squish the turf and consume Nitrogen. Grass doesn't grow well on mulch.

What you do want to do is mulch up organic materials on your lawn as easily as you can. Sounds like you might have your own free sources. Avoid mowing undesirable plants and then spreading them on your turf - those clippings probably contain seeds - you don't want to overseed alfalfa, do you?

But composting those sources in a giant compost pile seems like a good option!

Blowing leaf litter onto the yard and mulching it is a good idea. Mulch mowing is the way to go, unless you have a fungus or other reason not to do it!

Read up on the site for a while - so much great info here!

FarmhouseLawnGuy
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by FarmhouseLawnGuy » October 16th, 2017, 3:01 pm

I wanted to bring something up that I may have forgotten to mention. This is a newly seeded lawn that I did the soil test with. We just built a new house this year.

Does that at all change your analysis? My landscaper said that his guy was scratching his head at this analysis a bit and thought that may have led to confusion.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: FarmHouseLawnGuy's Oct2017 Soil Test

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 16th, 2017, 6:44 pm

Nope nothing changes. If anything, since the turf isn't mature, ibthink this is even better.

Here's why i would not suggest applying 13 13 13 end of October. First, that date is several weeks after your average first frost date, when the grass is starting to shut down and you start getting freezing at night. Freezing tender new growth can kill it and damage the turf, so you want to avoid Nitrogen the.

Second, a late fall full dose of Potassium can assist snow mold development, which is likely a higher risk for you since WI has extended snow coverage and your turf is new this year.

Last, I think a better approach will be milorganite and starter fertilizer applications starting in the spring. Your K levels aren't awful and I would think its better to minimize pushing your pH up with smaller doses of K over time.

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