Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
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jadam318
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Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » July 2nd, 2019, 9:41 am

Hey guys. This is my first soil test, and I've only owned this lawn for about 6 weeks or so. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I can run a mower with the best of them, but I'm trying to have a healthier lawn with fewer weeds than I've kept at previous properties. I'm still learning about weed control and soil maintenance, so I am probably looking for simpler, best-practices than more advanced advice. Although, I'm very open to learning more complicated techniques/strategies if you guys see something in the soil test that calls for it.

A few details on the lawn:
  • roughly 19,000 square feet
  • tall/fine fescue mix
  • mostly level elevation with with a ditch of sorts bisecting the front yard (usually wet there)
  • currently there is a lot of clover and crab grass that I hope to address this fall
  • currently no irrigation, though I will water with a hose sprinkler if absolutely needed
  • I mow roughly once a week, though I adjust frequency depending on growth rate
Thank you in advance! This forum is an incredible resource!

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andy10917
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by andy10917 » July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm

OK, so there are a few challenges to getting going on this quickly...

Structurally, you're somewhat OK - a TEC of 8.35 puts you in the sandier end of Loams, but it's still Loam. With an OM% of 5.73, you are in the excellent category for organic matter in the soil. This all means that your soil is a good base to start from, and will hold a fair amount of nutrients without excessive leaching. All good there.

In the cations, Calcium is short, Magnesium is excessive, and Potassium is great. This is good news and bad news - the combined numbers create a pH of 6.3 (which is fine), but the Calcium:Magnesium ratio is around 4:1, which is often where we hear complaints of "hard" or "difficult-to-work" soils. We can use good Calcitic Lime (Encap/Mag-I-Cal/SoluCal/Sta-Green) for a while until the pH rises to 6.6 or 6.7, and then switch to Gypsum. This often succeeds in keeping the pH in the "sweet spot" while displacing some Magnesium with Calcium. Apply the Calcitic Lime at 9 lbs/K every 90 days of the growing season and test again in the Spring - we'll decide then whether it's time to go to Gypsum.

The Phosphorus is low and needs your attention. Normally, we would recommend a good Starter Fertilizer, but without good irrigation in July, that's problematic - the Nitrogen will cause a burst of growth that you can't support with irrigation. 19K is far too much to cover in July with hose sprinklers. You can either elect to wait until late August to start the Starter Fertilizer, or locate Triple Superphosphate ("TSP", not easy to find and definitely not in big-box stores). Make the choice and I'll advise from there.

Iron is weak and needs attention for best color. That's 2-3 lbs/K of Ferrous Sulfate every 60 days, but again without irrigation I'd hold off until late August.

In the micro's, you're short on Boron and Copper - but let's leave that for the 2020 season.

I know it's tough to be told to sit-tight when you're itching to get going, but July and the first half of August are the wrong time to do things if you can't back them up with irrigation. Sorry!

Get back to me on the open items...

PS: not a soil topic, but I'd advise that you not spend much time on crabgrass control in the Fall - it naturally dies with the colder weather and is an annual. Apply a good pre-emergent when the Forsythia bloom in the Spring and you'll have no crabgrass next year.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by ken-n-nancy » July 2nd, 2019, 2:47 pm

andy10917 wrote:
July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm
Structurally, you're somewhat OK - a TEC of 8.35 puts you in the sandier end of Loams, but it's still Loam. With an OM% of 5.73, you are in the excellent category for organic matter in the soil.
Jadam318, OK, I'm jealous. Your TEC and OM% are in a fantastic place to be starting from -- congrats! So much better than the soil structure in my lawn!

andy10917 wrote:
July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm
... or locate Triple Superphosphate ("TSP", not easy to find and definitely not in big-box stores).
Jadam318, just a note to be careful if you go into a store and ask for "TSP" -- there is a common hardware store chemical, Trisodium Phosphate (also commonly known as TSP) that is commonly used to clean walls in preparation for painting, as it is a great mildew remover, particularly in conjunction with chlorine bleach. You do NOT want to put Trisodium Phosphate on your lawn. Well, not unless you want to kill all your grass. ;)

Make sure that you ask for Triple Superphosphate (which is also regularly abbreviated TSP) and get the correct stuff. Triple Superphosphate will usually be labeled as a 0-45-0 fertilizer.

jadam318
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » July 2nd, 2019, 4:34 pm

First of all, THANK YOU! This is a really fantastic resource!
andy10917 wrote:
July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm
In the cations, Calcium is short, Magnesium is excessive, and Potassium is great. This is good news and bad news - the combined numbers create a pH of 6.3 (which is fine), but the Calcium:Magnesium ratio is around 4:1, which is often where we hear complaints of "hard" or "difficult-to-work" soils. We can use good Calcitic Lime (Encap/Mag-I-Cal/SoluCal/Sta-Green) for a while until the pH rises to 6.6 or 6.7, and then switch to Gypsum. This often succeeds in keeping the pH in the "sweet spot" while displacing some Magnesium with Calcium. Apply the Calcitic Lime at 9 lbs/K every 90 days of the growing season and test again in the Spring - we'll decide then whether it's time to go to Gypsum.
Because I'm new, "growing season" is NOT summer, right? Am I understanding that this should wait until fall as well?
andy10917 wrote:
July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm
The Phosphorus is low and needs your attention. Normally, we would recommend a good Starter Fertilizer, but without good irrigation in July, that's problematic - the Nitrogen will cause a burst of growth that you can't support with irrigation. 19K is far too much to cover in July with hose sprinklers. You can either elect to wait until late August to start the Starter Fertilizer, or locate Triple Superphosphate ("TSP", not easy to find and definitely not in big-box stores). Make the choice and I'll advise from there.
I'll wait and start the starter fertilizer in late August. I'll read up in the forums on starter fertilizer, but can you give me a quick-and-dirty of what makes that different from 'regular' fertilizer?
andy10917 wrote:
July 2nd, 2019, 1:59 pm
Iron is weak and needs attention for best color. That's 2-3 lbs/K of Ferrous Sulfate every 60 days, but again without irrigation I'd hold off until late August.

In the micro's, you're short on Boron and Copper - but let's leave that for the 2020 season.

I know it's tough to be told to sit-tight when you're itching to get going, but July and the first half of August are the wrong time to do things if you can't back them up with irrigation. Sorry!

PS: not a soil topic, but I'd advise that you not spend much time on crabgrass control in the Fall - it naturally dies with the colder weather and is an annual. Apply a good pre-emergent when the Forsythia bloom in the Spring and you'll have no crabgrass next year.
Based on my conversation with you a couple of weeks ago in my post in the Lawn Care 101 forum, I already decided to wait on crabgrass. I think I just like to whine about it. :sorry: Also, right after I posted here I read your post about, "Things Experienced Lawn Owners do..." Waiting until the right season for most of these things seems like the way to go. I would rather spend the time leading up to September planning and ordering/locating the proper stuff. 'Plan the work and then work the plan,' right? This gives me all of July and August to get my stuff together. We're still settling into the new house and selling our old one, anyway.

A note on irrigation: There is an old well in the front yard. We are now on city water, but the well is there. It hasn't been used since at least 2008, possibly earlier. I've been daydreaming about checking out the pump (if there's still one there) and trying to pull a water sample. If I can get decent water out of it, I would seriously consider installing my own irrigation. I know that's very little information, but any insights, thoughts, or opinions on a project like that? How 'necessary' is irrigation? We have had a wetter than average spring, so I don't really feel the need for it at the moment...

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andy10917
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by andy10917 » July 2nd, 2019, 5:54 pm

Some comments:
Because I'm new, "growing season" is NOT summer, right? Am I understanding that this should wait until fall as well?
Summer *IS* part of the growing season, which goes from the greening-up of the lawn to complete growth stoppage in October/November. Summer is a little tricky to handle - some things like Lime, Phosphorus, etc can be applied, but Nitrogen should be very gentle or avoided in Summer. It's even more so without irrigation - you basically are better off letting the lawn go dormant brown than encouraging growth. Note: dormant grass is not dead, and still requires some water if not provided by nature. A 10-minute shower is NOT a watered lawn.
can you give me a quick-and-dirty of what makes that different from 'regular' fertilizer?
Starter Fertilizers have a higher middle number ("P" or Phosphorus). You need Phosphorus.
can you give me a quick-and-dirty of what makes that different from 'regular' fertilizer?
Starter Fertilizers have a higher middle number ("P" or Phosphorus). You require Phosphorus.
A note on irrigation: There is an old well in the front yard. We are now on city water, but the well is there. It hasn't been used since at least 2008, possibly earlier. I've been daydreaming about checking out the pump (if there's still one there) and trying to pull a water sample. If I can get decent water out of it, I would seriously consider installing my own irrigation. I know that's very little information, but any insights, thoughts, or opinions on a project like that? How 'necessary' is irrigation? We have had a wetter than average spring, so I don't really feel the need for it at the moment...
I can't comment on the "old well" - too many variables. But it sounds like an interesting project.

Do you need Water for the lawn? Hell YES. It' and proper mowing are 75% of successful lawn management. Do you need a full-blown irrigation system? No, but a 20K lawn is a lot of sprinkler hauling. Ask my how I know. I hauled sprinklers around 6 days a week to get an acre+ done. Read up on the site (using the Search Tool) about "Deep and Infrequent" watering. Your grass doesn't care two hoots about a wet Spring in the rearview mirror- it has no way to store that and it's July. What if you had 10 glasses of water to drink last week -- are you therefore good to go for July?


jadam318
Posts: 23
Joined: June 13th, 2019, 11:58 am
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » July 14th, 2019, 12:17 pm

I've been shopping around for calcitic lime, and I can't seem to find a good source locally (Lowe's and Home Depot don't seem to have it...?). I found Mag-I-Cal on Amazon (which I can have shipped for free), but Amazon has no info on the product at all. Is all Mag-I-Cal calcitic, or could I end up with dolomitic lime if I'm not careful?

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andy10917
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by andy10917 » July 14th, 2019, 2:36 pm

What is your Zip Code?

jadam318
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » July 14th, 2019, 3:02 pm

28601

jadam318
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » September 16th, 2019, 11:31 am

Update: I finally found some calcitic lime. I ended up getting SoluCal from Amazon. I got strange looks at my local lawn and garden stores when I asked for it...doesn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies about them.

Anyway, I haven't put it down yet. We are in a dry spell, and I don't have irrigation. How much does that matter for lime?

Also, I'm about to get my hands on some starter fertilizer to be ready for that once the heat begins to break. How far apart should I separate applications of lime and starter fertilizer?

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andy10917
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by andy10917 » September 16th, 2019, 8:40 pm

It doesn't matter very much about irrigation with most of the calcitic limes - just make sure the bag doesn't indicate the need for watering.

If the N component is Urea, then try to separate the Lime and fertilizer by two weeks if possible.

jadam318
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Re: Adam's Soil Test - 2019

Post by jadam318 » September 17th, 2019, 5:27 am

andy10917 wrote:
September 16th, 2019, 8:40 pm
It doesn't matter very much about irrigation with most of the calcitic limes - just make sure the bag doesn't indicate the need for watering.

If the N component is Urea, then try to separate the Lime and fertilizer by two weeks if possible.
Perfect. Thank you.

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