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.
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...