ShawnT2016 Soil Test 2020

[ShawnT2016]

Hello All,



I'm located in Fredericksburg VA. I bought a new construction house in May of this year which had 90/10 TTTF KBG sod laid in March. The lawn is doing good considering the heat we've had and lack of rain. The property that the community resides on was full of trees prior to this and had been excavated to facilitate the houses. I'm not sure what that process entailed, but the bare dirt is very dry hard and compacted. Bulldozers, bobcats and fork lifts have all contributed to this. The lawn is about 7,000 sqft with mostly full sun, sloped in several areas which seemingly is producing a little runoff since the lot next door isn't complete. I stumbled upon some youtubers who I initially began to follow generic guidelines from to at-least try and maintain the turf in a reasonable fashion. Since then I've discovered you guys (thanks for all you do) and have started expanding upon my knowledge. I did a generic soil test in May that didn't give me much to go with except the pH was 5.8, the same as it is through Logans Labs.

Lawn History: In May I applied ENCAP at bag rate. I have also Applied 4 gallons of an assortment of N-EXT biostimulants. Recently started KH/BLSC. I haven't done much this summer in terms of fertilizer, but put down some starter fert in May. On Memorial Day I did a full app of milorganite and since then have been putting one bag down every other week. I've started adding organics into the mix as I feared my OM was going to be laughable, go figure.... I plan to put compost down once we get out of this heat wave. I try to stop a few days a week at the local Starbucks to grab UCG. I plan to do the KH/BLSC bi weekly unless recommended otherwise.

Applications - Total Product unless specified:
Scott's Starter Fert 3lbs/1k
50lbs Kelp Meal (wont make this expensive mistake again)
100lbs Cracked Corn
100lbs Rabbit Food
160lbs Pine Pellets
230lbs UCG
6.5oz/k KH
2oz/k BLSC
2lbs/k Anderson Humic DG July

Mowing/Irrigation Habits: Cut high weekly, no more than 1/3rd. Irrigate 1/2" every day during this heat. Other than that, 1/2" every 3 days or sometimes 2 days.

Lawn Goals: I'd realistically like to do as much improvement to the soil these first few years to hopefully get to a point where it will require less input. I also want the grass to look well so still focusing on that. I'm going to need to really hammer it with organics and I hope to keep up with it. I'd like to go with the best approach for my soil and address any and all deficiencies possible in the recommended order.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at this for me. I will ask any and all questions related as I think of them.

[andy10917]

OK - the first two steps:

(1) Put a link pointing to this thread into the Soil Test Interpretation Queue.
(2) In your Profile, add the Lawn Size and Experience Level information

The third step is also important - take a deep breath and have an adult beverage.

Then I'll respond with a plan that you can work with, that won't be all over the board, and will make steady, regular progress. I already have the plan on paper, and just need to tailor it to your lawn/soil and your knowledge level.

[ShawnT2016]

Okay, fine. Adult beverage(s) first, fix profile tomorrow morning.

[andy10917]

Alright, on to the next step.

It looks like you're trying all kinds of things, and not repeating them when they don't show the visual change(s) you're looking for. And some of them appear to be the latest "miracle-in-a-bag" items hawked by the Youtube crowd and a few other sites. I see it in the products chosen. It won't work, and I suspect you've figured that out.

A good solution is to ascertain where you are (this test is a big part of that). Then, it's about the BASICS - a remediation that locates the main shortages and addresses them in concert, over the course of 2-3 year. THEN you can switch to organics, and you'll get more years on organics in the next decade than if you just try to do the remediation with less-dense organics from the beginning.

Your soil's TEC is a bit short of the bottom of a Loam soil, and likely somewhat sandy. The heavy equipment probably did two things - it likely mixed the topsoil and subsoil, and it probably compacted it too. Honest, try digging a hole and tell me how deep you had to go to find uncompacted soil - I mean it. Organic Matter is poor currently, but the bagged stuff isn't going to do the job. Voiume speaks in this situation, given time - compost in bulk (like a truck delivery) or a bale of peat moss per 1000 sq ft 2-3 times a year.

In the cations, you're short on Calcium and Potassium (you can ignore the small Magnesium shortage for the immediate term). When I see that, I look at the Phosphorus too, and your's is very low there too. That calls for a balanced fertilizer and good calcitic lime, in combination (but never applied at the same time). Locate a fertilizer like 10-10-10, 19-19-19, etc and post the NPK for application rate. The frequency will be monthly except July 1 - August 15th.

For Lime, it is good calcitic Lime (Encap/Mag-I-Cal/SoluCal) at the heavy bag rate every 90 days, but not within 2 weeks of the fertilizer app.

The Iron level is OK, and as the Calcium comes up from the Lime, you'll stay in the OK Zone.

Let's leave the micro's for next Spring.

You can use the KH as you wish, and another application of the Humic DG next April at 2 lbs/K. I don't like adding it in July.

There - the basics and a regimen. Test again next Spring and we'll see the progress you make, and adjust and fix a few other things. You may see some improvement by this October. And make sure to get a Pre-M down this Fall (probably September in your area. Repeat the Pre-M in the Spring when the Forsythia bloom.

[ShawnT2016]

Thanks Andy.

Yes that seems to be correct with your philosophy. I jumped down the interwebs rabbit hole for lawn care which is reflective in the applications thus far. Typically I wouldn't be at home everyday of the week, so that didn't make it much better either for a busy body like myself. BUT, I will follow your lead.

I will attempt to dig a hole here shortly. I can tell you already, I know it's not going to be hard. My neighbors houses aren't finished yet so they have bare dirt and it is rock solid and cracking. My first soil sample in May I had trouble even getting the probe further than 3" into the soil.

I can source a 10-10-10 locally. For the lime, I can't seem to find the 3 products local that you've suggested. I can get Pennington Fast Acting Lime plus ACT, or I can get the Cal-Turf-Pro product local as well. Any thoughts? If not I will just try to get one of the other products shipped.

I will follow all the other guidance and see what happens next Spring.


https://www.clevelandbrotherslandscapin ... -Label.pdf

[andy10917]

For the 10-10-10, use 10 lbs/K monthly, except July 1 - August 15th.

I can source a 10-10-10 locally. For the lime, I can't seem to find the 3 products local that you've suggested. I can get Pennington Fast Acting Lime plus ACT, or I can get the Cal-Turf-Pro product local as well. Any thoughts? If not I will just try to get one of the other products shipped.

OK - Ive never actually printed how to tell a good calcitic lime from others, but here goes:

- a good calcitic lime with the higher-tech process will have on the product label that the Calcium level is up in the mid-to-upper 30's for a percentage of Calcium in it.

- it will also only have less than 4% Magnesium in it.

- somewhere on the bag it will mention that it contains Humates.

Don't pick a product that doesn't meet all three conditions. I used to recommend the Pennington product, but they switched to a dolomitic lime. Other powdered or pelletized limes take far, far, far too long to break down into the soil, and my regimen assumes that it will break down in 6-8 weeks into the soil, hence the "every 90 days" frequency. Also, it will seem more expensive than powdered/pellitized limes - it's NOT if you consider the application rate.

[ShawnT2016]

Thanks for explaining that. I do appreciate the information. I was able to look at the others I mentioned and see why you wouldn't recommend.

I ordered a few bags of the Solu-Cal and will apply at the heavy bag rate, 12lbs/1K, August 1st and then every 90 days. August 15th I will apply 10-10-10 at 10lbs/1K and then repeat monthly. I will stick with applying the KH/BLSC every two weeks for the rest of this season, and see what next year brings in terms of backing off a bit. Hopefully sooner rather than later, I will get a delivery of compost to get down some of the good stuff. I'll also make sure to put down a pre-m in September or so. I initially forgot to mention that I did put prodiamine down when I first moved in. So far so good. Aside from what I believe is the 100's of cracked corn that sprouted in my lawn. Soil test next spring will also be in order.

Questions:
1. Is there going to be anything wrong with putting down some milorganite here or there or will that cause issues with how you've set up this plan? I could always store what I have if it's a problem.
2. I feel really silly asking this question, but I'm unclear as of yet and want clarification. Does the lime applications continue into the winter months or does it stop as the growing season stops? As it sits, I'm to apply a lime app in February and wanted to make sure I was or wasn't supposed to do it at this time of year and if not when to bump it back to.

[andy10917]

(1) I put Milorganite down at half-rate during the Summer Snooze. Then full-rate after August 15th to wake it up for the Fall Regimen(s) around Labor Day.

(2) Lime can go down whenever the soil isn't frozen, as its reaction is chemical, not biological. That said, a reasonable course is whenever the grass is growing - this is a marathon and not a sprint. Always remember that.

[ShawnT2016]

Hey Andy,

I thought this might interest you. I haven't done my digging in my yard yet like you asked, or any soil composition test etc. Reading through the articles and getting a better idea of what soil actually is, and then seeing it like this was interesting. But the tropical storm has definitely shed a bit of light on the soil conditions around here.

I've always thought, "wow this soil is really hard like clay." But like you said, it is quite sandy. I'm not sure how much soil was stripped out of here or filled when they prepared the land. Both of my neighbors lots aren't finished yet and with all the rain we got, it separated a bit of the sand from the big rocks and crap that's in the soil.

[ShawnT2016]

Hey Andy,

Just a small follow up and a few questions. I've applied my lime application and followed up 3 weeks later with my first balanced fertilizer application. I'm going to get a truck load of compost in the next few weeks to address my OM issue.

Being as this is a new sodded yard, some spots managed to thin out before I moved in and then after where there wasn't quite full irrigation coverage. These areas are minimal, maybe less than 600sqft total and pretty centralized where they are. I've addressed the irrigation part, but now want to figure out how to go about the repair. I was thinking of pushing a little more nitrogen to give these areas the opportunity to thicken up, but browsing the forum I've seen you not recommend those on remediation plans to try and follow the fall nitrogen program. Another option is to seed them, but then that limits my pre-emergent to only tenacity and then I'd be applying it in September/October for coverage for this year.

Here's my questions:

1. What makes the two programs unable to be compatible with one another? I read something you wrote about when using high levels of N, that you need high levels of other nutrients to keep up. Would the fall nitrogen regime you've created cause the nutrients were trying to correct become depleted at a rate faster than our program can sustain?

2. If it isn't advisable to supplement .5lbs of N a few times in hopes of thickening things up, would an application of tenacity at seed down and then one month later as pre-emergent be sufficient for 2020?

Thanks for your expertise in advance.

[andy10917]

I was thinking of pushing a little more nitrogen to give these areas the opportunity to thicken up, but browsing the forum I've seen you not recommend those on remediation plans to try and follow the fall nitrogen program.

Most of the time, I leave the choice of sticking with the remediation plan or switching to the Fall Nitrogen up to the owner when it is a situation that has no deep shortages. The trouble with staying with the remediation plan through the Fall is that there are a few studies that indicate that late-season Potassium has the possibility of raising the incidence of Snow Mold over the winter. So, if you remove Potassium from the equation, you have to weigh the risk of Snow Mold against not making progress in the remediation program. The world is full of trade-offs.

I'd recommend against pushing Nitrogen on still-germinating grass. Remember the mantra of NPK - "Up, down, all-around". Nitrogen ("Up") pushes top-growth, and that's not a great idea when root systems are not adequate to handle the forced top-growth. I know that's all you can see and that's tempting to manage what you can see, but it's the root system that needs pampering at this point - NOT the visible blades. The rules change when the grass is a few weeks older.

What makes the two programs unable to be compatible with one another?

Incompatible isn't the right term. It's choosing between "what is the best solution for the lawn" now. If you have deep shortages, staying the remediation plan is best, because you're not skipping applications of those nutrients. If the shortages are mild, feeding the grass to store Nitogen and carbs may be an optimal approach. It's all about trade-offs being considered.

If it isn't advisable to supplement .5lbs of N a few times in hopes of thickening things up, would an application of tenacity at seed down and then one month later as pre-emergent be sufficient for 2020?

Back to the trade-offs and root system at this point. You're trying to talk yourself into paying attention to what you see first. I don't get it - do you think that the Nitrogen in the balanced fertilizer isn't "the same" as the other Nitrogen? Your lawn browned out in spots because the roots didn't supply enough water to the blades - the "nursemaiding" water gets it through until the roots are into the soil and doing their job. More blades (forced) and no attention to the roots can make things worse, not better. In the case of seeded lawns, we recommend that owners not apply much Nitrogen when grass goes through the "Sprout-and-Pout" stage - that's forcing the grass to do what it doesn't naturally want to do. With sod, until the root system establishes into the soil, it's similar to the seeded situation.

[ShawnT2016]

So, if you remove Potassium from the equation, you have to weigh the risk of Snow Mold against not making progress in the remediation program. The world is full of trade-offs.

Gotcha. That was something I wasn't quite sure I had thought far enough ahead about. Looks like I should go through and read a bit more of that 58 page discussion.

Back to the trade-offs and root system at this point. You're trying to talk yourself into paying attention to what you see first. I don't get it - do you think that the Nitrogen in the balanced fertilizer isn't "the same" as the other Nitrogen?

I understand where you're coming from. I guess I should have noticed that the standard regime is the same #N and realized it was the same. I was focused on the aggressive approach. I'll admit that sometimes when I'm trying to find answers to my questions or reason through situations. I do get side tracked by my kids and end up not elaborating my thoughts as well as I should.

I'm really happy with how the first summer here has gone, although I was late in the game for my soil test. The lawn was sodded in March and 90% of it has survived through this summer without going dormant. Now how established it is for 5 months old, I'm not quite sure how to gauge except against the neighbors and there is no comparison..
As I've seen you say, it seems like my lawn is still in spring flush mode and has required mowing at least twice a week.

I will just monitor the spots that didn't establish roots back in April and see how well the KBG takes self repair.