Green life New house 2020 soil test

[Green life]

First off I want to say thank you for taking your precious time to help me on my lawn goals. Last May my wife and I purchased our new home in branchburg nj. The house was built in 1990 and I have about 5k of turf that has an irrigation system. My first impression was that the soil seemed poor (I believe the test will prove that) seems very hard and compact I know this area is known to have shale. My lawn actually isn’t bad it’s above average I know the folks before me used a service to fertilize and what not. I have some bad brown patch in spots especially coming in from both my neighbors lawn. I’m fairly experienced in turf care. Hope that covers most of it.

[andy10917]

Make sure to make a Link in the Soil Test interpretation Queue pointing to this thread.

[Green life]

Hey Andy I know you ask of that and I wanted to point out in my original post that I’m not sure how to do it. I’m not to savvy with this stuff as embarrassing as it is to admit lol.

[andy10917]

You got it right - you're in the Queue

[andy10917]

I was about to work on this one, but it's missing "lawn Size" and "Experience Level" info in your Profile.

[Green life]

Updated

[andy10917]

The soil is interesting - it has "good bones" but appears to be neglected over a period of time...

Structurally, the soil has a TEC that is 0.01 below the threshold for a Loam soil - we'll let that slide. The organic matter level is near the border between poor and mediocre. This can be fixed with regular additions of compost, mulched leaves and/or peat moss. The key word is "regular". This will add to the TEC and make the soil more workable over time.

In the cations, Calcium is right where we want it and Magnesium is on the high-side. We'll deal with that in 2021, but need to address some other deficiencies first. Potassium is quite short. The cations are adding up to cause a pH of 6.6, which is fine.

Phosphorus is also short.

When both Phosphorus and Potassium are short, there is an easy solution. Get a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10, 19-19-19, etc. Post the NPK for application rates and frequency (probably monthly).

Iron is OK and available at your pH.

In the micro's, Boron and Zinc are short. Do you want to start on those in 2020 or wait for 2021 to address those?

Beyond the test results, I'd get going on regular applications of BLSC to address the suspected "compaction" - let's see if that works to help.

Like I said at the beginning of this, there are no unsolvable issues here - just addressing extended neglect. You can do this.

[Green life]

Thanks a lot Andy that’s very helpful. I will grab a bag is 10 10 10 at hd tomorrow. As far as the blsc I already bought some n-ext stuff awhile back and will use that up and probably turn to yours considering it looks like the same exact thing at a cheaper price. How about humic dg? And the Micros I’ll jump on those ASAP. Thanks

[andy10917]

10-10-10 is applied at 10 lbs/K, and monthly is the typical application frequency.

How about humic dg?

At this point in the season, I'd wait until April to start a Humic program. There are two applications in a year - early in the season and again in late June (just before the heat really cranks up). Let's discuss early in the season next Spring.

For micro's, get Twenty Mule Team laundry soap from the grocery store, and Zinc Sulfate from Amazon/EBAY. Apply both/each at 3 tablespoons/K every 60 days as outlined in the Micronutrient Application Guide.

[Green life]

Thanks Andy! How soon would you recommend another test?

[andy10917]

In the Spring, so that you can get a plan that covers the entire season - if the budget permits