Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
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Turk
Posts: 116
Joined: February 26th, 2021, 12:51 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by Turk » March 17th, 2021, 11:21 am

First soil test, second year in the house:

Location: near Annapolis, MD
Lawn Size: 24,000 sf total
Grass Type: Jonathan Green "Black Beauty" Sun and Shade (mix of TTTF, perennial ryegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass)
Weekly mowing during season (mostly mulching)
Watering: approx 1 in. / week during summer
Experience: Some experience

Front lawn is "weak" and loaded with weeds (especially nimblewill), hope to improve the soil so the lawn can fill in and crowd out the weeds and moss.

Thanks in advance.

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MorpheusPA
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Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 17th, 2021, 2:47 pm

I'm queue-skipping this because the other one scares me. Yours I can handle. I'm auto-adjusting depths.

I'm familiar with Maryland soils, so we can say you have a sandier soil with silt for your locale. Your ME of around 11 supports that.

pH 7.0: Kind of a useless number but people expect it. :-) We discuss this under calcium, magnesium, and potassium below a lot more.

OM 5.9%: Excellent! Keep it up. Certainly mulch mow and mow your leaves, but no special effort is required.

Sulfur 32: Normal. Higher OM usually means higher sulfur, as it does here.

Phosphorus 76: Low. I'd like to see 200 or a little higher with your pH, so I've made some recommendations below. This does lead to a weaker lawn, so I can see why you have some problems. We'll use a starter feritlizer to slowly change this number over the course of several years. A good starter features a second number around the same as the first number (like 18-24-6 or 22-20-5 or 20-20-3 or something like that. Those are just examples and yours won't look the same--just get the cheapest, they're all the same).

Calcium 74.6%: Right in the middle of the curve, and nice. It's contributing a lot toward your 7.0 pH, which is a tad high, but certainly not a problem.

Magnesium 15.6%: Right in the middle again and yadda yadda.

Potassium 4.2%: Do I need to say it? I do like a higher potassium and it's not as much influence on the pH, so it's not a big deal.

Sodium 1.2%: Sodium is a hair high, but it's not outrageous. Just keep an eye on it; we can get rid of it at the cost of adding more calcium. In this case, that would actually lower your pH a hair.

Most of your minor elements are just fine, although boron could use a tap. Check the Micronutrient Application Guide under the FAQs and see if you're comfortable with it. If you are, let's go with an initial adjustment of 3 Tbsp of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at the grocery store!) to get you comfortable with doing it. That's not going to do any harm even if you make a pretty severe mistake, and the lawn could also use the iron. I'll put it in as "If you're comfortable" in the recommendations.


Recommendations:

May 25: Feed the lawn with any starter fertilizer at bag rate. If you're comfortable with the idea, apply 3 Tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax via Milo carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide.

September 1: Feed the lawn with any starter fertilizer at bag rate.

October 1: Feed the lawn with any starter fertilizer at bag rate.

Turk
Posts: 116
Joined: February 26th, 2021, 12:51 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by Turk » March 17th, 2021, 5:56 pm

Awesome, Morpheus! Thanks!

A question about applying the Borax: Maryland limits nitrogen to 2.7 lb / 1000 sf per year

https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/u ... home-lawns

So the 3 feedings with 18-24-6 starter fertilizer (e.g., Lesco) would be 0.75 lb N / 1000 sf each, or 2.25 lb total. So far so good.

If I add the 3Tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax using Milo (6-4-0) at 12.8 lbs/1000 sf, the nitrogen would be 0.77 or total of 3.02 lbs N / 1000 sf and over the limit.

Am I reading this wrong? How should I apply the 20 Mule Team Borax while staying under the limit?

Thanks again, Turk.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 17th, 2021, 7:25 pm

Fortunately, that's a recommendation, not a legal limit. And I'm going to disagree with it a little bit for the reasons I discuss below.

It's great for fescues and ryes, which are perfectly happy to survive on 3 pounds of N or even less, really. If you give fescue and rye 2 pounds, it'll be fine.

For bluegrasses, which you have as part of your mix, the limit here is set pretty low. I can see why--Maryland soils, particularly toward the Baltimore area, are sandy beyond belief (my brother in law's is almost pure sand). Overapplication of N can leach right into the water supplies, and while not a direct toxin, it can cause problems.

I don't want to say that's a bad thing, and for the casual homeowner (applying nitrogen at the wrong times, in the wrong ways, and often on the wrong lawn), this is good advice. You, however, are not going to do that. I gave you the dates when the grass is going to be extremely hungry, so absorption is going to be very high.

Plus bluegrass, which I personally set at 4 pounds of nitrogen per year, will happily spread when well-fed and well-watered, and start covering that empty space you have with healthy, rich grass.

In this case, the Milorganite is also an organic source, which doesn't quickly release into the soil. So I'm more comfortable doing it that way as well. It'll slowly release over the course of months in a slow trickle.

If it really bothers you, cut the starter fertilizer application in May and do it in September instead. Milorganite does contain phosphorus...but I was kind of counting on a double-strike in May. :-)

Turk
Posts: 116
Joined: February 26th, 2021, 12:51 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by Turk » March 17th, 2021, 8:09 pm

Excellent. Thanks again, Morpheus.


Turk
Posts: 116
Joined: February 26th, 2021, 12:51 pm
Location: Annapolis, MD
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by Turk » May 24th, 2021, 1:50 pm

Applied the starter fertilizer and the 20 Mule Team borax w/ Milo carrier. Now the big question: pray for rain or start pulling out hoses?

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MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
Grass Type: Elite KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Advanced

Re: Soil Test -- Turk 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » May 24th, 2021, 9:46 pm

Pray for rain for the rest of the week. After that, pull out hoses and at least water it in with 1/4" of irrigation if you don't get something.

ETA--if you can. Your lawn is very large.

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