Posting Yet Another Soil Test for Review

[flipflopper]

This is my first Logan Labs soil test. My level is 'some experience' but my understanding is quite basic compared to some of the posters on here who talk about "N strategy" and "micros." I did a State Agricultural Extension soil test four years ago and followed their advice, which was quite basic (basically, use 18-18-18 in X number of pounds x3/year for 3 years; I used 12-12-12 in somewhat higher weight application as it was far cheaper and much easier to find).

I would like some basic to intermediate advice that will help me learn about soil management and do a follow up every year to see how I'm doing with additional soil tests. I'm ready to research advice and put some $$$ into this.

I have 5,000sf of lawn. For half the lawn, I dethatched, aerated,reseeded, and topped with 1/8 - 1/4" peat moss last September and with a lot of water it came in beautifully and is doing great everywhere I reseeded. I hope to do the same this fall to the other half, which is looking spotty (mole damage, winter canoe storage, and heavy foot traffic damage). I use quality sun & shade mixes and did 4 applications of nitrogen last fall with some weed/crabgrass controllers at the right time.

Thanks so much! I'm hoping to learn and am ready to put good advice to good use.

[MorpheusPA]

I'm going to say the extension didn't do a half-bad job. There are some overshoots and whatnot, but the soil looks pretty good overall. Since you describe yourself as a beginner, I'll explain pretty much everything with the one or two things that need adjustment pointed out.

ME 10: A midrange soil. For the locale, probably silty with some sand, but there might be a bit of light clay in there too. It's nice and holds good levels of resources.

pH 7.1: A bit of an overshoot, but not a problem and it should adjust naturally over a few years. The natural pH in the area is usually acidic.

OM 5.5%: Excellent! It says the lawn is established and older, even if a bit damaged in places. Continue to mulch mow, mow your fall leaves, and repair the lawn, but otherwise, this is quite good.

Sulfur 11: Normal.

Phosphorus 156: A little low. Nothing severe, my target is 200 here, we'd normally use starter fertilizer to fix this. If you still have some 12-12-12 left over, I'd be OK with using that until the bag is empty (your K is optimal but a wee bit extra wouldn't damage anything). Just buy the cheapest starter available, they're all the same--so anything with a higher second number or the same as the first, like 18-24-3, 20-20-2, or something like that. You'll be in the middle of reseeding at the time on the second half, so simply feed with starter when you seed on that. It's early, but fine, and keeps you off it.

Calcium 77%: Just a hair over the average, but not a problem--and some of what's pushing your pH up a tiny bit.

Magnesium 14%: Optimal.

Potassium 4%: Optimal. As I said, if you use the rest of your 12-12-12, that's fine, though--a little extra K won't be a problem.

Sodium 1.3%: Just a tiny hair high, but after the winter we had, I've come to expect this from all the salt thrown around. We'll see if it leaches out in the rainfall this year.

Microelements: They actually look pretty good. Boron is a hair low, but it's nothing severe. If you want to look at the Micronutrient application guide at https://aroundtheyard.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=118 to see if you want to do this, my recommendation would be to apply 20 Mule Team Borax from the grocery store as recommended below.


Recommendations:

Memorial Day (May 25 or so): Feed with starter fertilizer at the bag rate. Apply 2 tablespoons 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet as per the Micronutrient Application Guide.

Labor Day (September 1 or so): Feed with starter fertilizer at the bag rate. Apply 2 tablespoons 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet as per the Micronutrient Application Guide.

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

October 15: Apply 2 tablespoons 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet as per the Micronutrient Application Guide.

When growth stops (after November 1): Feed with any high-nitrogen feed at the bag rate.

[flipflopper]

Awesome, talk about a fast and full response! Thanks so much.

Here are my takeaways:
-Start mulch mowing again (I quit a few years ago but my new Toro mower is high end and does a great job). Leaves just get blown off from the wind so I don't have a lot of those to mulch.
-Follow your fertilizer schedule for this year using starter fert for the first three and then a high-nitrogen for the last. I
-Put down the rest of the 12-12-12 (there's about five pounds).
-Give the micronutrient application a try.

Questions:

-The Gro-Fine starter is the cheapest stuff at my local hardware store but it has crabgrass preventer. Will that pose a problem with adding the 20 Team of Mule Borax application?

-Do I really not need to put down any nitrogen down all summer after the Mem Day feeding of starter fert? I have some leftover and am used to the big box store approach of "you need this expensive product, buy it, and apply it."

-Would it be a mistake or waste to topdress the lawn with some quality compost like Black Kow or homemade stuff? And/or make a compost tea and spray it?

[MorpheusPA]

Gro-Fine: It won't block boron apps at all. However, I wouldn't use it consistently through all the applications as it'll damage the lawn--and you won't be able to reseed through it! Seriously, crabgrass preventative destroys grass seed, too.

So I wouldn't advise using it this year for that reason. Even though another may be more expensive, that's actually a bit better here.

Crabgrass applications should technically go in April (for most broadleaf weeds; it works on those too and in May/June for actual crabgrass, which sprouts in June-July in most locations up north--for us, June and July as we're transitional). Which is the wrong time to feed the lawn anyway in most cases. I use a specialty app that gets a little complicated, but for most people, I recommend Dimension 0-0-7 or Stonewall 0-0-7 in April for 3 to 5 months of coverage against weeds (product depending).

But not this year for you, although you could really use either in the section you're not renovating, I suppose. Stonewall would give you protection through September against weeds. Dimension through July or so. Reapplication should be allowed, but check the bag. I use neither; I spray Prodiamine WBG 65.

"-Do I really not need to put down any nitrogen down all summer after the Mem Day feeding of starter fert? I have some leftover and am used to the big box store approach of "you need this expensive product, buy it, and apply it."

You really don't. Those guys need to make their boat and mortgage payments. I need to make my mortgage payment (I get seasick), but don't get paid to sell that stuff, so I'm going to tell you the truth. Grass doesn't feed during the summer. In fact, if forced to by dumping nitrogen on it, it overfeeds, gets forced into growth...and tends to dies in the heat. Feeding too early in spring and during the summer are the two worst things you can do for the lawn. Bar none. Don't feed before Memorial Day (except with an organic, in which case it becomes May first), or feed before Labor Day (except with an organic, in which case it...well, technically really only becomes August 15th or so and I just wait for September).

Now fall? Pour on the nitrogen. A pound a month, September, October, November (if the weather allows and the grass is green; mine usually does and is). Even more if you feed organically, if you want. A little, anyway. Although ask me about my 37-pounds of nitrogen year.

"-Would it be a mistake or waste to topdress the lawn with some quality compost like Black Kow or homemade stuff? And/or make a compost tea and spray it?"

Forget the tea, there's a long list of reasons why it's a waste of time (probably). If you can make compost at home (I do), then yes, by all means, do it. Buying it is probably not worth the money in terms of what you're getting out of it...except in one or two cases. When seeding, use it to cover blank spots at about 1/5" to 1/4". It'll cover the seed and help keep it damp. And a lot of blossoming shrubs like roses and lilacs rather enjoy a bit of compost now and again--but can also simply be fed with regular fertilizer if you prefer.

I tend to compost in situ, or simply toss the garden trash into the lawn and mulch mow it in. So I weed the gardens, then mow the lawn. Or clean out the gardens in fall, then mow, then play pick up sticks. With 2,000 square feet of garden, that's a lot of plant mass...

[flipflopper]

Wow, just excellent advice all around. I've learned so much and have a shopping list of things to do that will save money in the long run. Sorry for the slow response, extended holiday weekend.

Most important, it sounds like it's my job to feed the grass in the fall, not the summer. Weed prevention requires a new approach based on the products you mention as I handle this through a weed and feed fertilizer I won't be using in the summer. I also won't be using the crabgrass preventer, just plain starter fert at the intervals and weights you recommend, plus the boron additive via the linked instructions.

I'm thinking of trying my hand at composting again, but this time with kitchen scraps plus some plant material. I previously did just grass and it didn't turn out too well. I'll just mulch mow most times.

As for the 'pound a month' of nitrogen. Can you clarify - is that a pound per 1,000sf or some other geographical area? And would this be in addition to the starter fertilizer? What's the cheapest way to get nitrogen down without the other two numbers in the 0-0-0 breakdown?

And how did you know you could get away with 37 pounds of nitrogen in a year?

[MorpheusPA]

You can still use the crabgrass preventer, just not as a feeding. Dimension 0-0-7 (about 3 months of protection) or Stonewall 0-0-7 (around 5 months of protection) are both great products for areas that won't require reseeding. Neither contain a nitrogen feeding (both come with a bit of potassium, but that doesn't bother me). Again, just don't use 'em in areas that will require grass seed in fall, they'll both block reseeding to some extent; Dimension somewhat, Stonewall almost completely.

Weed and Feed is practically useless; it handles both jobs pretty poorly and ends up encouraging weeds by damaging the grass overall in the long run. Instead, just pick up a 1 or 2 gallon sprayer and some Ortho Weed B Gon concentrate (I usually recommend the Clover, Chickweed and Oxalis killer as having the widest spectrum of weeds it'll take out, but the Crabgrass killer will also take out a fair number as well). Mix as per instructions and use on weeds spot by spot--just a light shot does it. You'll use less herbicide, it doesn't take that long to do once a month or so, and it doesn't weaken the grass.

Grass composting is...a smelly, gross mess, as you discovered. Plant mass, sticks, leaves, they're all required. That makes nice compost when all mixed together.

A pound of N per month in fall per thousand square feet for northern grasses (plus 1 pound in late May), yep. And in my case, I was tossing it on organically, where the rules kind of go out the window. So for corn meal, we're talking sixty pounds per thousand square feet every two weeks, plus soybean meal, plus alfalfa (twice that year), plus importing leaves from all over the place (hundreds of bags)... It was 1,300 pounds of organic matter per thousand square feet, which worked out to 37 pounds grand total nitrogen per thousand square feet.

Done synthetically, it would have killed the grass and sterilized the soil. Organically, I was cutting every 4 days even in fall on an emerald green lawn (and I wasn't even bothering to calculate how much I was returning to the soil just by doing that for a year). But even there, the soil has to already be used to organic applications and ready for that much material. Andy regularly mulches in well over a foot of leaves every year. I wish I got that much.

[flipflopper]

I guess I should start mulching some of the leaves that fall down in my woods where there is 3-4" of leaves each fall over a 1/4 acre on my lot. Although, the idea of hauling up 6-7,000lbs of leaves seems tiring. Maybe a few hundred pounds for starters!

I think I'm starting to appreciate the advice here. It's more about proper timing, the right materials, and measurements and less about 'apply this product now, that product then.' I see my local Lowes has bags of 0-0-7 in stock. I'll pick up a bag for the front where I already reseeded and will load up the weed sprayer for the year. Shooting weeds with a dash of weed-be-gone is something I do as I get grass growing here and there from reseeding and cracks in the concrete.

I think I'm good! I appreciate all the advice. I'll report back later this summer in the threads or next fall. Thanks a million, morpheuspa.