Jamo's Soil Test

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
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Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 4th, 2021, 10:48 am

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Colleyville Texas (a suburb of Dallas Fort Worth) and this is my first post on the forum. I know that this is the busy season for soil tests and that I haven't been a member for 90 days yet or an active poster, but nevertheless I'm hoping that someone wouldn't mind taking a look at my results and helping me to interpret them. Thank you in advance for your help!

My lawn is just shy of 9000 sq ft and is hybrid bermuda. I've got 7 cubic yards of 50/50 organic compost (STA Certified) and composted manure coming this Saturday that I will manually spread on the lawn at approximately .25" of depth. My pH is obviously high at 8.1, and I've already applied sulfur about a month ago to help to lower it. My understanding is that it is a gradual process to bring the pH down.

I also applied a triple 13 fertilizer about two weeks ago to (a) help with the NPK ratio, as from a previous soil test earlier in the year I knew that all three were low, and (b) use the quick release nitrogen to get the grass growing to where I have to mow it 2x per week prior to top dressing the lawn this weekend. Earlier in the year I also purchased a 25" Mclane reel mower, so I'm starting to cut lower than I have in the past with my rotary mower and am really enjoying it so far.

Hopefully some of the above information was helpful context. My overall goals are to improve my soil so that my grass will be as strong and thick as possible. Like I suspect many others who are here, I easily already have the nicest lawn and flowerbeds in the neighborhood, but would like to really step it up this year and make my soil (and grass) as healthy as possible.

Here are the results of my soil test from Logan Labs using the ATY submission form:

Image

Again, thanks in advance for any help that you can offer!

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
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Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » May 4th, 2021, 11:31 am

Morph, I've got this one. Jamo, make sure to add it to the Soil Test Interpretation Queue.

Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 4th, 2021, 12:45 pm

Hi Andy, my apologies, as I'm not seeing the queue. Can you point me in the right direction of where it's located? Thank you!

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MorpheusPA
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Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » May 4th, 2021, 11:24 pm

You're on it, Jamo. I was about to read it, but see that Andy wants to handle it...and I can guess why. :-)

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » May 5th, 2021, 8:10 am

Jamo, I have a few questions and a few comments to make before I can try to do an interpretation that will give you anything meaningful.

(1) I see an "AA" label on the test results, but no mention that the tests were submitted as an Ammonium Acetate process. Were they?
(2) It appears that you made multiple applications of nutrients in the period leading up to taking the soil samples - did you? This is very important, as we have no way to know how much of the test results come from the stuff that was in the soil and how much is from the recently applied nutrients.
(3) You applied Sulfur, which has a yo-yo effect on pH. It is also quite likely to be "spitting into the wind", as you most likely are trying to fight a mountain of Calcium with a few lbs of Sulfur.

I'll do the best I can with the results once you respond with the answer(s), but the interpretation is going to have a lot of caveats and cautions...


Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 5th, 2021, 9:01 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 4th, 2021, 11:24 pm
You're on it, Jamo. I was about to read it, but see that Andy wants to handle it...and I can guess why. :-)
Uh oh. Maybe I should take the blue pill then and go back to doing what I was doing?!?! :P

Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 5th, 2021, 2:43 pm

Hi Andy, thanks for your help. To your questions:

(1) Yes, it was AA.
(2) Yes, I did one of those Amazon soil tests earlier in the year and applied triple 13, Ironite and sulfur following those results. I then found ATY and decided to do a second test and leverage the expertise of the good folks on this site. So to your point, the results of this most recent test could be skewed based on what I've already applied to the lawn.
(3) Got it, was just trying to lower the pH. Would you recommend something other than sulfur to do so?

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » May 5th, 2021, 11:12 pm

Jamo, this is one I haven't seen in, ummmmm, a while.

It's most likely a calcareous soil, with a very poor Magnesium component, "Calcareous" means (in Laymen's Terms) "so much Calcium that there isn't even space for it to be in the soil". It is a complete waste of time and money to apply Sulfur -- for every bit of Calcium displaced or neutralized, there are 5X as much waiting to take their place. This does not mean that a nice Bermuda lawn -- you sure can.

Organic Matter is very poor, which isn't helping the situation. Whatever and whenever you can do/afford to add as OM is better than more Sulfur. Your (wrongly placed) bet on Sulfur will not work out and may weaken the health of the grass plants. For a calcareous soil, there is nothing that works well and provides relief. 70%+ of the DFW soils are somewhat or ridiculously calcareous.

Since I don't have a reading on the soil before the amendments, I'm going to say to stick to the 13-13-13 for this season - monthly at 7 lbs/K during the growing season. The Phosphorus supports the across-the-board applications.

I find it a real bellylaugh that someone actually recommended Ironite at a pH of 8.1, For Iron, you stand some chance if you'd like to try Milorganite, or read up on foliar FAS applications.

Let's leave the rest of the stuff alone for now (including micro's) -- the first rule is cause no harm.

Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 5th, 2021, 11:42 pm

Thanks, Andy. Not exactly a bowl of sunshine you are serving me, but still, I appreciate the advice!

Do you see any concerns with me putting down a .25" top dressing of 50/50 organic compost and composted manure this weekend? The lawn (and house) are just over 2 years old, and this will be the first time I do a top dressing. I know that if you do them on a sustained basis you eventually change the grade and drainage of your lawn, but I don't plan to do it every season or anything like that. Again, just trying to get some good organic matter on the lawn the best way I know how.

In addition to the monthly applications of triple 13, would I be doing any harm if I apply Milorganite 3x over the course of the rest of the year (likely Memorial Day, 1st of August and 1st of October)? With it being slow release, I'm hoping that it and the combination of triple 13 wouldn't burn the lawn, plus I'll be getting some beneficial organic matter from the Milorganite.

For lowering the pH, I'm willing to try a foliar FAS application, but have never done one previously. Any particular brand of FAS that you would recommend?

From your response it sounds like my soil is going to be a particularly challenging case, but hopefully it's not a lost cause and there are things to be done this year that nudge the soil quality in the right direction. Thanks again for your help!

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » May 6th, 2021, 8:11 am

Jamo, there is no issue with the addition of 0.25" of compost/manure.

I think the toughest battle here is not going to be with the lawn or soil, but in your head. You're focused on a central theme of "I must lower the pH", and it will never happen. Instead, a successful approach is "how do I work with this soil to make a great lawn?". The foliar FAS is not to lower the pH - it is to get Iron to the lawn where the chemistry won't permit Iron to be bioavailable for best color. You don't buy FAS as a ready-to-use product - you make FAS and apply it regularly throughout the season. See the details in the Articles area, under "Spray Iron Applications". Milorganite apps are fine -space them halfway between 13-13-13 apps.

I'd encourage you to poke around and read about others (there are hundreds here with calcareous soil), and see that it is just a different thing - not a huge "problem". Stabilize what you've got and we'll other items when we get a better picture of your soil (without fertilizer or Sulfur apps) at the start of the 2022 season.

Jamo
Posts: 9
Joined: April 23rd, 2021, 11:19 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Jamo's Soil Test

Post by Jamo » May 6th, 2021, 9:08 am

Again, thanks for the tips and advice. I'll poke around the site and see what other tidbits I can pick up in the process, and I'll also plan on submitting a soil test in March of next year before anything goes down on the lawn.

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