RKDJC Soil Test Results - 2022

[Rkdjc]

Background: Located in Central Ohio, backyard landscaping project in 2020 led to all new top soil, grading and sod (no-mix). As such, I've included results for my backyard independent of the front yard. All areas have inground irrigation that is used in the summer months with a deep and infrequent schedule to assure an an inch a week or more if needed depending on how hot and dry it is. I follow the fall nitrogen regime and put down pre-emergent earlier this year. Otherwise, its mostly milorganite monthly at bag rate May-Sept. Looking to optimize lawn health and color. Am willing to address micros as needed. Thanks in advance.

Front yard: 2,000 SF
Backyard: 4,000 SF

[MorpheusPA]

My very great apologies for the delays here. I've had to pick up a new system at work in less than 2 weeks, been handed training responsibilities, we're reconfiguring our department, and I'm going absolutely insane. Today is a holiday from work. We're all boycotting signing on for any reason and sending each other supportive messages.

A dual-personality soil. Such fun. Much wow.

Standard soil depth of testing is 4", but I'll turn down the numbers appropriately.

pH is high, but not inappropriately so, and nothing that can't grow a really nice lawn. The best color will be out of reach, but everything else? Sure.

OM ranges from excellent (back) to extraordinary (front). With new work, that could be a bit of a problem in terms of soil settling in the back (it won't be an issue in the established front), but fortunately, that should be minimal with, at most, a few percent settling, which would happen anyway. Certainly always mulch mow your leaves, you can feed organically, and so on--there's no realistic upper limit (mine is 13% right now), but you don't need to make any special effort.

ME of 13 and 26 aren't accurate here, they're being a bit tricked out by your high calcium levels. I'm turning them down in my head to around 12-ish. This tells us how able your soil is to absorb and hold nutrients; a 12 is moderate. 26 would be very high. Instead, there's free calcium sitting around that's fooling this number. Next year, you might have this tested as Ammonium Acetate instead, but it's too late now and there's no need. I can handle it.

Phosphorus 800+ on both: Very high on both, which is just fine. You won't need any for the foreseeable future, by which I mean decades. Never use starter fertilizer, even when starting new seed, overseeding, etc. You just don't need it.

Calcium 73/80: More like 80/95. This isn't a problem at all. Grasses do fine in high-calcium locales, and can grow in literal mulch and limestone chips. Avoid limestone. Don't lime. Don't even think about calcium pills around this lawn.

Magnesium 18/13: On paper, it looks normal, in the real world, it's actually high. Again, that's fine.

Potassium 3.7/1.9: On paper, it looks a bit high and a bit low. In the real world, it's fine and...well, it's technically OK, but I wouldn't mind boosting it a bit. My rationale here is that there's so much calcium and magnesium around that the grass has to fight to get potassium. The stuff doesn't stick well in these environments and I don't hold out a lot of hope, but... I'm not sending you on a major shopping trip, either. We'll keep it simple.

Minor Elements: Copper in the back, Boron in the front. While iron is kind of short in the front, there's no real reason to raise it. As noted above, higher pH levels bind iron tighly. You're well above the level that adding more helps appreciably.

Your Shopping List:

Lesco makes 24-0-11 fertilizer, or any other fertilizer where there's a good first number and a good third number with a low or 0 second number, like 15-0-15, 27-2-10, or the like. The actual numbers don't really matter.

Copper sulfate, 36 tablespoons total; a pound might do it, but the stuff is kind of heavy? You can get 2 pounds for around $20 off eBay, or 1 pound for about $12. I just get 2 pounds at a time because shipping is the killer from Alpha Chemicals right now.

Boron: Buy 1 box of 20 Mule Team Borax at the grocery store. They'll make more if you run short, which you won't.

Recommendations:

May 1st-ish: Apply 5 tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE FRONT ONLY. Apply 3 tbsp Copper Sulfate in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE BACK ONLY.

Memorial Day: Apply Lesco 24-0-11 (or whatever fertilizer you got) at bag rate.

September 1: Apply Lesco 24-0-11 (or whatever fertilizer you got) at bag rate. Apply 5 tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE FRONT ONLY. Apply 3 tbsp Copper Sulfate in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE BACK ONLY.

October 1: Apply Lesco 24-0-11 (or whatever fertilizer you got) at bag rate. Apply 5 tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE FRONT ONLY. Apply 3 tbsp Copper Sulfate in Milorganite carrier using the Micronutrient Application Guide TO THE BACK ONLY.