Chris' Soil Tests - Spring 2023

[Chris Jacobie]

Hi all,
Mowing = 4" mulched. Aiming for 2x a week. Less during summer.

Irrigation habits = it rains a lot here. Most likely installing irrigation next Fall/Winter. For now hose-end sprinkler when needed.

Goals for the lawn/soil = I just moved into this house and the lawn/soil is pretty neglected. This year, I'd like to increase drainage, especially in the slow-draining spots. I'd like to feed the micro herd with a top dressing of compost, fix any deficiencies, and over-seed in the fall.

It's a salad bar of fescue, bermudagrass, and weeds but it's on a slope with lots of bare patches so until I get more seed down, I'm leaving whatever is currently growing until at least next season.

I'd like the best approach and would like to stay 100% organic if at all possible.

Thanks!

Chris

P.S. I've included my landscape bed results if anyone wants to take a stab at that. Just some evergreen shrubs, perennials, annuals, etc.

[bpgreen]

Don't forget to post a link in the soil interpretation queue.

[Chris Jacobie]

Don't forget to post a link in the soil interpretation queue.

Thanks! In there now

[Chris Jacobie]

Hey Andy and Morph,
For work late next week, I'll be passing through a rural area with a proper feed store. The ones near me in the city all suck. They're more boutique dog food with fancy labels than soybean meal in 50 lb. brown bags.

I know you guys are busy but if you have time to look this over and make any recommendations for supplies I should pick up while I'm there, it would be greatly appreciated. If you don't have time, I totally get it.

Thanks again for all you guys do!

Chris

[MorpheusPA]

Sorry for the delay. Work's insane. They're literally throwing awards with money at us to keep us happy. Huh. With that last name, you might be distantly related to my husband.

For the landscape bed, you just gave a literal definition of "acidic, neutral, neutral, low phosphorus, high phosphorus, average, not average." It's going to vary very widely; most acid-loving plants aren't going to love your soil. Avoid azaleas, rhododendrons...although they'll probably adjust, they won't show best color and are likely to display signs of yellowing (both actually do fine in my own garden beds, pushed to around pH of 6.5 when they're adjusted correctly). Potassium could use the same boost the lawn is getting (while there are potassium-sensitive plants, they don't grow in Tennessee). I'm not recommending application of copper as it's fine in Garden 1, a tad low in Garden 2, but nothing severe. Boron is a little low across the board, but it depends very much on exactly what you're growing. Boron-sensitive plants aren't going to like boron application. You almost certainly don't have boron-sensitive plants. "Almost certainly" isn't "you told me you don't," so we're not going to apply boron there.

On the lawn, it's a good balance. That hint of magnesium low I'm ignoring. That bit of potassium I would work on, but it's nothing severe. Boron and copper could use a boost.

So...

Recommendations:

June: Apply 2 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet to gardens and lawn. Following the Micronutrient Application Guide, apply 5 tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax and 3 tbsp Copper Sulfate per thousand square feet in Milorganite carrier.

September: Apply 2 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet to gardens and lawn. Following the Micronutrient Application Guide, apply 5 tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax and 3 tbsp Copper Sulfate per thousand square feet in Milorganite carrier.

October: Apply 2 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet to gardens and lawn.

[Chris Jacobie]

Thank you so much! I’ll get right on this.

I have one question, since my P levels are sky high, would it be okay to use a different carrier without P? Maybe like an Anderson DG product or something kind of similar sized to Milo?

[Chris Jacobie]

With that last name, you might be distantly related to my husband.

It's very rare to meet a Jacobie that spells it with an "ie" at the end. It's a Dutch name even though my great-great-grandfather came over from Ireland with the name in the 1800s. Go figure.

Best I can tell, there's my family that's mostly in Texas (moved down from Baltimore in the '20s or '30s) and then pockets of Jacobies in the Netherlands, South Africa, and Australia.

How is your husband related to Jacobies?

[MorpheusPA]

Then it does seem unlikely you're related; he's Ukranian via the wilds of Maryland.

You can certainly use another carrier, although we haven't tested them, but anything granular really should work just fine.