Help plan my lawn renovation

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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ermagahhd
Posts: 1
Joined: April 17th, 2021, 9:35 am
Location: New Hampshire
Grass Type: Currently Weeds
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Help plan my lawn renovation

Post by ermagahhd » April 17th, 2021, 10:54 am

Bought a house last year and the lawn needs a lot of work. Planning on planting this coming fall. I've attached a nice picture of what it looked like mid summer last year when we bought it. All weeds. I got a soil test from my local university extension and attached those results too. I realize the extension is not the format that is traditionally accepted on this site, but it is all I have for this first year. 85% sand is what really worries me.

My plan is to kill everything off over the next two months with glyphosate. The next step is where I need help. I was initially planning on bringing in ~ 20 yards of loam and using a harley rake to spread out about an inch deep and adding the needed micronutrients. It seems that adding compost and correct nutrients might be better than traditional loam due to the high % of sand. I'm having irrigation installed in July so I want to get any of the heavy dirt moving finished before then. I also want to avoid messing up the grade.

Am I better off adding compost as top dressing over the next year or two, or should I bring in an inch or two of compost and mix it in with a rented harley rake? I also hear that adding a lot of compost results in future compression due to decaying material. I know it's a marathon and not a sprint. I just want to make sure I get started on the right foot before irrigation goes in and makes dirt moving more difficult.

:D

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Help plan my lawn renovation

Post by MorpheusPA » April 17th, 2021, 7:52 pm

Regrettably, that test tells us practically zip. Definitely get it redone through Logan, it'll be the best $20 you ever spent. And with a reno coming, you have all summer to slap the soil pretty hard before then, so I'd advise doing it soon--we don't have to be gentle, we can slam it hard to get it prepared for August.

Assuming the structure test is correct (you might try a jar test at home just to corroborate), it's not a bad place to be. Mostly sand is a good soil, and you have the silt to back it up and just a small amount of clay to hold plenty of resources. For NH, this doesn't seem unreasonable, but what do I know? It gives me an initial guess on your exchange capacity (around eight-ish, but by that, I mean plus or minus three, so it really is just a guess). An EC is how much in terms of resources your soil can hold, and 8 is modest, but not very low. My own soil is only a 15 at a very silty soil. There is no right or wrong answer.

As far as your plan, stop. S-T-O-P. If the soil is at the correct grade and height, don't add anything. Your soil is fine the way it is. From the photos, that seems to be the case. We know nothing, really, about the necessary nutrients (this test is not reliable), and adding them via adding soil isn't going to work--that's just not how it's done. We do it with bags of concentrated Creative Chemistry that we recommend from a good soil test from Logan Labs. These things are usually measured in pounds per thousand square feet, not the tons of soil one would use. There are other reasons--you'll create a new horizon on the soil that the roots just don't want to go past.

Any soil chemistry can be adjusted over time. Trust me--been there, done that. My soil was in what we call "complete collapse" when I moved here. It had a pH of 4.5, grew nothing, had no nutrients, and...yuck. It took very little time to improve drastically (literally, weeks). Complete fixing did take some years, but by complete fix, I mean I wanted it to be able to grow anything I threw at it, no matter what the challenge.

Compost in and of itself isn't a bad idea, but it should never be dug into a soil. It's going to decay off completely, leaving the soil to collapse behind it, become bumpy, and settle back to where it was...but bumpier. Which is not exactly a joy to mow. But don't add it now. There's a reason for this...

Right now, get the new soil test. Save the money on soil. Certainly get some to even out any bad areas you have, and try to match the soil you currently have (quite sandy, in other words). Kill weeds, enjoy the lawn you have until you kill it, and let's see what the test says.

Plan to spend some dollars fixing the soil over the summer (remind us a reno is coming and not to be kind to the existing lawn or we'll keep applications out of the summer to shield it from harm). But nothing like tons of new soil... Kill the lawn whenever you want, but no later than mid to late July. Kill any weeds that sprout after that.

For you, plant the new lawn in mid August (late August is probably OK) as nights just start to cool, and after the new irrigation system is in. Topdress that seed with compost (see? I told you we'd use it), up to about a quarter inch. It'll help keep the new seed damp, and add some organic matter to your new lawn (compost, contrary to a lot of claims, really doesn't contain much in the way of nutrients, and nothing concentrated, but every little bit does help, so...) Don't go more than a quarter inch as the seed has trouble growing through more than that, though!

Water three times a day through seed sprouting (two weeks with fescue/rye, a month if the seed includes Kentucky bluegrass). Then step back to daily, or every other day as your weather is likely getting rather cool by mid-September. Rainy days can, of course, be completely skipped. By October 1st, you can probably go to every fourth day, if you aren't already winterizing your new irrigation system.

When should you feed? That's always hard to say on a new lawn. Around Day 30 after planting, usually, if you can is a good rule of thumb, but it does vary. We'll have to play it by ear when the time comes.

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