aroundtheyard.com Forums

Hi there,
I'm new to the site but have read quite and bit and now looking for some feedback on a maintenance plan for my lawn. Here are the details:

• Located in Columbus Ohio
• Lawn is about 15K sq ft and was newly sodded in fall of 2013 with KBG mix from a commercial builder but now see some thicker bladed clumpy invasive grass starting to find it's way in
• Have irrigation system with Rachio controller
• Have used local lawn care company for past few years that fertilize, weed control, etc, but this year trying to do myself. At the end of March I applied Menard's brand fertilizer with crabgrass control at 0.88 N, 0.00 P, 0.10 K pounds per 1000sq ft.
• Had a soil test done with the following results:
  ---pH level = 7.9 which they call "above optimum"
  ---Phosphorus = 2ppm which they call "below optimum"
  ---Potassium = 91ppm which they call "below optimum"
  ---P lb/A = 4
  Exchangeable Cations (meq/100g)
  ------Acidity = 0.00
  ------K = 0.23
  ------Mg = 4.86
  ------Ca = 29.10
  ------CEC = 20.1
  % Saturdation of the CEC
  ------K = 1.2
  ------Mg = 24.2
  ------Ca = 74.7
  Calculated Nutrient Needs, lb/1000 sq ft/yr
  ------N = 1 to 4
  ------P = 4.5
  ------K = 2.0

All that being said, what do you recommend I apply for the rest of the year & how many applications & in what intervals would you suggest?

Milorganite seems like a good solution to provide Nitrogen & Phosphorus, however doesn't have any Potassium.
Whereas normal Scotts & house brand fertilizers provide Nitrogen & Potassium, however they don't contain Phosphorus.
It appears starter fertilizers have all 3 key ingredients, but are lower in Nitrogen. And would they be safe for an established lawn?

All that being said, I haven't found a single fertilizer available that would deliver the recommended Phosphorus & Potassium needs for the year with only 4 applications.

TIA
-Matt

15K square feet yard! Wow! That will need a lot of maintenance. I don't usually advice to go for professional help. But in your case the yard size seems to be an exception. I will recommend you to hire a contractor for your lawn maintenance.

rockyjames21 wrote: ↑

April 18th, 2019, 8:25 am

15K square feet yard! Wow! That will need a lot of maintenance. I don't usually advice to go for professional help. But in your case the yard size seems to be an exception. I will recommend you to hire a contractor for your lawn maintenance.

Seriously? This advice comes from a guy claiming to be from Texas?

There’s nothing extraordinary about 15,000-square-feet. That’s actually on the smaller size.

15,000 square feet is about a third of an acre. That’s pretty much a typical-size yard for most people. Assuming that measurement doesn’t include the house, that’s still under half an acre of total yard.

The OP can easily handle doing a yard that size.

Google is your friend.

https://www.unitconverters.net/area/squ ... -acres.htm

Correct, total lot is half an acre, yard is 1/3 acre.

Any feedback on what to do for fertilizer?

The people that volunteer to do soil test interpretations do not offer advice for labs other than Logan Labs. Here's an example of why:

Exchangeable Cations (meq/100g)
------Acidity = 0.00
------K = 0.23
------Mg = 4.86
------Ca = 29.10
------CEC = 20.1

The Logan Labs test suite would have Ca (Calcium) at a number (lbs/K) between 500 and 4000, typically.
Mg (Magnesium) would be between 100 and 500.
K (Potassium) would be between 50 and 300.

We's have to know the test and conversions needed, and spend an hour converting everything. In that time, we could do 2-3 other members' tests. And if we let one member submit tests from random labs, we'll bury ourselves in no time.

Sorry. If you decide to submit a test through Logan Labs, we'd be happy to interpret it for you, for free...

Thanks for the feedback. If I were to go simply off the recommended nutrient needs from my test, would you be able to suggest fertilizer(s) for my next 3 applications?

You can totally manage 15k.

Milorganite is a great tool. I would definitely recommend incorporating it.

Get an ID on that unwanted plant. Wide bodied grassy weed could be fescue or quackgrass.

What fertilizer is a good source of phosphorus to the tune of 1.3lbs/1000sqft and potassium of .66lbs/1000sqft?

And if there exists such a thing, is it safe to apply at these levels?

rockyjames21 wrote: ↑

April 18th, 2019, 8:25 am

15K square feet yard! Wow! That will need a lot of maintenance. I don't usually advice to go for professional help. But in your case the yard size seems to be an exception. I will recommend you to hire a contractor for your lawn maintenance.

Can't believe this is a serious post...lol

You may have trouble finding a single fertilizer with a 2:1 ratio of P:K. For a bit more work, you can apply sulfate of potash which is 0-0-50 and triple superphosphate which is 0-45-0. You will need to apply ~2 lbs/1000 sq ft of each to get 1 lb/1000 square feet. Adjust as needed for the desired amount. In general, you would want to apply no more than ~1 lb/1000 sq ft. in a single application. Space applications ~4 weeks apart.

Managing 1/2 acre of grass is no big deal. Many members here manage that much or more.