Help with Iowa lawn

[Gooch]

My Wife and I built a house this year in Eastern Iowa and are looking for advice in taking care of our new lawn. We paid a contract to do final grading and install seed, fertilizer and hydro mulch the yard. Yard is ~13,000 SF. Seed used was a Sun mix from local seed supplier with a blend of 20% Atlantis Bluegrass, 15% Baron Bluegrass, 15% Kentucky Blue Bluegrass, 15% Quest III Perennial Rye, 15% Pennant III Perennial Rye and 20% Annual Rye Grass. Weather has been warmer than average this fall. A follow up fertilizer application was applied last week. I am unsure of the fertilizer used. Looking for general advice and advice on a couple of concerns I have. I have sent soil samples in for testing and am awaiting the results. I have been mowing it at ~3.5" since end of September. There are spots around the yard that have turned a reddish/yellow color. Have these areas just gone dormant? These are the thinner parts of the yard and would have been more likely to have frost before the thicker areas. There are some washouts in the yard from a couple of heavy rainfalls we had after the install. When should these be repaired? Anything else I should be doing yet this year? I have been slowing reducing how much water I've been giving the lawn. At what point should I stop? There will be NO irrigation system. Pictures of the yard are attached. If you want to see something specific I will be happy to take more. I will add the soil test results when they come in. http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/c ... lhg5gt.jpg

[Gooch]

Got my soil test results back. I drew samples from the front and back yard.
The front yard:
Organic Matter: 3.3%
ppm of P: 25
ppm of K: 159
ppm of Zn: 3.2
pH:7.7
The Back Yard:
O.M.: 5.2%
ppm of P:58
ppm of K:219
ppm of Zn:6.2
pH: 7.7
the front they recommended 1lb/1k ft of potash and 10lbs/1k ft of 12-12-12.
The back they recommended just 12lbs/1k ft of 23-7-7.
Any opinions or input on these numbers?

[g-man]

For soil test recomendations, use the directions given in the Soil Forum. Generally, soil test are only given for results from Logan Labs and not at the end of the year.

[Gooch]

For soil test recomendations, use the directions given in the Soil Forum. Generally, soil test are only given for results from Logan Labs and not at the end of the year.

s
I understand, but I had sent these samples off before I found this site. next time I will use Logan Labs, but for now this is what I have and if anyone is willing to help that is great, if it is too hard to use these results to offer advise then that is fine aswell.

[g-man]

There are too many variables in how the soil is tested and sampled (4in into the soil). Andy knows how the Logan Labs is performed and his analysis takes that into account. Providing feedback on these results might make things worst for you. Therefore specific advice is not normally given.

To give you a more general feedback, most applications of fertilizer and macro nutrients are done for the year for us northerners. Winter is coming. The ground is freezing and the lawn is not likely to absorb the nutrients since it is dormant. The recommended practice is to test once a year in ~April. That's gives you an entire year to apply corrections. Fyi, Logan labs is $25 per test, so it is not that much for a once a year check.

Read up on the pinned topic for cool season grasses. There is a ton of info on this forum. Most of your questions are already answered. A few things to consider, drop your mowing height for the winter to avoid matted down grass. I would target 2.5in for your blend. Try to apply fertilizer after top growth has stopped (read the fall fertilizer thread). Ensure you get actual sq ft of lawn (don't count mulch areas, etc). All recommendation here are based on lb of something per 1000 sqft of lawn.

Congrats on the new house. I like the color/stone combination. Keep in mind that getting a beautiful lawn is a long term marathon that would take you a couple of years. The folks here will guide you there.

[micvog]

No one seems to have mentioned it, but you might want to consider putting down 26# of Urea (2# per 1,000 square feet) when the lawn stops growing (next week or so?). This would give you 1# per 1,000 square feet, roughly speaking, of fast-release nitrogen. Timing it after the top growth stops will focus the growth on the root system and give you a head-start next Spring.

[LoneRanger]

Your syntax for posting images is corrupt. Here is a missing photo.

[LoneRanger]

Since there's so many species in the blend, it could difficult diagnosing issues this late in the season. AR can look like that going into winter. Overall I would say there's a macro nutrient and moisture deficiency.

[1977212]

does a screwdriver easily push into the soil?

[Gooch]

Since there's so many species in the blend, it could difficult diagnosing issues this late in the season. AR can look like that going into winter. Overall I would say there's a macro nutrient and moisture deficiency.

I don't know how I can solve a water deficiency. The clay that's under the black dirt makestrel it so anything more than running the sprinklers for 10 minutes results in lots of runoff.

A screw driver does insert easily until it hits the clay, about 4" below the surface.

[Gooch]

No one seems to have mentioned it, but you might want to consider putting down 26# of Urea (2# per 1,000 square feet) when the lawn stops growing (next week or so?). This would give you 1# per 1,000 square feet, roughly speaking, of fast-release nitrogen. Timing it after the top growth stops will focus the growth on the root system and give you a head-start next Spring.

Would this be a good idea with the landscaping company applying a follow up fertilizer to it a week ago?

[LoneRanger]

.. anything more than running the sprinklers for 10 minutes results in lots of runoff.

Look for low precipitation-rate irrigation, using a soak cycle, and apply BLSC w/KH generously next season.

[1977212]

Would this be a good idea with the landscaping company applying a follow up fertilizer to it a week ago?

i would wait till spring and do a few light apps after the 2nd or 3rd mowing Or do one light app of .5lb N urea and 1lb N of milorganite.