Seed going down and my soil analysis says I need a lot of nitrogen

[bryankloos]

Hi all

Hoping to get a bit of info on seeding.

I aerated today and put some seed down and plan to top dress some rough areas tomorrow and seed. The front weed yard will get power seeded later this week.

My soil test just came back from waypoint and it says I need about 3 lbs N/1k. If this is the case and I’m
Seeding now when is the best time to apply given the recent overseed

I also need to add some lime, and as above is there a good time to do this relative to the recent seeding?

I wanted to get seed down this week as I won’t have an opportunity to work on the years in the next two weeks hence my seeding prior to return of the analysis.

All help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[bpgreen]

I'm not sure why you're analyzing your soul to determine what to do with your lawn.

The soil gurus here only use reports from Logan labs.

Always ignore anything about nitrogen in soil tests. Nitrogen is transient, so it will always show as deficient.

[bryankloos]

Yeah, the soul needs some work... lol.
I tried to edit my spelling mistake but I couldn’t figure out the process.

What I’m trying to determine is whether I should fertilize now, after germination, or at another time to get up the nitrogen and potash which are low. phosphorus is fine.

Thanks

[TimmyG]

If anything, the nitrogen recommendation is canned advice to apply 3 lbs N/k in total over the entire year. That's a boilerplate recommendation for cool season turf. First, unless you specifically requested and paid for it, nitrogen is not tested for the reason that bpgreen mentioned. Second, no one would ever recommend applying 3 lbs N/k all at once. Instead, nitrogen is used up by grass and needs frequent replenishment, thus the canned recommendation to apply nitrogen regardless of the actual soil test results. Even those with near-perfect soils have to apply nitrogen to their lawns several times a year.

You don't want to lime right before or any time soon after seeding as it would create a highly alkaline condition at the soil surface where the seed is germinating. I'll leave it to others to advise you on fertilizing relative to seed down.

[TimmyG]

I see now that you've posted your soil test where it belongs and already gotten excellent advice from ken-n-nancy. And I also see that the soil test recommendation explains that the nitrogen applications should be spread throughout the year.