Organic Lawn Care folks -

last week I got the results of a soil analysis (testing done at Iowa State University.) The ISU report did not recommend that I do anything, but I thought I might ask for a second opinion from you folks. (I have been having some fungus and thatch problems with my East-Central Iowa KBG yard.)

My pH was 7.2, which apparently is about right, maybe just a bit high from what I read on the internet. So that seems O.K. Don't need to spread any lime.

My %O.M. (organic matter) was 3.8% in the back yard and 4.4% in the front yard. This one was a bit more confusing to me, as ISU did not provide a range over which 'normal' was. What should I have here? Am I low, high or just right for OM %? I have not seen this discussed much on the internet.

The rest of the test showed very high values of P (96 ppm, where 50 is considered high) and K (192-290 ppm, where 175 is considered high.) Must be the result of years of overuse of synthetic fertilization (by the home's previous owners, I guess.) I am guessing this is not a real problem, I guess better to be high than low for P and K.

Any comments, especially on the OM, I would appreciate it. Thanks.