*somebody* has been applying lime willy-nilly on your lawn over previous years, huh?

Well I guess that's unfair, in zone 9 you could live in one of the great alkaline states that normally have high pH readings in their soil. But the high calcium leans towards over application of lime products... :shrug:

The next opportunity to apply a topdressing that comes around I would use some peat moss and hold off on any lime treatments - if you'd done them in the past - for a couple years to allow that value to come down a bit. Plants, all plants, need a slightly acidic soil to allow them to absorb nutrients out of the soil.

As for your fertilizer requirements... I'd probably go with a nitrogen only fertilizer such as a 34-0-0 or a 28-0-8 for the next couple years since your phosphorous is very high. I've only been in my place for a year now and I have the same problem with very high amounts of phosphorous and potassium and my local agricultural extension recommended nitrogen only fertilization for the next 2-3 years to allow the phosphorous and potassium to slowly diminish after time.

Just goes to show you that applying fertilizers without soil tests can sometimes be counterproductive...

PH is a little high, so absolutely no lime should be applied. The only nutrient need is nitrogen. Fertilize with a timed release urea (35-0-0 approximately) available at Lesco/Deer and other lawn care product dealers. Be careful because urea can burn or stripe your lawn. Water well after application. Milorganite or other organic fertilizers may be a better choice since they will not burn if the package instructions are followed and watering although good, is not required. Bill Hill

I remember reading somewhere that there are areas in Florida with high pH. I've got high pH and high calcium, and I've never applied lime to my lawn (I don't think I've ever seen it for sale out here). So I'm willing to give the OP the benefit of the doubt.

I think I would go with urea or ammonium sulfate since the soil only needs N (I wouldn't even use the 28-0-8 product, since the potassium is also high). For the same reason, I think I'd even stay away from something like milorganite.

I think I'd also bag my clippings if I were you, especially since Zoysia is the exception to the rule that clippings don't contribute to thatch.

totally missed the south florida thing. I'll be down there from may 22nd until june 1st visiting the in-laws and whatnot.. and probably spend the next two years trying to convince the wifey she should move back home so we could live down there.

God I love it down there. Can't get warm enough for me. I'm only 31yrlds old and I'm already at the point where I'm uncomfortable in temperatures below 75(F) and would be happy living my life out in 85+ weather all year round. Even when Nashville heats up to 105(F) I'm still loving it.

Kind of ironic for a person who was born and raised in Detroit, MI...whatever, my blood thinned out at some point.

Actually I've never put down any lime based product before. I only use a 10-10-10. Would anyone suggest IRONITE to drop the ph a little and bring some green out? Also, is high calcium an issue also?

10-10-10 is just about the worst you can do......for that lawn, the second and third numbers need to be zero. You could even get by with the third number being ALMOST zero....30-0-0 would be ideal, 24-0-1 would be acceptable.

Small, but regular, doses, before the summer heat gets here, then more in the fall.

since I started learning about turf-grasses and gardening in general 10-10-10 has the bane of my existence. The whole point of obtaining the soil sample was to get a precise reading on what you need and more importantly, what you don't need.

Which in this case is everything except the nitrogen. You've got more than enough Potassium and Phosphorous in your soil to last you for the next several years. The only thing I'd do to lower the pH of your soil is top-dress with a 1/4" of peat moss once or twice a year. The grass will love the boost in organic matter while at the same time the slightly acidic nature of the peat moss will gradually lower the pH into the more desirable range for growing plants/grasses.

I don't think Ironite will help lower the pH. It will supply some additional iron, but there's probably iron in the soil now that is just not fully available.

A pH of 7.2 isn't all that awful and shouldn't interfere too badly with the ability of most plants to use iron. If you have plants that start showing signs of chlorosis, you can treat them separately (if you post here, we can help with that).

Adding as much organic matter (OM) as you can will help. OM tends to bring the pH closer to neutral and also helps act as a buffer so that high (or low) pH isn't as detrimental.

I'd even go so far as to say that if the poster can't get X-0-0, even something that's minimal on the second and third numbers would be OK. Something like 25-5-5 is marginal, 25-2-2 is better.

But a zero in the second and third numbers would be best, of course, and every effort should be made to get it...

I'm with bpgreen. If you are using chemicals, ammonium sulfate is high in N and zero on the others. It has the "benefit" of lowering the pH, too.

where can this ammonium sulfate be picked up and how is it applied? Can it be dangerous to my lawn?

Ammonium sulfate should be available at lawn and garden centers, hardware stores, "big box" stores (Home Depot, Lowes, Wal Mart, KMart, etc).

It's usually 21-0-0 fast release nitrogen fertilizer. It can burn if it is applied too heavily. Urea is another synthetic fertilizer with 0 for P and K, but it has even more N (I think it's usually 46-0-0) so is even easier to overapply and burn.

It can be spread using any fertilizer spreader. In order to avoid burning, I would set it to a lower setting than the bag recommends and make several passes in different directions. This can also minimize striping caused by uneven spreading. I think a broadcast spreader is better for something like this than a drop spreader. The broadcast spreader gives you more control, but I could never spread with a drop spreader without striping (or checkerboard if I made passes in two directions).

Ammonium sulfate is the cheapest fertilizer I've ever seen. I bought what turned out to be a lifetime supply of 20 pounds for $3 back in the 90s. I bought it to kill snails. Works great for that. I went to an organic program in 2002 but did not clean out the garage until last year. Finally gave away my snail killer/fertilizer.

AS will push your soil pH toward the acidic.

Best thing you can use right now is straight slow release urea like 39-0-0. It all your are going to need for the next couple of years.