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Soil test for 2015

11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

Lawn is in South Coast MA, its a northern mix lawn front and side combined is 16,000 sq. ft.

The back is about 12,000 sq.ft.

Right the lawn looks really good but that is usually the case for this time of year.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Comments (3)

  • 11 years ago

    Interesting. Where are you located and what's your lawn type? I'm targeting recommendations for either northern or southern lawns as you don't need anything that will cause an issue in summer for either.

    EC 4.0: Nearly pure sand. This soil holds very limited resources and changes on a dime. Always keep a very close eye on it, and soil test yearly.

    pH 5.8: A symptom of low resources. We'll fix this below.

    OM 3.0%: While in the Fair range, with this soil I'd pour on the organics in any shape or form, including fall leaves, stealing your neighbors' leaves, and so on. While it's tough to get this up very high in a sandy soil due to the oxygen percolating through it, I'd still like to target Excellent to Extraordinary--6% or more.

    Sulfur 21: A perfect answer, with margin to spare. Which is good as I'll need it.

    Phosphorus 295: A little over the top, which is not a problem in the slightest (I like it that way as we have margin against usage and leaching). Regardless, no P is required or desired.

    Calcium 59.1%: A little low, and I'd actually like to adjust this to the high side due to the limited soil capacity. You'll need Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime--the cheap stuff won't do as it's going to be too slow, too irregular, and too weak. Recommendations below.

    Magnesium 8.9% A touch spare, but nothing severe. We're going to raise this as well. Purchase a nice big bag of Epsom salt at your local drugstore, in the bath or first aid section (it's used for both).

    Potassium 2.9%: Actually, although this number looks good, it's short. Plus the calcium will dispel some. Most landscape or garden stores can order potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash) for you, or it can be purchased online.

    Sodium 2.2%: Although this looks high, the actual amount of sodium in the soil isn't a problem. I'm content ignoring this as the calcium should dispel a bit of it anyway--nor do I expect any problems even if it stays the same.

    Minor Elements: Everything is right in line across the board! Depending on your grass, iron might want to be a bit higher, or might not. Regardless, you can always use Milorganite to improve color, add organics, and nudge the soil iron slowly upward.

    Recommendations:

    May 15 to June 1: Sometime in here, apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic limestone.

    June 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet of Epsom salt.

    July 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.

    September 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic limestone.

    September 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet of Epsom salt.

    October 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I edited the above post to incorporate more information. I don't know if i agree with that TEC from the soil test it doesn't seem to be that sandy. I know below my top soil it is pretty gravely and sandy i'm just wondering if i'm going to deep for the sample.

    Thank You for the quick response

  • 11 years ago

    South Coast, MA? Sand. Your top is probably just fine sand to rough silt. If you sampled around four inches, you did it right.

    You can try a jar test if you like, though, that'll confirm the sand/not sand issue. Search the site and you'll see a lot of info on that, just note that I need photos at 2 minutes, 2 hours, and 2 days (that last one, in your case, is unlikely to be needed as I doubt strongly you have much, if any, clay).

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