Have you decided on which fruit trees to plant? I'll need to do the research on the optimal conditions for whatever kind of fruit's going in there.

Hey Morph, it would be two peach and two apple trees and the rest of the soil would be used to grow some grass albiet it won't be watered regularly.

I'm heading to lowes in about an hour and i can pick up some stuff if it needs it (i'm sure it does).

Thank you!

Gotcha. That was pretty much what I remembered, so I did the research on this for the most part already.

Peaches and apples are relatively similar (my cousins grow both in the same orchard), but where a discrepancy exists I'm favoring the apples. Reason: casual home care is more likely to result in a good apple crop than a good peach crop. Peaches are far more likely to go spotty, mealy, damaged, or insect-eaten.

I've been less than gentle on the recommendations due to the fact that the trees aren't in yet and won't be until spring. We can smack the soil around a little bit without consequences.

Sources:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1406.html

http://www.harvesttotable.com/2009/08/how_to_grow_peaches/

http://www.liquidfertilizerorganic.com/fruit-fertilizer/fertilizer-for-fruit-requirements/

http://apples.msu.edu/uploads/files/Applenutrition-EricHanson.pdf

http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/pdf/fertilizing_apple_trees.pdf

EC 1.91: Nearly pure sand, which will present some challenges for almost any fruit tree as the soil storage of resources is very low. Frequent adjustments will be required and you'll need to keep a close eye out for evidence of resources shortages. Peaches prefer sandier soils, apples are very tolerant of heavier soil types.

OM 3.8%: In the Fair range and good enough for most fruit trees. Given the very low EC, I'd actually recommend mulching the trees lightly and keeping them mulched to retain some extra water and slowly raise the OM levels over the course of years.

pH 5.3: Too low for peaches (6.0-6.5) and apples (6.5). We'll adjust this in calcium and potassium below, and I'm looking to shoot a little high due to the low EC. Most fruit trees are intolerant of alkaline pH, and tolerant of slightly acidic. Resource shortages tend to become more apparent in more acidic (or alkaline) conditions.

Sulfur 16: Fine.

Phosphorus 274: Perfect. Fruit trees aren't particularly demanding of P.

Calcium 41%: Quite low, the target here will be around 60% even in a low EC soil. We'll use Encap, Pennington Fast Lime, or Mag-I-Cal to correct this. Recommendations below.

Magnesium 7.6%: While not particularly demanding of magnesium, this is rather low and I'd like to see 10-12%. This number will also drop as the calcium saturation rises. We use Epsom salt to correct this, available at your local drugstore. You know the drill.

Potassium 3.7%: This will take a tumble as the calcium hits, plus fruit trees are rather demanding of potassium and will suck this out of the soil. We use potassium sulfate to adjust this, which you've already had to find for your lawn. Recommendations below.

Minor Elements: I'm not as familiar with the minor elements in fruit trees as I am with lawns. For now, I'm going to let the existing numbers ride for everything except boron, but keep a very close eye out for deficiency symptoms!

Boron <0.2: Deficient for any plant. Boron requirements are going to be at least as high as for lawns, which are not particularly boron sensitive in either direction. I've been a little aggressive below.

Here's the standard text with amounts added: We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 12.5 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax.

Recommendations:

Now: Apply 8 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Pennington, or Mag-I-Cal. Go wider than you think you should; the trees are going to throw roots wider than normal in this very sandy soil.

November 15: Apply 4 pounds per thousand square feet of Epsom salt. Apply 6 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.

November 22 (one rainfall after the previous app): Apply 5 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet.

April 1, 2016: Apply 4 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Pennington, or Mag-I-Cal.

April 15: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of Epsom salt. Apply 2 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.

Thank you! Will sta-green rapid lime work for today's application?

I have absolutely no idea and I can't find the label for the stuff. If the ingredients are 95%+ calcium carbonate, then yes, but it may be a little slow depending on the sieve size.

Yes sir, 95% cc. It small granules

Go for it. Like I said, maybe a bit slow, but it has all winter to work so I'm not worried about that.

OK i'm back from running. Thanks for the review morpheus, I'll apply step one either tonight or tomorrow. The stuff i got was/is this

http://www.lowes.com/pd_552725-25888-LLI30_0_?productId=50189499

Where would you suggest I get epsom salt in the quantity mentioned? Drain the drug store shelves?

Also, potassium sulfate, I assume i can get that in bulk? Suggestions on best place to find it?

Thanks again - i'll have one more soil test (for my parent's lawn) in the next few days. As always, you info is super helpful!

That lime will work fine.

The area for four trees shouldn't be enormous, so I'd think two or three bags of (very cheap) Epsom salt will do fine. If you really are doing a gigantic area, you can order magnesium sulfate online or through a lot of garden shops. For large quantities, that'll be cheaper as you don't need USP (pharmaceutical) grade, just fertilizer grade.

Most garden shops or landscape stores will also be happy to order potassium sulfate for you. Or you can get it online (some report the online prices are slightly better than local ones!)

Great! The area is about 7500 sqft at it utmost size......its likely that all of that is not treatable or necessary to be treated. I've seen PS online and i think i can get it for 60-$70 but i'm not sure if thats reasonable, it looks like it might be lab grade.

Easy enough on the epsom though

Also i've thought about bringing in some soil for the area, it is bumpy and lumpy and it could use a leveling off. Would that provide any benefit other than aesthetics?

Aesthetics only, really, although it'll probably raise the EC a little bit over time as that soil works in. You really do have almost pure sand there.

do you think it is too sandy to do anything with? I do plan to mulch around the trees as you mentioned earlier.

I'm looking for a use for the land other than a place to teach my son how to pitch!

There's no such thing as "too sandy," so either lawn or fruit trees wouldn't be too much of a problem. Watering requirements will be higher, the soil will drift faster in terms of pH and resources, but all those can be managed.

Mulching will also raise the EC over time by adding even more organic material.

Any particular mulch better than another?

potassium sulfate isn't cheap!

I have a weakness for shredded hardwood mulches, but I suppose it really doesn't matter. I don't recommend chips or nuggets, though, as they tend to encourage slugs and snails.

Potassium sulfate varies all over the place. :-) Right now, potassium chloride is even more expensive (as well as harsher and less useful).

Thanks Becky, kelp4less definitely had better prices! I'm going to get it ordered so I can follow the plan laid out by Morpheus.

Here is my work yesterday in case you like pictures!

We did 10 trees in total

That looks great! Ten mostly apple or a good mix of peach and apple?

The surrounding lawns definitely show the sandier soil and lower level of soil resources. I'd tell them to get a soil test, but then yours won't look the nicest by miles. :-)

Well these ten are not the fruit, just MORE landscaping I gotta do! Privacy and aesthetics here. Down about 7-10" you can really see the sand and as you said, you can see it in the other lawns. She has grubs too so I'll be treating in the spring to keep them off my lawn. I have other neighbors who soil tested so I'll be throwing them up here soon :). I'll post an after picture once these ten are cleaned up and mulched. A boat load of work to set these up though and I thought I was done after they were in the hole!

Staking new trees can be helpful if the area is prone to winter winds. They really only need it through one or two growth seasons, so at worst you'd be able to remove the staking and ropes by the end of summer. Definitely don't let it go more than a year or the tree doesn't send good structural roots.

Yeah, with a known grub problem, I'd definitely treat yours. Possibly consider some Bag A Bug traps on your property--it reduces her population of them and moves them over to your place where they can't successfully breed.

I do that as a public service. Neighborhood populations of Japanese beetles are way, way down.

And yes, trees take forever to get in, get straightened, and fill back in properly! I did seventeen Thuja and it took ages--and those, at the time, were 2' tall.

Hey morph, I'm supposed to get some pretty good rainfall 11/11-11/15, can I move up the 11/15 treatment before the rain so that I can get the following treatment down after that rain?

Sure, I don't see any problems with that.