Lawn reno. Could use some feedback.

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

My backyard (4000sf) has been dead the last two years, but have kept if weed free the hard way. My goal over the next couple of years is to create a non-chem lawn that is less susceptible to heat and drought than the chem-n-water hungry lawns I have had in the past.

I have spent some time reading through the forums and have put together a possible path forward. Would welcome your expert opinions.

SOIL TEST (UMass): pH 5.3; Phosphorus 4.2; Potassium 52; Calcium 425; Magnesium 33; Sulfur 10.2; Aluminium 103; Lead 4.3; CEC 10.0; Exch Acidity 7.5; Cacium Base Saturation 21; Magnesium Base Saturation 3; Pottasium Base Saturation 1; Soil Organic Matter 4.3%

I am encouraged by the OM % but everything else is low. :(

As for next steps:

1) Raise pH. I cannot find CAL-TURF-PRO in my local stores so I am going with Jolly Gardner Fast Acting Lime which is also from Old Castle and claim to have the same performance enhancers but they are pellets.

2) Spread SBM + Alfalfa meal. Local Agway had a product called SafeNSimple Field and Pasture Food, a 5-1-5 for $40 (https://blueseal.com/product/?id=177), Unfortunately, that was my only choice in the area for SBM.

3) Lightly work it into the top 2" of soil. I read that trying to till 4" deep could bring up weed seeds and also cause damage to existing OM. I am trying to not mess much with my existing OM.

Granted a higher pH could mean better breakdown of SBM, but since I do not have the CAL-TURF-PRO, chances are the move to pH is a long term affair.

Q1) Yet, should I space them out or is it ok to throw both in and mix? Also, I am planning to spread SBM+Alfalfa at 10 lbs/1000sf. Considering how low is my NPK, should I go at 20lb rate?

Q2) Since bone meal is expensive I am thinking of adding Rock Phosphate or Triple Super Phosphate at the same time too as these 2" form the seed/root layer for the grass.

4) After 2-3 weeks or so, spread seed and thin 1" layer of compost. For seeds, I am looking at Jonathan Green Black Beauty (because it is 80% tall fescue) for sunny areas (12 hrs sun in summer) and Cavacchi Shade Supreme (80% Chewing fescue) for extreme shade (only 2 hrs sun per day).

Q3) is the 1" compost layer too much to be on top of seeds? 1/2" instead? Or, should I just mix the compost with step 3 and just put down seed and roll?

I also need to add magnesium too but looking to add that and humates and other stuff (CGM) in the spring.

Thanks!

(Massachusetts)

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Comments (3)

kimmq
7 years ago
That Jolly Gardner Fast Acting Lime sounds to me more like hydrated lime which is not an acceptable product for an organic lawn. Just plain ground limestone will do the same thing and maybe at less expense. Dolomitic limestone will have magnesium as well as calcium and would be a much better choice since you need both.

Working any organic material into the soil, whether 2 inches deep or more, can bring up "weed" seeds and while that may incorporate the OM into the soil somewhat faster may not be necessary of there is an active Soil Food Web. What kind of life is in the soil now?

Triple Super Phosphate is not an acceptable organic product. The numbers above, with the exception of soil pH, mean little without knowing if they are expressed as pounds per acre or parts per million, or something else.

Do not seed and then spread compost, instead spread the compost and then seed.

The best time to add soil amendments is in the fall so the Soil Food Web has time to work them and make the nutrients they contain available to the plants that will be growing there. Spring is not a good time since any nutrients put down then may not be available until late summer.

Spending you money on something called humates is probably a major waste since adding adequate amounts of organic material to the soil will put the humates there. Some studies, a number of years ago, found that some products being sold as humates were in reality coal dust.

Simply putting enough organic material on that soil may well provide all the nutrients necessary. Many of us found years ago that often spending our money on rock dusts was largely unnecessary and a waste of our money.

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usav gan
Original Author
7 years ago
Got it. Skip the triple phosphate and Humates. Was planning to add the dolomitic late fall but heard it works much slower than the calcitic. Will bring that up.

As for your question "what kind of life is in the soil now", I have 4.3%. are you looking for something specific than that?
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kimmq
7 years ago
Soil life, those wee critters that live in the soil and convert organic material into something plants can use. The earthworms, pill bugs, sow bugs, ants, centipedes, millipedes, and even smaller critters that you cannot see without a microscope.

That 4.3 percent is a measure of how much organic matter is in the soil and that provides a base that the soil life can live on. Organic matter in the range of 6 to 8 percent is better than 4.3 percent.

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