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piedmontpride

First time homeowner lawn maintenance

piedmontpride
11 years ago

First post here, thanks in advance for the advice.

I bought a home in southern VA in May 2012. The house had been semi-vacant for 2 years (retired owners). The previous owner was not big into lawn care and it shows. Lots of weeds, dead, rocky patches, etc. He had used a KBG/TTTF sun and shade mix from a big box store - Lord knows what cultivars. Half the yard is full sun, half is full shade/few sun spots through the canopy.

I got a soil test done on 6/28/12. Results:

pH - 5.1

P - 20 lb/A

K - 140 lb/A

Ca - 723 lb/A

Mg - 139 lb/A

Zn - 2.1 ppm

Mn - 5.4 ppm

Cu .5 ppm

Fe 15.5 ppm

B .3 ppm

Base sat - 47.8%

Ca, mg, K sat - 33.8%, 10.7%, 3.4%

In late May I applied Scotts Turfbuilder (28.1.4) with weed control. Other than that I have made no amendments. The soil test recommended 160 lb of agricultural lime per 1000 sf in several smaller applications. It also recommended a complete "turf type" fertilizer, appx 25.3.7 ratio.

I have been cutting high and not watering as much as I should (have not moved yet, live a few miles away currently). What should be my plan of attack to bring this sun/shade lawn back from the brink?

I don't think I want to full kill and start over as we still have some renovations to do and some trees to drop and I anticipate heavy traffic in the near term. I feel like I want to fix the soil issues and see what happens with overseeding and then kill and start fresh in a year or two if necessary. Thanks in advance for all your help, I have already enjoyed these forums immensely.

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