I hope you didn't put down 50 lbs. of calcitic lime, that's way too much for one application. Seems like most soil testing labs get lime numbers wrong for turf, I think their recommendations are for crops, and no one bothered to change it in the computers they use. Anyway you still need calcitic lime. This looks like a Umass test, so that is what I will be using. Front lawn: Not bad, although it looks like someone has been liming using dolomitic lime. pH is close to optimal, but I would do a high bag rate of calcitic lime (9-10 lbs. per 1000), or Cal Turf Pro (12 lbs per 1000) to raise it up a bit and to add calcium to your soil, which is on the low side. Too much magnesium in relation to calcium can tighten up soil, stunting root growth and water penetration, your ratio is not that great. Other than that, there's not much to do until late summer. Your P is a bit low, but nothing to worry about, and your K could use a little boost, but again, not a big deal. For your fall applications of fertilizer I would use starter this year (Sept., Oct.) which will help with P and K. Your micronutrients look like they need some help, but micros can be tough since too much can be toxic. I don't do micro recommendations because of this, but your boron, zinc and copper all look deficient. Iron you can raise with things like moss out, ironite, and Milorganite with no real worries about over application. Back yard: Much worse back here. Your soil pH is about 1 pH point below where it should be. Calcitic lime at the high bag rate. You are also deficient in magnesium, so you need to add epsom salts. Buy some granular epsom salts at the drug store or supermarket and apply 2 lbs per 1000. Repeat in 90 days. You are a bit more deficient in K and P, so use starter in the fall as well. Your boron, zinc and copper are low too, and adding iron will help with lawn color. On the bright side your organic matter percentages are very nice. You CEC shows a silty loam in the front, and a silty clay loam in back, which are good soils that hold nutrients and water well, so you should have no trouble having a nice lawn.

Great thread. Gargwarb is correct with the PH, he is spot on and an expert. So I have a question for any of you related to this conversation. I have a natural soil ph of about 7.8. I have some friends a few miles away whose soil tests at 8.2. This is the typical soil ph range for Utah soils. From what I have read, soil ph can be difficult and expensive to change, especially if you have calcarous soils (limestone) or have a water source that flows through calcarous soils. So at higher ph, iron, boron, manganese etc. might be less available in my soils even though they may be plentiful in content. Here is a quote from a Utah State University Extension published document that suggests that instead of spending a lot of money in trying to reduce soil ph, it may be better instead to add the less available micronutrients. Here is the quote: "Table 1 provides guidelines for interpreting soil pH. Due to the buffering power of lime, changing soil pH can be extremely costly and difficult. Before investing in amendments to lower soil pH consider whether pH is a problem (Table 1 and the cost of materials to alter pH. Periodically adding small amounts of micronutrients such as zinc or iron to control nutrient deficiencies may be more cost effective than attempting to lower pH." The publication also suggests that most crop plants will still grow well in a ph range of 7.8 - 8.2. So the question is, what are your thoughts on adding micro nutrients instead of trying to lower ph? The link to the publication is posted below. Here is a link that might be useful: Managing Soil PH in Utah

Arid soils are typically high in sodium, and the alkalinity is separately derived from the carbonate that is usually associated with calcium, but can also be associated with any other metal cation (eg., magnesium, or sodium). Was the soil tested for sodium level and calcium, along with the pH ? You can have "high calcium", but high is relative to the soils ability to bind and hold positively charged metal ions (that's CEC). As I noted in my previous post if you don't have free lime in the soil then reducing sodium levels is usually accomplished by adding more calcium. If the soil is alkaline, which arid soils that are sodic typically are, then you don't want to add more carbonate which would further raise pH, hence the use of gypsum which adds the calcium as a soluble and pH neutral sulfate instead of lime (calcium carbonate). If you have enough free lime, then adding sulfur along with using very clean water (low in both sodium and carbonate and pH neutral to slightly acidic) can do the job. The recommendation to add both sulfur and gypsum suggests your soil is high enough in sodium that it is a concern for plant growth and health, and that the available calcium is not sufficient to mobilize the sodium. It further suggests that you don't have any appreciable free lime in the soil (mine has chunks of it - enough that adding sulfur at any reasonable rate won't much touch the pH). The other culprit that plays a role in the whole thing is water quality. If your water is high in sodium then it becomes difficult to mobilize and remove sodium with that water source. If your irrigation water is very hard and alkaline with high calcium and carbonate levels (as is mine), then using sulfur to lower pH and effect free lime conversion doesn't really work (in my case I add ~0.5 lbs of lime per 1000 sq feet for every inch rain equivalent of irrigation). So what was tested other than pH, and who did the analysis? Did they report analytical levels, (eg., ppm or lbs per acre)?

I have been reading http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/pubs/ay-18.pdf and notice that adding sulfur to lower PH is limited. The article also states that perhaps I don't really need to do anything since my PH is not above 7.5. The Phosphorus deficiencies may have stem from the higher PH. I could probably add phosphate rock to increase phosphorus, but my wife pointed out that would probably increase calcium and probably the PH as well. Adding compost would work. I have been using the yard waste compost from a garden supply store. One concern I have is that perhaps the compost is also high in PH and I am making the problem worse by top dressing my lawn. I suppose I should ask the store for data about the compost or send the compost to the lab for testing. Paul