Put lime down in the fall. Vegies grow in a ph 5.5 so don't over do the lime. You do not need any potassium so you should have good root systems. Build a compost pile so you can spread it on the lawn in the fall after aerating.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Hi Paul!
My 2c - I'm in NW NJ & got very decent #s on my soil test last year - but came to realize that my soil issue was lack of any drainage, due to compacted, rock & root filled soil. So, those rocks & roots had to come out. I considered this year doing lasagne on one bed I haven't gotten to yet, but when I remembered that it was the drainage issue, not the soil quality (PK, pH, OM), I realized that I had to remove the drainage probs (rocks embedded in roots) before I could allow the remaining good soil, and any supplemental lasagne-created soil, to really work & do its thing. Also, with rocks in compacted soil, it was very difficult to find a space w/o rocks/roots that was big enough to plant a perenial.
All the Best, Tree

What was the recommendation for adding lime, pounds per acre? The soil pH is low and the optimal range for a vegetable garden would be in the 6.2 to 6.8 range. That soil, like many others, is very low in organic matter, that should be in the 5 to 8 percent range, so adding leaf mold will help and the lack of organic matter is one reason that soil drains poorly. Since lime takes quite some time to work in soil is the reason for putting it down in the fall, just understand that applying lime in the spring (that can be done) will not result in much of a change in soil pH this growing season.
Your best option would be a Lasagna bed this year, and maybe next.

Bullthistle and Kimmsr pretty well covered that one. I would just like to throw out a quick observation though. With the CEC you have, combined with your site observations and the fact that sodium is so low it doesn't even rank on the exchangeable cations, I would guess that your soil classification is more likely 'silt'. (and just for kicks, I calculated estimated clay percentage using CEC and organic percent which put your clay at less than 2% in both samples, but that's nothing to hang your hat on). Silt can be an even tougher drainage situation than clay because silt particles do not have the exchange sites necessary for the soil to form good structure. My main point is, don't let anyone tell you that adding gypsum will improve your drainage. It won't do a dang thing. The organic matter is going to be your best friend.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

treeinnj: I've got plenty of roots to remove (from both the pine tree that used to be there and an invasive silver maple that we had removed a bit further away) and not a ton of time to spare to do it (my daughter turns 1 tomorrow) so I've sort of wondered if doing a lasagna approach to would be helpful until I can gradually remove the roots with my spare bits of time here and there. It may help to soften up the ground to make them easier to pull them out. I don't think I've got too many problems with rocks.

kimmsr: I don't have the report with me, but I think that for the lawn sample, it was 40 lbs/1000 sq feet and for the garden it was 7 lbs/100 sq feet. I'm generally viewing this season as a wash for growing stuff, so I'm focused on getting the soil improved for the fall (I love planting greens and such) and, mostly, next year (and afterward). So if the lime takes a while, that's fine with me.

squonnk: Interesting observation about the silt -- that thought has crossed my mind before. I wouldn't be surprised if the "topsoil" that I've got has a high silt content. I'll do the jar test, but I've had problems interpreting that in the past. Just curious, though -- how did you estimate the clay content from the CEC? Is there a particular formula? At any rate, I guess I need to look more into silty soils.....

Thanks for the tips. Any other comments are welcome!

-Paul

Paul,
You've probably had problems interpreting the jar test in the past because it's a test that doesn't work.

As far as estimating clay percent goes, I use this formula (which kind of breaks down in saline and/or alkaline soils, but you don't have either of those things going on):

Organic matter (2)+(%clay(.05)) = CEC

Organic matter and CEC are your known variables so just solve for 'X' and that's your clay% (very roughly). In both cases, the answer was less than 2. It's just a good guestimate and doesn't give you a perfect answer but I feel safe saying that the clay% is pretty darn low.
Oh and just to be clear, when you use that equation, the organic needs to be organic percentage by dry weight, not volume.

Oops again: (%clay(0.5))
Seriously...... I have to start proof reading one of these days.

Thanks for the formula. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but using the garden numbers: 2.9*2 + 0.05*clay = 6.6, I'd get a clay % of 16%. With the lawn numbers, I'd get a negative percent of clay, which makes no sense.

I did some web searching and found the web soil survey: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

Putting in my area, I come up with a mix of two soil types. One is considered a loam, the other a silt loam. According to the website, I'd have 48% sand, 35% silt, and 17% clay. But, I know that the soil survey for my area was done in the 50s, before my house was built (early 60s) so it may not be totally accurate.

With the poor drainage, cracking when dry, etc., its hard to believe it would have a low clay content - but then again I don't have much experience with silty soils.

Thanks,
Paul

Ah -- 0.5 -- that's the difference between your calculation and mine.

Thanks

Yeah, sorry about that. I have a bad habit of hitting 'submit' without proof reading. Anyway, you'll still get a small negative number for the second sample. It's not a particularly accurate estimate. It's just designed to give you a pretty good idea. I was using it as another support for my low clay estimate.
When I'm guessing, I feel better when I have at least two or three things that reasonably point to the same guess.

VA_paul,

Are you in the coastal plain? Chances are your clay is a 1:1 Kaolinitic type that does not have the high CEC characteristics of the more familiar 2:1 clays. It is conceivable that your soil could be 16% clay and still have a low CEC.

A note on soil survey maps: the soil type they list for a given mapping unit might only be half of what is in the unit. They are not meant to be used at the level of accuracy that you are looking at. The surveyÂs from the 1950Âs are pretty darn good when looking at farm fields, woodlots etc. but homes occupy such a small area and tend to be on disturbed sites making the survey unreliable.

Those are a couple of very good points.

I am a big believer in humic and fulvic adic addition to clay soils. I started using the stuff about 5 years ago without really knowing how it works. Once I learned more about the stuff, I realized how smart an idea it was.

Since you are planning for next year, you really should look into planting some cover crops to help inject organic material deep into the soil. If the idea has appeal, let me know and I'll read some stuff to you that Johnny's published.

You might consider tilling a lot of organic materials into the beds to get them started. I think that once you get a layer of topsoil built into the beds, the soil beneath will improve, but you'll want to keep things growing in those beds to keep the soil in good condition.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

fertilizersalesman: from the map here:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/environmental/soilrating.htm

I'm in the middle of the "Piedmont Upland" area. I'm probably less than 10 miles to the border with the Coastal Plain area. I'll have to make a closer inspection of my soil this weekend. I think the top layer (less than 3 or 4 inches) likely is silt, but I'm certain that there's a reasonable amount of clay under the top layer. Perhaps the 1:1 clay is an explanation which fits with both my observations and the results of the soil test.

idaho_gardener: when you say adding humic and fulvic acid, do you mean that these can be separate things to add? I was under the impression that those are components of humus, so that by adding lots of organic material (which eventually breaks down into humus) you increase the amount of those things in the soil, albeit indirectly. Maybe you're suggesting a different approach? As for cover crops, that's definitely something I'd consider. I don't have much experience with that, but from what I read, buckwheat might makes sense to plant this summer. If you've got more information, that'd be great.

I'll definitely be adding lots of organic matter. Right now, I've got more leaf mulch than I can probably reasonably use at one time -- it'd probably be over a foot deep if spread out across the garden-- plus lots of (and probably an increasing amount) of grass clippings.

At any rate, its been very helpful to hear everyone's input!

Thanks,
Paul

Paul,

What soil series are in your mapping unit?

Paul: Organic matter and c.e.c. are both low -- cause and effect. Over time, use all three ways to increase soil organic matter: mulch of chopped leaves, compost, and green manure crops. But beware of indigestion, so take it easy; humic acid is an excellent aid to digestion. Boron is low by my druthers; I would aim at 1ppm, but be darned sure not to over-apply, because excess boron is a killer. The reason I single out this lowly trace mineral is that good photosynthesis (surely the basis of good growth) needs the right balance of calcium, phosphate, potash, and boron. As you increase yourc.e.c. over time you willneed (and be able to add) more calcium and potash. Regards, Peter.