Hi Psk8er: I don't know if you have heavy clay like mine, or more loamy. With heavy clay like mine, granules fertilizer doesn't work, since only nitrogen moves with water (10 mobility), and potassium a 3 mobility (not much), phosphorus is a 1, immobile. University of Colorado stated that above pH 7, bone meal and rock phosphate is useless. The pH has to be brought down for granular phosphorus to be released. Which means a HUGE amount of sulfur has to be used. Many U. of Extensions stated that it's easier to lime soil, than to sulfur soil. I have VERY GOOD result with my fruit trees, cherry and peach - when I used acid fertilizer Lilly Miller NPK 10-5-4 ... tons of fruits ever since. Fruits trees have higher need of nitrogen, plus they have tough surface roots. Putting acid fertilizer NPK 10-5-4 burnt my azaleas and rhododendrons since they are fragile surface roots, and sensitive to salt in fertilizer, esp. from high nitrogen salt. Putting acid fertilizer NPK 10-5-4 on roses doesn't work, since I bury roses' roots 4 to 6" below ground for zone 5a. Nitrogen moves with water, so it can reach the root and make my roses giant. Phosphorus and potassium can't move that deep through heavy clay, and they BIND UP with the high magnesium and calcium in my limestone clay, resulting in a calcium deficiency besides phosphorus and potassium. For alkaline clay, a high phosphorus is recommended. For sandy soil, a high nitrogen is used due to leaching. 15 minutes from me is Cantigny rose Park of 1,200 roses using high phosphorus with lots of blooms. The other approach is Soluble Phosphorus fertilizer, used by Australian Agriculture ... after years of using solid phosphorus with no net gain. Chicago Botanical Garden, with a pH of 7.4 loamy soil, uses a SOLUBLE fertilizer NPK 20-20-20 with trace elements on their 5,000 rose bushes. They recommend that 3 times a year for cold zone. Phosphorus and potassium can move down loamy soil better than clay. Roses have such a high requirement for phosphorus and potassium in heavy clay, that it's more efficient as soluble fertilizer. Solid granules got stuck on top, or can't be dissolved with high pH. I'm going to order SOLUBLE bloom-pack from Kelp4Less, NPK of 2-20-20 with organic trace elements. Using horse manure on top is the same principle of soluble fertilizing when rain water washes down the phosphorus, potassium, and trace elements. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, May 24, 13 at 19:43

Lloyd: No worries, I won't fire ya. :-] pnbrown: No experience with clay and P outside of my two properties in this county but that's 2 for 2 so far. The house/garden is on a former farm field, topsoil stripped, graded several feet into clay and some topsoil replaced. Low P from day 1. The 'lawn' test is a tiny spot virtually right in the woods, cleared in 1989, probably little ever done to it. May be just the type of clay we have here... kimmsr and garg, thanks very much for that detailed analysis, I'll be digesting it. I like the blood meal idea, did not realize it had no P and K at all. Perfect. Garden pH was 7.5 years ago so I'm thrilled with 6.8. I put the city compost on the lawn area last spring and what lawn there was went nuts. Very inexpensive, screened but not 1/4", but this ain't Better Homes here anyway, it's a redneck cabin in the woods. kimmsr, I've studied the drywall thing and we're just of different minds on that one. Probably wouldn't use it in the garden but this is a good application for it. JMO. Over time I'm concerned about boron buildup from the borax binder though. Probably won't use it forever. This exercise was very enlightening. My garden generally sucks but apparently it's not from lack of nutrients, except maybe N. Beginning to suspect sun/shade, water and nitrogen. I have never used that much fertilizer, so looking at mostly the effects of compost here. Blows me away, although I suppose it shouldn't. ;-]

All of this has been interesting to read and to help me put things in perspective. I also, have had many moments where I have hated my 95 year old Craftsman home. I purchased it about 1-1/2 years ago but was not able to actually move into it for several months, as the person who lived in it prior for 30 years had let it fall into quite a state of neglect. Even when we finally moved in - I had no running water in my kitchen for many weeks. I, having been working in the field of architecture for the same amount of time, saw beyond it's sad state to the good bones it has. Did all the right things; got my inspections, had the advice of good people including my old bosses on board to help with renovations. Even my main contractor was a friend from that job (I'm actually in administration in that field but have learned quite a bit about design and building practices second hand from being around them for so long). However, even with all that knowledge behind me, and even with paying a very good price for the home, I found myself spending more than twice I expected on renovations and I'm still nowhere near done. There were times were I would come home and literally cry myself to sleep in a panic of how I was ever going to pay for everything which needed to be repaired that we didn't anticipate; things that were hidden from the inspection like the near re-enactment of the bathtub scene from "The Money Pit" where it comes crashing through the floor through the ceiling below (mine, had we not had to take down the kitchen ceiling, and discovered the tub was being held in place by "tinker toys" more or less, certainly would have fell through at some point if we had filled it with water). I've spent $22,000 on new electrical and lighting and other miscellaneous repairs after the fact. $10,000 on plumbing. $15,000 for 27 new windows. I don't even know what my kitchen cost me because you have to figure in some of the costs above into it; so what? $40,000? (the kitchen was a disaster area and it had to be completely gutted). I had a jungle of weeds and ivy, cracked concrete and crap as a garden and the City was mandating I remove it (I have a TCO on the house and much of what I am doing I literally have to do to clear the TCO), landscaping cost me over $12,000 (I did put in a new paver patio, glad I did). My chimney/fireplace needs repairs - it's unsafe, that's costing $6000. I need regrading of my side yard and drainage underground - $5200. About to paint the house, another $5200 (house is stucco). New gutters $2200, Added central a/c $8000 (did get a rebate back on that). Oh and contractor payments $20,000. There's more, another $40,000 that have added up of miscellaneous stuff; emergency repairs, things necessary for the home, etc. I still don't have furniture for my guest bedroom. The interior needs painting badly. My main bathroom is falling apart - every day another tile comes off the wall. The attic needs better insulation. I have no backsplash in the kitchen yet. I have unfinished carpentry items around the house. My floors need refinishing. I 5 doors which need replacement. Water issues in the basement (contractor is pretty sure the new gutters will take care of it for the most part). I need window treatments everywhere (currently have very cheap stuff up but at least it's something). There's other furniture I need here and there. My closets could use systems in them - they were built with minimal shelving. On and on and on. And yet when people see and walk into my home, they are mesmerized. The LOVE it. Compliment me on how far it's come since I purchased it. Love it's uniqueness (well I do too - it seems to be a cross between a Craftsman and Victorian and it's made from terra cotta brick which is unusual in my area). But when I look at it, I'm depressed. It still looks dismal. All I see are all the repairs still to be done and the fact that my money isn't holding up (although since my mortgage wasn't huge to begin with, I just did a re-finance already, and took hopefully enough out to do nearly everything left to finish up - other than the bathroom, which I'll have about half of what I need). I just feel like at 52 years old, I'll be dead before I see this house done. And it isn't like I have kids to leave it to either. It truly does feel like a money pit to me. My partner and I have like no money to enjoy ourselves (he had been out of work for over 2 years, and JUST finally went back to work). I'm the one who owns the house, so every penny goes back into the house now. The only good thing, is that I have a very stable job and I feel that I can keep looking forward to increased salary over time, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the repairs. But oh my, like everyone else, it feels so daunting and overwhelming most of the time. I thought about bailing out several times and taking the (huge) loss - I still do - but I love the house too much to throw in the towel yet. Probably not ever. It's a curse, and a blessing. We're happy here, very happy.

Ok: I am going to just say this: and ask: which Country are we talking about? Brazil? Most people know nothing about granite: as once 18 months ago: I knew ZERO. I have educated myself and am a sales assistant for granite countertops for 17mnths. What are the testings on stone from Norway, Finland, Ukraine, India, Persia, Italy, and Africa or China? (marble and/or granite) Although not all granite we call granite is a true granite: it's based on what the material is made up of. (getting technical here) I swear: this has turned into a BIG consumer scare! "A child died from eatting paint chippings on her porch from old wood paint with high levels of radon: they though she was being poisoned on purpose/murdered. No just eatting paint chips! high high high levels." sad story, saw on trutv. but do you get what I mean? I know that people won't buy granite in part now due to the news! I always air out my apartment Daily! Cold or Hot out. I have Juparana Bordeaux big coffee table: Love it! McDonalds cheese burgars fries milk shake that has no milk!, smoking, drinking alcohol, eatting fast food: I should say every day, eatting processed foods, polution from the cars we drive daily, airplane polution: it's all bad for us! Plastic is bad! Bad for environment. We have a ton of toxins in our daily life. I am not saying "so what". I just believe the reports have hurt the granite business a little. Look at all the chemicals in processed foods! Do we even konw what they mean. I read labels now at the store: and I try to buy organic and shop at Sprouts grocery store: organic. But seriously: I use to live on Mcdonalds for years and 5 cans of DP soda daily! Then one day I said no more. If there is super high levels that will kill someone. Then yes, they should do something about those slabs at the factory. Or stop producing them if it will flat out kill someone! Don't eat the granite! We want beautiful granite in our daily life & homes, but we are cutting up mountains that were formed thousands of years ago. don't get me started. Radon levels could or could not shop up in the same lot: or from slab to slab. Seems like certain mountain will have more: due to the fact of the material the granite is made up of. (was posted on here) It's all a chemical reaction. I learned a month ago: how garnets are formed. It's all very interesting. Two of my customers are geolists and they taught me a few things about rock. Very interesting! I can look at granite and guess what country the slab come from! It's easy: Plus, climate is different from all over the world. The Niagara and Juparana has beautiful crystals: and the climate is much warmer in Brazil vs. Norway!