You can do either. If you have a good amount of rain coming this week, I would lime first. Most soil lab fertilizer recommendations aren't very good. They are very general, the computer just spits them out. When you fertilize use enough to apply 1 lb of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. For most of your apps half quick release, half slow release is recommended (you can use Milorganite as a slow release if you want). If you are overseeding I would apply half an app of starter at seeding, the other half after you mow the new grass 2 or 3 times. So let's say you overseed on Sept. 1. Apply half an app of starter at seeding time and the other half will be in about a month or so. Then in late October a full app, you can use the starter if you want or regular 50:50 fertilizer. Then in late November/early December when topgrowth has stopped, but the ground isn't frozen a full app of all quick release nitrogen (urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate). Make sure to always water in synthetic fertilizers to avoid burn.

1) Is there any tangible benefit in lowering my pH from 7.2 to the recommended 6.5? I wouldn't bother trying unless you have plants that show signs of iron chlorosis (yellow leaves with green veins). In that case, I'd treat the individual plants using sulfur buried in the soil. 2) Do I need to do anything about my lime %? From what I've read, lime is added to raise the pH, which is going in the wrong direction for my soil. I find it more than a little odd that you'd have a low level of lime. I wonder if you have calcium in other forms. I would not do anything about that unless it's causing problems. As you noted, adding lime will exacerbate the pH situation. 3) It seems like I could bump up both my N and OM by adding a few bags of steer manure. Does anybody have any numbers on %N by weight, or lbs N per cu ft, for composted steer manure? N will always show up on soil tests as low, unless you've just fertilized. N just doesn't stick around long in the soil. Steer manure, particularly the bagged stuff, is more of an amendment than a fertilizer, so you won't be adding much N with that. One caution on using manure in the intermountain west is that it can have relatively high salt levels and salinity can be a problem here due to the low rainfall (same thing that contributes to the high pH). I'd add shredded leaves from any trees (unless you're mulch mowing them), coffee grounds from Starbucks (or other coffee shops, but Starbucks has a corporate policy of making them available for free to gardeners), shredded tree trimming (some tree services will supply them for free), and anything else you can get for free. Note that if you spread 3 cu yds per 1000 sq ft all at once, you'll smother the lawn. If you use tree leaves and/or shredded trees, either spread them on top, or, if you incorporate them into the soil, add a nitrogen source so they'll decompose readily and not make N unavailable to the plants. If you use coffee grounds, don't spread them in layers more than about 1/2 inch thick, because they can crust over and repel water when they dry. Coffee grounds are a source of nitrogen (about 2.5% nitrogen).

he said if you have under 20" of rainfall per year you would use Gypsum , and if you have over 20" of rainfall per year,, you use lime. We have over 40" per yr. i dont remember the exact number. From what I understand the amount of rainfall would effect your ph, however, he stated not to worry what the ph was just go by the amount of rainfall. Jeez . Talk about taking a basic law of hydrology and soil science and then extrapolating to the extreme. Excessive rainfall [30+ inches] does remove basic [alkaline] cations over a long time period. That period of time all depends on the nature of the soil, sandy being the fastest, clay the slowest. However we are talking about over multiple decades, not annually. And even then that approach is assuming that none of those alkaline cations are replaced by natural decomposition of the soil or even by garden watering - which they are - or recognizing that most garden plants grow best in acidic soil with a pH range of 5.5 - 6.0. And to say to ignore the soil pH? The pH is the most vital element of the soil as it is what determines nutrient uptake by the plants - what is available to them or not. So exactly what did you soil test say? Interpreting the WV Soil Test report According to the soil taxonomy report on WV there are 5 different classes of soil in the state all with widely varying native soil pH so depending on where you live, lime may or may not be of benefit to you and if needed then it would have been reported as such in your soil test. I commend your desire to understand all this but you know there are numerous reputable, even university and scientific, sources for all this information available on the web. Some guy on youTube is not one of them. Explore the WVU Extension service website and if you can't find the soil sciences info there then go to the one of the university websites that have a Soil Sciences division like Wisconsin, Florida, Minnesota, etc. Choose your sources of information with care. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: OK State Ext. - Cause and Effect of Soil Acidity

>>-3 weeks ago added 30lbs/1,000 sq ft pennington ast lime. Whoops, I didn't know this was 98% Calcium Carbonate and it's not supposed to be used at this high dose. Lawn isn't really yellowing too bad (yet) Wait. :-) You did not kill the lawn, but we have to account for this. Some minor damage will probably result, and you seriously just bollixed your pH, though. The color should recover considerably by spring. On the up side, Pennington seems to have a larger sieve size, so it's a little slower than doing this would have been with Encap. Your iron levels are very good, but you may want to apply a full dose of Milorganite at any time now to flow in a little more free iron (only some of which will make it to the grass, but we'll take what we can get). Repeat in October. The initially slightly acidic decay sequence of the Milo will also help (it goes neutral eventually). Since you need boron, I'm scheduling a Milorganite drop for September 15th anyway. >>Items on hand: >>1) 20lbs potassium sulfate Good, you're going to need it. >>2) 12.5lb bag of Scotts 32-0-4 good old synthetic Perfect for winterization at the end of the season when the grass starts growing but is still green. >>3) Two 50lb bags soybean meal This can be applied in September or October at 15 pounds per thousand to provide a great feeding for your lawn. It can go at the same time as the Milo if you want, or use the Milo instead and save this for the May 1st organic feeding. Given the whacked nature of the calcium levels at the moment, I'm thinking a little extra nitrogen would come in handy, but it isn't strictly necessary. Overall, the results are very good. You had a shortage of calcium, but we're going to have to wait for the next test next year to see what stuck. A few things would benefit from adjustment to put you in the perfect groove for a lawn, but nothing that remains is severe. Let's step by step this. EC 8.9, 4.9: Well, that's a split personality. In front, it looks like mixed sand and silt, leaning toward silt. In back, sand with a bit of silt, predominately sand. On the up side, I don't think the back will be able to hold the calcium you dumped on it. The front will hold more. pH 5.2, 5.8: Rather low out front, somewhat low in the back. Normally we'd fix this by adjusting the calcium, but... We ride it. OM 8.7%, 9.0%: Excellent! There's no specific need to enhance this, but certainly no need to avoid organic matter. Mulch mowing and mowing your fall leaves is always a good idea. Feed organically if you like. Sulfur 42, 30: Normal range. While the margin is a touch smaller than normal, it's not a problem. Phosphorus 463, 415: Well over the top, but certainly not a problem. Still, I'd avoid phosphorus sources as you have tons of margin. Target in this case would be around 200--probably more like 250 with the current calcium glut, but that will drop back down over time and the calcium won't kick out the phosphorus. Calcium 41, 59: Normally, I'd recommend about 12 pounds per thousand square feet total calcitic lime in the back, 20-ish out front (I'm not bothering to do the math here, just winging it). Your 30 pound app took care of this and then some, but fortunately in amounts that large you're going to lose a lot of it to leaching. Magnesium 10.3%, 10.3%: (tapping teeth) I would have adjusted this fully before, but now I don't think I can do that so easily. Let's adjust this a bit in a pH-neutral manner to avoid sending the pH any higher. We use Epsom salt for that, available most cheaply at your local drug store in the bath or First Aid section. Recommendations below, and I delayed this a bit to give the calcium time to dissipate some. Magnesium is the central molecule in chlorophyll, and one of the reasons the grass paled out when you added the calcium--both are positively charged, and compete at the root zone to enter. Right now, calcium wins. Potassium 1.4%, 2.1%: While the back looks fine, it's because there wasn't (previously) quite so much calcium. This just fell off the cliff in both zones. Your potassium sulfate is great for this, and again, I delayed application to dissipate the calcium a bit. Sodium 1.2%, 1.7%: Completely normal, and there's no need to dispel this. The calcium you added probably kicked some of this, which is fine. Only the tiniest amounts are required. Minor Elements: Everything except boron is perfect. I did mention iron above, although your levels are wonderful. Boron 0.28, 0.26: Essentially a photo finish, and low in both cases. It really does require correction, and fortunately won't fight quite so much with the calcium as everything else does. I can shift this to September, but still want to give the calcium six full weeks to work in before stressing the soil with anything else. We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 10 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. Recommendations: September 15: Apply 4 tablespoons (not a misprint) per thousand square feet in Milorganite carrier. October 1: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet of Epsom salt to the front. Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of Epsom salt to the back. October 15: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate to both the front and back. April 1, 2016: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet to the front only.