Head on over to your local Clemson Extension office and have a talk with your agent. Don't worry about your analysis being old -- especially if you haven't done anything to your soil. Other Key questions: What type of grasses are you trying to grow -- Centipede takes a totally different care regime than Fescue or Bahia... What is your soil PH What soil type do you have? Now.... Looking at my recent analysis -- those are all Lbs/Acre -- not PPM measurements... P looks really low K looks medium low Ca should be plenty Mg is probably OK My guess is that you are going to be using some sort of balanced "premium" slow release fertilizer with minor elements -- like a 10-10-10 slow release or a 17-17-17 slow release... But It is going to be totally dependent on the type of grass and your soil type. Thanks

While bermuda can be beautiful, it is a hassle to keep it looking nice. It is one of the few grasses that should be mowed at the mower's lowest setting. Partially due to that, it should be mowed twice a week during the summer to keep from scalping it every week. Bermuda also needs as much water as all the other lawns if you want it to be green. The idea that it needs less water depends on your tolerance for brown grass. When bermuda gets very dry it becomes dormant and turns brown. When St Augustine dries out completely, it dies. Thus you have to water St Aug to keep it alive but you could stop watering bermuda altogether and it would remain alive but brown. Bermuda also needs monthly doses of high nitrogen fertilizer to stay green. This is to say that you can have a bermuda lawn but if you are not willing to maintain it, it is going to look raggedy. It can also thin out and become a haven for weeds. Back in the 50s, before the modern herbicides became inexpensive, when you bought grass seed you got a mixture of a fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, rye, and even clover. The idea was that one of the grasses would dominate in almost any soil and you could have a green lawn with multiple species of plants. That approach is one you might consider. You are in the transition zone meaning that you would be able to grow almost any grass.

Where in the world are you? Do you live where there are watering restrictions? Now is the time to take a good look at the soil and make any corrections that will help make that soil into a good healthy place to grow plants. A good reliable soil test will be a start so you know what the soil pH and major nutrient levels are and these simple soil tests may be of some use as well. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. kimmq is klimmsr

For all y'all with a fear of chemicals, I would encourage you to use ordinary corn meal or cracked corn to fight off existing fungal diseases and to prevent new outbreaks. Corn meal is a biological approach that will cause no problems for you or your soil. If it does not work for you, please report that back here. In the past, and apparently before j4c11 got here, there were reports of corn meal being the thing that cleared up their disease. And yes, there were some who used it and it did not work. Unfortunately there were a lot of people who never used it but were very vocal/wordy about corn meal being a hoax. Since it had worked for me every year for several years, they were essentially calling me out. Also unfortunately I was not taking good notes to see if there were patterns to the good and bad reports. So I will tell you that it works for most diseases in St Augustine in the south. It has worked in Texas and in Florida - that much I remember. Whether it works in the transition zone or north or on fescue or KBG, I'm less certain. The application rate is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. After 3 weeks you should see new grass coming in and not getting the lesions. I know 3 weeks is a lifetime in fungus years, so do what you have to do. If it doesn't seem to be working, you can apply again. Maybe you could use a fungicide in part of the yard and corn meal in part of the yard. If you treat with corn meal, treat the entire yard. If you don't you may miss parts where the disease has not manifested itself yet, but for sure you will get dark green spots where the corn meal has had a fertilizer effect. You cannot expect corn meal to work against the disease once you have used a chemical fungicide. The chemical fungicide kills off an important part of the biology that makes corn meal work. One of the problems using fungicides in the south is the temperatures get above 80 degrees in April and don't come back down until November. The fungicides that work have restrictions on temperatures that keep us from using them the entire time when disease is active.