I didn't see your 10:21 post. Sand, silt and clay can be divided according to size from larger (sand) to smaller (clay) (albeit ignoring other important characteristics like element/chemical content and physical structure-clay being platelets) . It appears to me that your jars are showing a distinct horizon between particle sizes and the "2" mark. I may be wrong. The differences are important as to the different characteristics. For instance, among other traits, sand imparts no structure, has poor water retention, high leaching, low TEC (nutrient holding capacity); while clay has high (but slow to absorb) water retention ability, large capacity for holding nutrients, and its structure holds together so well that it is susceptable to compaction.. Your soils TEC is likely to fall in the 7-10 range. Guessing is fun, but not very useful. I hate to keep advising people to spend money, and I have no connection to any lab, but it is always advantageous to get a soil test (loganlabs.com) so you have as much reliable information about your soil as possible to help in making decissions rather than guesses. There is a guy who visits now and again who is very knowledgeable on all things soil. If you do get a report from logan and post it, he might give you some pointers--or not. Worth a try. This post was edited by grass1950 on Mon, Aug 12, 13 at 16:50

Spotty higher pH can happen if you got the soil off of one particular section of the pile...that happened to contain the old B horizon with some limestone in it! In my case, I got the old subsoil on my lot, so it just kind of stank all around. * You said you targeted our phosphorus level higher than your own lawn. Is this due to the pH difference or something else? Is phosphorus bound in the soil at higher pH's, and is our pH (7.1 - 7.3) high enough to cause that? pH. If you look at the availability of P by pH, it drops as pH rises above seven. You're not that far over, the binding isn't extreme, so I just boosted the numbers a little bit. Your standard is around 220, most people with slightly acidic pH would be around 200. In your case, I wouldn't blink at anything between 200 and 300. I never use my own soil as a standard, per se, for anybody else's. Mine have given in to some experimental stuff, plus I've over-enhanced the gardens to match the (extreme) density and (extraordinarily high) performance I demand they support. My current P levels in the garden push 1,000. * What kind of quality issues can we expect from the low phosphorus level until it's corrected? Thin, weak, sparse growth that gets sick and dies easily, discolors easily, grows poorly, and generally doesn't look at all good. Installed sod would tend to thin out and die back over the course of a year or so if it isn't corrected, resulting in a lot of thin patches and blank areas. N, P, and K are the big three and absolutely have to be there in the correct proportions (N we take care of on an as-needed basis). * It sounds like the Milorganite is great stuff, but I'm very sensitive to odors, so I don't think it's a good fit for our lawn. If we used ferrous sulfate instead (being careful to sweep it off the concrete), what rate and frequency would you recommend? I assume we don't need to worry about lowering the soil pH too much with the ferrous sulfate since the starting pH is above 7.0. I'd be comfortable with ferrous sulfate (monohydrate or pentahydrate, it doesn't matter) at 3 pounds per thousand square feet in April, early October, and perhaps early November if the weather's holding. Keep an eye on the pH in this case, though, as iron sulfate is about an eighth as acidifying as pure elemental sulfur and does NOT require digging in to work! Never use iron during hotter months or when the soil's going to freeze solid for winter within two or three weeks of use.

then yesterday at 11 days i took a few after pictures ,the seed actually came in in 5 days surprisingly that was fast usually fescue does not come in into like 14 days but im sure it will take a bit longer for the kbg to come in and fill in the other areas again these pictures i took yesterday https://www.houzz.com/photos/teknooldskools-ideas-phvw-vp~65511489 https://www.houzz.com/photos/teknooldskools-ideas-phvw-vp~65511494 i bought the seed from seedland.com just do a google search for Tall - Defiance XRE BLUE and it will come up first in google.

Even bermuda might be more effort than you want to put into this lawn. Here are some things to consider. Check with your county ag extension agent (ask at the county court house) to see what kinds of prairie grasses do well in your area. There are many varieties of wheatgrass and a few will do will in your area. Ask specifically about those but also blue grama. If you really don't care what's growing, you could add some strawberry or Dutch white clover to the mix. Those grasses are not considered to be turf grasses, because they send up very tall seed stalks, but if you mow it once every few weeks, you likely won't see them. Generally these will go from rainstorm to rainstorm without water - except in extreme drought. These are bunch grasses which means they only become dense with more and more plants. Keep that in mind when seeding. They don't spread like bermuda, St Augustine, centipede, zoysia, or Kentucky bluegrass. But before you do that, since you have a clean slate, now is the time to make sure your grading is perfect. You said the back yard sloped, but did not mention whether it sloped toward the house or away. The soil MUST slope away for at least 10 feet away from all buildings. At 10 feet the soil should be 6 inches lower than the grade at the house. The grade at the house should be 4 inches below the sill plate on the house. That makes a total of a 10-inch fall from the sill plate at 10 feet away. This should keep rainfall out of your basement. A landscaper would be able to do that for you. Whether you need to move your topsoil around is a landscaper decision, and it would be based on the basic drainage grading. The tool for finish grading is called a box blade and it goes on the back of a tractor, not a skidsteer or a Bobcat. An experienced finish landscape grader should be able to do the area around your house in a morning. Do not rototill anything into anything. Work from the surface. Rototilling is a mistake in every case for a lawn. It creates an uneven (bumpy) surface almost immediately that gets worse for the next few years. Your grading might be perfect already. In that case you need to sprout all the weeds you can before seeding. Otherwise the weed seeds will germinate along with the grass. You may as well start out with something nice. Start by watering lightly, 3x per day, every day for a week. At the end of the week spray everything with RoundUp. Continue watering for another week to get the slow sprouting weeds. Then spray again. Now it's time to seed. Scatter the seed and roll it down with a water fillable roller. Continue watering 3x per day until you get 80% germination of the grasses you planted. Then start to back off on watering. As for your clay soil. Most people that think they have clay soil actually have soil with an imbalance of salts like calcium, potassium, magnesium, and sodium. Those can be fixed, but you have to know exactly what is wrong first. For that you need a really good soil test. The really good soil test lab is Logan Labs in Ohio. Your county agent might offer to have the soil tested, but if you want a much better test, spend $25 with Logan Labs and post the results on this forum. Check out some of the topics about soil tests to see what I'm talking about. You can do a general test of your soil yourself to identify the components of sand, loam, and clay. Get a jar with straight sides. Fill it half way with dry soil and take a picture of it next to a ruler. Fill the jar all the way with water and a few drops of liquid soap. Shake it up and set it down. After 2 minutes take another picture with the ruler. This picture will show you how much sand you have. After 2 hours take another picture. This one will show you how much loam you have. After 2 days take another picture. If you cannot see through the water then you do have some clay. Clay particles will remain suspended for many days. If you can see through the water you likely don't have any clay.