Soil test Results - Bermuda

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Thanks to this forum for my lawncare. It is that time of the year and submitted my soil tests just before Thanksgiving and here are the results. Any interpretation of these soil tests will help. Special shout out to Morphuspa for helping me last year ! Thank you!

Front -

This is really the front side of the house - has shade and probably 50% of the time some sunlight.

Back left area which was got bare -

Backyard slope with new sod- Applied fast acting lime last year and it did grow well.

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Comments (10)

morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
3 years ago
And I'm afraid I'm not going to be doing soil test reads (you're the first one I'm going to have to disappoint...here...but there's an alternative). There's a couple reasons for this:

1) Houzz has really gone downhill. Management refuses, without being blatantly threatened, to control name-calling and other violations of their policy.

2) Consequently, apparently I've "never given a competent answer," a statement Houzz has chosen to let stand. So be it, but it doesn't come without consequences.

3) Bad chemistry answers abound, along with bad physics, and simple name-calling and obnoxious replies are considered (and Liked) as completely valid replies to them. Bugger that. It indirectly casts doubt on my own answers just by being associated with poor chemistry and garden myths that are openly accepted.

I'm simply not willing to put in an average of 30 hours a month during the busy season to read soil tests under those conditions.

However...as noted above...there's an alternative. Somehow, Houzz can still insta-ban anybody who mentions the other place because reasons. Try searching for "the best independent website for learning about and sharing information about lawns and gardens" and see what forums you find.

I moved over there some time ago. Soil reads are opening back up in February, although they'll only read Logan Labs testing.
morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
3 years ago
As for you, specifically, send me a note. I'll give you specific direction.
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Sorry but even enlarged to 300 percent this report is not readable. Why did you choose this lab instead of your University of Tennessee Cooperative Extension Service? Here is a link that might be useful: UT CES
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I'll let you research our opinion of core aeration. Hint: I'm not a fan. And skip the compost, it's expensive, difficult to apply, a lousy feeding, and unnecessary to add bacteria, which float around on the wind for free. You can technically apply pre-emergent at any point as weeds will sprout continuously on well-irrigated lawns. However, it's best to get the shield up early to catch that first huge flush of spring-sprouting weeds. Overall, quality of even this well-cared-for lawn is fair at best. Fortunately, the soil test tells us exactly why this is and how to fix it, so let's explore further... EC 4.1: A very sandy soil. Your soil's going to shift quickly due to the low carrying capacity for resources, so plan on testing it yearly. OM 3.7%: Actually, this is well into the Fair range, but I'd like to get this up a lot higher due to your low EC as organic matter raises EC. Organic feedings, mulch mowing, mowing in all fall leaves, and so on will help here. It's not an emergency, just something to work on. Sulfur 77: Rather high, with little margin to play with. Fortunately, I don't need to do much playing and your sulfur levels are certainly not a problem. Phosphorus 9: So low it practically doesn't exist in your soil, which is seriously killing your lawn quality (and explains your neighbors' problems quite nicely). I've made recommendations below, but we're not going to finish this year. Target will be 200. Purchase the cheapest starter fertilizer as they'll all target about 1 pound per thousand square feet of phosphorus. Nitrogen levels are high enough to maintain your lawn beautifully. Calcium 46.0%: Very low, and a serious limiter of your lawn quality (again, this explains the neighbors'). Recommendations below. Purchase Encap or Mag-I-Cal lime as other limes aren't as strong, won't work as fast, and contain other elements that I don't want to be adding to your soil. Magnesium 9.1%: A little low, but nothing severe. Buy a nice large bag of Epsom salt at your local drugstore, in the bath or first aid section. Recommendations below. Potassium 6.5%: Exactly where it should be by the numbers, the percentage is a little over-inflated due to the lack of sufficient calcium in your soil. This will settle down after the calcium application. Minor Elements: Although I'd like to shift boron, copper, and zinc, there's so much going on this year that I'm going to skip it as I risk not having it stick very well. I mentioned iron below. Iron 49: Not deficient in the slightest, but not high enough to produce great color on the lawn. Any time you like, you can apply Milorganite to raise your iron levels (slowly) and add a little organic material to the soil. Recommendations: June 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. June 15: Apply 4 pounds per thousand square feet Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime. July 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. July 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet Epsom salt. August 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. September 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. September 15: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime. October 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. October 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet Epsom salt.
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A 6.1 pH in a soil that fizzes (free calcium/Magnesium carbonate). No anomaly that would produce that comes to mind. Don't bother with a AA test. It's not going to be beneficial this year. We'll assume that all the soil is 8.4 pH and you can retest next year with AA. I don't like making recommendations at the 3-6" level for turf but here goes: Everything in your soil is not only above minimum levels, but decently into sufficient and some even at optimal levels EXCEPT Phosphorous which is detrimentally deficient ( your turf probably did well the first couple of years because sod farms pound their turf with P and you used up the residual that was present). In fact. P is well below critical. Potassium (K) and Boron are also a bit low. but we only need to keep an eye on B and kick K up. It's Phosphorous though, big time. The clay is going to be a real PITA. Edited: Before we go forward: Are you willing/can you afford to aerate twice this year? Can you find/want to pay for Triple fertilizer (10-10-10, 12-12-12, etc) ? Can you find/want to pay for Triplesuper Phosphate ? Can you find/want to pay for Sulfate of Potash/Potassium Sulfate/Sop? Can you find/want to pay for Milorganite (5-4-0) ?
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According to my calculations, you are short about 2 lb/k of P2O5 (phosphorus) and 4 lb/k of K2O (potassium). Probably the easiest way to get that 4 lb/k of potassium is to use a balanced NPK fertilizer, like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. It would also give you 4 lb/k of nitrogen and 4 lb/k of phosphorus. You don't need that much phosphorus but it won't harm anything (except possibly the mycorrhizae). You want to avoid nitrogen in the summer. So if you went with the balanced fertilizer, you would be applying probably 3 applications, one a month for mid August, September, October. The 4th could be next year. Divide the NPK number into 100 to get the application rate (example, for 10-10-10, divide 10 into 100 to get 10 lb/k rate). An alternative is to find SOP, potassium sulfate, 0-0-50. You could apply that once a month, even in the summer, at 2 lb/k for four months. That would take care of the potassium. Two applications of starter fertilizer in the fall would take care of the phosphorus. Since you're planning to overseed, it would make sense to use this plan, as you could do an application of starter fertilizer at seeding and another a month later. Milorganite could substitute for the second application of starter in the fall. Use bag rate for starter or 25 lb/k of Milorganite at 5-4-0 to get 1 lb/k of phosphorus. As for nitrogen, the balanced fertilizer plan would give you 4 lb/k, which is more than you need for the year considering that you have already applied nitrogen this spring. If you use the alternative plan (which I think is better), you would get almost a lb/k with each application of starter fertilizer (1.25 with Milorganite at 25 lb/k) and then you could do a winterizer application of a quick release nitrogen in late fall after the grass has stopped growing but before the ground freezes. That would get you off to a good start next spring, when you could hold off on fertilizer until around Memorial Day. Your organic matter is low. It's good to leave clippings on the lawn when you mow. This fall mulch mow any leaves in your neighborhood that you can gather. If this is new construction, there may not be many trees but do what you can. The compost you're planning will help. Mulch mowing leaves is like making your own compost for the lawn --and you don't have to spread it! Water in your applications. Milorganite does not need to be watered in. Phosphorus tends to get tied with quickly with calcium in alkaline soil. It's there, just not available to the grass. Using organic forms of phosphorus, like Milorganite, enables a slow release of phosphorus. If you test next year and phosphorus is low, it's probably because of the alkaline soil. It's still there, just unavailable. Such is life for alkaline soil.
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ralph_zone8_nc
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
The picture speaks for itself. Thanks to morpheuspa,dchall,reeljake and texasweed's bermuda guide. This forum has helped!

These were taken in June 2020 -

Backyard - That slope has been a challenge and thank you morphe for the recommendations.

Thank you dchall for the Alfalfa pellets recommendation - we not only saw lots of worms come up but enjoyed the birds come to our yard.

This is a combination of Alflfa Pellets+24-0-10, Fast acting Lime (Pennington) and light dose of 46-0-0 towards the end of the season.
dchall_san_antonio
3 years ago
I had to do that search to see what happened. It is what I thought it would be. I was a charter member in 2008 and still love that forum. I can provide a little history...

The GardenWeb forum was created by a guy named Spike back in the 90s. Spike was the ultimate judge of what was acceptable here. For example, if you tried to post profanity, when you hit the Submit button, your post was erased and you found yourself at disneyland.com. It was hilarious until you found yourself "sent to Disney," (ahem). The forum was growing as more fora were added, and, in the early 2000s, Spike had an opportunity to sell. The new owners (not Houzz, yet) implemented Spike's vision but tried to use forum moderators. Trouble was nobody knew who the moderators were. These owners added sh-tton of advertising, which was a new and unwelcome idea at the time. The lawn care forum split off to have an organic lawn care part, because the arguments were intolerable. More forums were added and the community grew huge, fast. I don't remember the catalyst in the lawn forum, but it quickly grew into a dumpster fire. You could not get advice due to the megalomaniac personalities involved. A large group of us left GardenWeb and started an independent forum. A few of us/them returned regularly to GardenWeb to shanghai members here. Those members found themselves banned for life. The new forum thrived for awhile until the absolute power of forum ownership corrupted them absolutely. I personally had my comments changed to correct "errors" which were not errors but were my diverging opinion from the owner of the forum. A couple of the members on the new forum decided to start another new forum. I'm not sure how morpheuspa was not included in the charter membership of that forum but he came to it within a few weeks of the launch. I got the organic lawn care forum going and TexasWeed moderated the warm season lawns forum. TW had some issues with other members, and they found a way of booting him out. Again it is personalities and the ability to tolerate certain indignities. Morph and I both have been in and out of GardenWeb over the years, but that other forum is still going strong. Except for a very few glitches, it is a safe haven to discuss lawn care tuned to your situation. I think the participation has dropped, but the owner tells me it's all going about the same. But if you have a lawn problem, it's probably been discussed in the 10s of thousands of posts on there.
morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
3 years ago
Spike was grand, I loved Spike. I would have married Spike sight unseen.

I didn't get included in the charter because I didn't want to be. If you check the Artist thread over yonder and realize I've probably divulged half of what I do...and I do more than art...and that I have no kids and don't sleep very much...yeah. I do better being able to duck in and out as it pleases me. I decorate the planet behind me with all sorts of things as I pass by. I just had to order two new watercolor journals and a passel of paper. I'm out. Again.

But yes, with the decay of this place, I just don't see it as a valuable enough forum to expend the effort any longer, so I simply won't. Things have recently improved due to a Sharply Worded Letter With Inlaid Examples, but that shouldn't be required. It's soon to dissolve into a morass of personality wars where the dominant screamer's opinion rules, rather than facts and data. As if it already hasn't.

So, enough.
Randy Man
3 years ago
Looks like you keep the bermuda pretty tall. I do too but it wont look that good late summer. Ive learnt to accept that as I dont have the time to mow 2-3 times a week. I did buy a sun joe verticutter in dec 2020 that I think should help this season. What happens is the bermuda when maintained tall if it gets walked on it wont ever stand back up like it did before and the brown underneath will show from a distance making it not look as good.
dchall_san_antonio
3 years ago
I've never used a verticutter, but from what I've been told by the experts, it thickens bermuda quite well. Use it after the lawn has awakened and allow it to recover before using it again. It works because the surface runners in bermuda are so aggressive. It does not work on St Augustine, because they are not nearly so hardy.
Randy Man
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I live on a hill so my bermuda tends to want to lay down even more. Dont have this problem in april and may, just late summer. Hare is a pic. Its dormant but you can see what I am talking about.. Hopefully the verticutter will help out with this
ralph_zone8_nc
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi Randy, I should be bold to get the grass even lower..you know the history of my lawn so very scared to do it lol. The far left side of the dome needs TLC compared to the right side. The high-grass may be an illusion especially on the far left. Anyway I was planning to dethatch just before summer starts when I am about to fertilize the first time. I will not be detatching the slope as it still needs help to thrive. So should I scalp before dethatch?
ralph_zone8_nc
Original Author
3 years ago
Guys, any idea on why my hollies at the top have yellow leaves? This is the shorter ones which I had planted when I sodded the slope.

Soil test Results - Bermuda

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morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)

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Soil test Results - Bermuda

Comments (10)

morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)

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