Advice on Lime application

[Hineline]

I find bluegrass gets it's best color up here at 7. If you like a real dark green. I target 7 on all my bluegrass lawns. I'm not so picky if it has fine fescues in it. Those lawns will always look bad. IMO.

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by Hineline

I find bluegrass gets it's best color up here at 7. If you like a real dark green. I target 7 on all my bluegrass lawns. I'm not so picky if it has fine fescues in it. Those lawns will always look bad. IMO.

Depends on the type of blue with respect to pH tolerance, although in general the preferred range is 6-7 for blues. That however doesn't mean it cannot perform acceptably at a pH outside that range, especially in a residential scenario.

IMO, the lawn looks fine as is (barring the weeds) at the current pH. If he is concerned about pH, then stay away from acidifying fertilizers, buy a real pH meter and monitor the pH. If it gets to the low 5's and/or an identified potential pH related nutrient deficiencies in your plants, then a lime app may be warranted after another soil test.

[wrooster]

Originally Posted by Kiril

Guessed based on pic. Zooming in, it looks like it could be a mix, but that still doesn't change that I would have left it alone ... mix or not.

It's complicated.

At the same time we moved to this home in the spring of 2009, a new septic system was installed in the back yard. The back yard, naturally, was completely torn up by both the septic/leach excavation and the heavy equipment. A section of the front yard was damaged as well, because it was used as a thru-fare for the heavy equipment.

The areas that were displaced were amended with about 3" to 4" of topsoil, seeded, and today stand very nicely.

So the back yard plus a sub-section of the front yard look fantastic. In fact, I did two separate soil tests last week, one for the front and one for the back. The soil test at the top of this thread is for the front yard, and the accompanying soil test for the back yard shows nothing out of whack (pH is 6.75 and macro/micro-nutrients are "in the optimum zone").

The seed in the "new" sections (including most of back yard and some of front yard) is Jonathan Green Black Beauty Ultra -- this is a TTTF mix ((link). The turfgrass in the "old" sections (small portion of back yard and about 60% of front yard) is unknown variety, but it is definitely a lighter green species than the JG-BBU.

So my yard, to paraphrase Dickens, is a tale of two soils and two grass types.

I will continue amending/fertilizing the front yard, and overseeding with JG-BBU as well, until it too is fully healthy.

Wrooster

BACK







OTHER VIEWS OF THE FRONT







ps
The worst part of the lawn is off to the right/rear of the last picture above -- characterized by blotchy growth, interspersed moss and weeds (mainly crab and a low-growing vine-like weed), and generally poor/unhealthy appearance.

[Kiril]

Your soil samples should have been a composite of cores, probably at least 20 given the size of the area, for each sample submitted. How deep you sample depends on the soil and rooting characteristics of the turf. If this is not how you sampled you may want to modify your sampling methodology.

If you have a particularly problematic area then you may want to sample that area independently, again, building a composite of cores.

[wrooster]

Originally Posted by Kiril

Your soil samples should have been a composite of cores, probably at least 20 given the size of the area, for each sample submitted.

That is exactly what I did, mixing the samples in a small bucket prior to taking a composite sample. And then again for the other side of the yard.

Wrooster

Back yard test results:

[Kiril]

Your front yard looks like it has a pretty significant slope. I would suggest a minimum of two samples here, differentiating between top and bottom of the slope. Generally speaking, without consideration for topology and significant differences in soil physical properties, I will sample based on hydrozone & management characteristics.

[Kiril]

BTW, a 1.3 difference in pH between front and back yard raises some serious red flags for me. I would verify the pH in various areas with some in situ measurements.

[wrooster]

Originally Posted by Kiril

Your front yard looks like it has a pretty significant slope. I would suggest a minimum of two samples here, differentiating between top and bottom of the slope. Generally speaking, without consideration for topology and significant differences in soil physical properties, I will sample based on hydrozone & management characteristics.

This is a good observation, and I will take your suggested approach the next time I do the soil samples.

Wrooster

[phasthound]

I'll just note that you made an excellent choice in seeds.

[Hineline]

Kiril nailed the grass type and it is a nice lawn! What a great property also. You got it goin on!