# Soil pH



## Ylli (Sep 24, 2018)

I have an area in my lawn (actually, about 25% of my lawn) that I'm constantly fighting to try and get grass to grow. This fall, I had a soil test done, and it came back with a pH of 7.4 (high), Phosphorus 14 (sufficient), and Potassium 97 (very high). Organic material was 4.2%. I had used some 'starter' fertilizer earlier in the year, and that probably explains the 'very high' K. Also had some nearby trees trimmed to try and improve the sun situation.

My concern is the high pH. Is it high enough that I should be considering adding a bit of Sulfer? If so, when is the best time to use it? We have already had some light snows, and the ground is surface frozen, but we should get some warm (50° or so) days yet this year. I plan to do a thorough aeration next fall and overseed with TTTF.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Soil pH is not that high. Mine is at 8.1 and I can maintain an ok looking yard.

Lowing pH is really hard and expensive and not really a permanent. Elemental sulfur is a way, but might not be possible in our midwest soils. https://www.agvise.com/educational-articles/does-elemental-sulfur-lower-soil-ph/ The key is to learn how to deal with it. Using AS might help a little. Using FAS will help with iron (since iron becomes less available above 7 pH).

Do you know the test method used for this soil test? Can you post some images of the area that is causing trouble?


----------



## Ylli (Sep 24, 2018)

Thanks for the reply. Have no idea of the test method. It was tested by the University of Wisconsin, Dept of Soil Science, Soils & Forage Analysis Lab, Marshfield WI. A $15 test, and what I posted are the total results. Would have upload the entire pdf, but didn't see how.

Shade is probably my biggest problem. I had some nearby trees trimmed (with the tree trimmers aware that I wanted to reduce the mount of shade on the lawn), so hopefully that will be less of a problem next year. Hard to estimate exactly how much sun the area is getting, as the shadows move around all day. May be a bit shy of 4 hours/day. This is on the north and NW corner of the house. There are some patches of moss in the area.

I generally mow with an older (1999) Simplicity Regent set for maximum height. Probably around 3". My ground is so uneven that it's hard to say exactly what the real HOC is.

The whole yard really needs to be torn up, regraded, and redone - but as a senior with a bad back, it's not something I can do myself. And having it done professionally is a bit out of my budget. Just trying to get the lawn looking a bit better than it does.

Right now, it's pretty much dormant. Leaves have been mulched and what grass is there has been pretty much flattened by the mower tires. A bit of snow left from the rounds of light snow we had last week. Here are a couple of pictures, but I don't think they show much.


----------



## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

Plant FF in deeper shade areas. If there is still too much shade, consider a ground cover plant instead of grass. TTTF will grow in shade but it'll need some amount of sun. FF does better with less light but again, it still needs light. I have TTTF on the north side and it never sees sun but there aren't any trees to shade it. It does ok but is a little thin. I had k31 before and it did much better but I'm not sure if you care for it's look. If it gets much thinner every year, there probably isn't enough light for any grass... You can do a heavy overseed every year to try to keep some grass there but it'll be a constant battle.


----------

