# Fixing lawn based on soil test results



## Urercody (Feb 18, 2020)

Hello,

I dethatched and overseeded my front lawn last fall but it seems that nothing has changed (it's thin with many empty spots). So I did a soil test and the results came back as follows:

Phosphorus (P)	9 ppm	
Potassium (K)	92 ppm	
Magnesium (Mg)	159 ppm	
Calcium (Ca)	2350 ppm
CEC	13.3 meq/100 g
Soil Type	Mineral (Loam)
Soil pH	7.7
Lime Index	0
Organic Matter	5.3 %

Your soil test indicates, on a yearly basis
per 1,000 sq. feet:
• Nitrogen (3 to 4 lb) is needed
• Phosphate (1.2 lb) is needed
• Potassium (1.1 lb) is needed
• No lime required

I got two questions:
1) Did the overseeding fail because of the poor soil environment? (PS: I did a tug test to make sure it's not grub).
2) Would this plan work -> Apply "Sta-Green 18-lb 5000-sq ft 18-24-6 Lawn Starter Fertilizer" right now and once again in the fall, then overseed? Or do you recommend anything else?

Thanks


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## Urercody (Feb 18, 2020)

I ended up buying a "Starter Fertilizer 15-23-10" one instead of the one mentioned above. Any ideas if this is a better approach?


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

4.5 lb of 15-23-10 gives you 0.68lb of nitrogen, 1 lb of phosphorus, 0.45 lb of potassium. Multiply by how many thousand sq ft. you're covering. If the yard is 5000 sq ft, , 4.5 x 5 = 22.5 lb. If the yard is 7000 sq ft, 4.5 x 7 = 31.5 lb. One application will get you fairly close to the phosphorus recommendation. For the fall I'd look for a fertilizer with nitrogen and a fairly high potassium number.

The nitrogen recommendation is what everyone with your kind of grass gets. Phosphorus and potassium sometimes need some supplementation but it s a common issue. It doesn't mean the soil is poor. As for why grass died, there could be many causes, like fungus, watering problems, pests. I lost a lot of grass last September very suddenly to armyworms. I notice leaves in a section. Did you mulch leaves last fall with your mower? Those should have been mulched to a smaller size. I'd rake them out now.


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## frekwentflier (Oct 27, 2020)

All of those dead leaves are suffocating any grass trying to grow in those spots. If you dethatched with your own electric dethatcher (like SunJoe), do it again, but put it on the highest setting just to get those leaves and dead material up. If you don't have one, just manually rake it. Then mow everything with a bagger to get it all out of there. I believe if you do this asap, you'll be fine this Spring/Summer.


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## DiabeticKripple (Apr 14, 2019)

you need to get those leaves out of the lawn with a dethatcher. they are way too big to break down naturally and will choke out the lawn.


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