# UMass soil test results for lawn in VT



## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Hello all,

1 acre lawn in mountains of VT. Been here about 1 year..only thing I have done is 46-0-0 Urea last fall 2 separate apps at I think was .5# N per K. Lawn is a NoMix..I'm pretty sure there is fine fescue, KBG and KY31 in there..not sure about PR. Very rocky soil throughout most of the lawn down below 3"or so. Hard to get a spade shovel straight in any where in lawn without hitting a bunch of rocks.

Soil looks like a mess, but I am pretty clueless about soil make up. Kind of surprised at the 7.9ph, thought most northeast lawns were on the lower side. Looking for any advice on correcting the issues.

I assume some type of balanced fert at a bare minimum? 10-10-10 or something along those lines?

Thanks


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Hmm, not sure why it looks so blurry, will try to post a clearer shot of test.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)




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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

What was your soil depth? Have you ever applied lime? Your CEC is super high at 70. The calcium levels are very high. I dont know if this is normal for your area. This might be an artifact of the modified morgan test method. In the future use another lab that does AA.

pH is high, so iron is not as available.

Yes your P and K are low so a balanced fertilizer is the right approach. Since you have 1.5acres, finding a local farm store might be better for your wallet. You can use 10-10-10 (or any other balanced fert) or your can mix your own via buying in bulk. Ammonium sulfate or urea for Nitrogen, Tripe Super phosphate (0-46-0) or MAP (11-52-0) for Phosphorous, and MOP or SOP for Potassium.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

That calcium level is sky-high, almost so high as to be unbelievable for a New England soil, unless the sample included limestone fragments or particles from a recent application of lime.

I know that there is high limestone content in the Champlain Valley (used to live in Plattsburgh, NY) but the levels reported in your soil still are higher than any I've seen on online forums from a New England soil. Personally, I'm wondering if the soil samples inadvertently included limestone particles. Then again, if such particles are a part of your soil, they would be representative.

g-man's advice regarding supplementing P and K is spot-on, as usual.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

g-man said:


> What was your soil depth? Have you ever applied lime? Your CEC is super high at 70. The calcium levels are very high. I dont know if this is normal for your area. This might be an artifact of the modified morgan test method. In the future use another lab that does AA.
> 
> pH is high, so iron is not as available.
> 
> Yes your P and K are low so a balanced fertilizer is the right approach. Since you have 1.5acres, finding a local farm store might be better for your wallet. You can use 10-10-10 (or any other balanced fert) or your can mix your own via buying in bulk. Ammonium sulfate or urea for Nitrogen, Tripe Super phosphate (0-46-0) or MAP (11-52-0) for Phosphorous, and MOP or SOP for Potassium.


Soil test was 4". The soil and texture to me did look and feel odd from 2" to 7"..its very light brown and feels sand like and chalky almost. I haven't put any lime down at all. The lot was heavily wooded and clear cut by previous owner about 7 years ago, now with no trees at all except surrounding the 1-1.5 acres

Here is an pic of soil I took a few weeks back down about 4 inches or so.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

ken-n-nancy said:


> That calcium level is sky-high, almost so high as to be unbelievable for a New England soil, unless the sample included limestone fragments or particles from a recent application of lime.
> 
> I know that there is high limestone content in the Champlain Valley (used to live in Plattsburgh, NY) but the levels reported in your soil still are higher than any I've seen on online forums from a New England soil. Personally, I'm wondering if the soil samples inadvertently included limestone particles. Then again, if such particles are a part of your soil, they would be representative.
> 
> g-man's advice regarding supplementing P and K is spot-on, as usual.


Yea, I dont know if the previous owner dumped buckets of lime down for years and years or not. I tried to make the sample as clean as possible. Maybe i should take some more samples and send to another lab for a second testing.

It is strange as I'm not in the Champlain Valley. I'm on a ridge above 1500ft


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## masci (Apr 26, 2019)

I dunno about other people, but I had a bad experience with the UMass soil test. They told me my lawn pH was 5.2 and that I needed 250 pounds of lime per 1000 square feet. They also said my total exchange capacity was like 19. I was super skeptical of both those numbers because my grass was growing like mad and my soil drainage is insanely good, kinda like sand. I re-submitted a couple samples from various areas of the yard to logan labs. pH of 6.5, total exchange capacity of 7. That was definitely more accurate because my soil isn't particularly acidic when I have tested with handheld pH meters and it's definitely sandy soil with a low total exchange capacity.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

GreenMountainLawn said:


> Soil test was 4". The soil and texture to me did look and feel odd from 2" to 7"..its very light brown and feels sand like and chalky almost. I haven't put any lime down at all. The lot was heavily wooded and clear cut by previous owner about 7 years ago, now with no trees at all except surrounding the 1-1.5 acres
> 
> Here is an pic of soil I took a few weeks back down about 4 inches or so.


This is a case of a picture being worth a thousand words. That soil definitely does look "chalky." Being "chalky" would definitely explain the sky-high calcium level. Chalk is calcium carbonate and would make a great liming agent. Chalk originates from the shells of tiny marine mammals.

I'm no geologist, but that deeper soil sure looks like it could have been from the beach of an ancient sea. A quick google search indicates that are believed to be lots of these in Vermont, some as high as 2196 feet above current ocean levels. I'm curious as to if your town is one of the mentioned ones in the following book (see pages 152-153): https://anrweb.vt.gov/PubDocs/DEC/GEO/ReportOnGeologyOfVT/Hitchcock1861V_1.pdf (Note that this isn't exactly a "latest research" publication -- there are more recent studies, but that was the first one which came up in my search...) Many newer articles exist on the topic, too, even some written for the general public, such as https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/signs_of_old_beaches_atop_mountains

If so, then what you have isn't an incorrect soil test, but just an unusual soil, to which you will never need to add any calcium and have a rare high pH for New England. That said, it will have some good qualities for a subsoil -- it will drain well and provides an excellent calcium source.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

That pH is unusual for N.E., but nothing is impossible. Even well respected labs with good track records like UMASS can make the occasional error. (I could five some examples about other labs (like Logan.) I'd suggest you do a vinegar test. It's chap and easy. Although not conclusive (e.g. if the sample doesn't fizzle or create bubbles doesn't necessarily mean the soil isn't alkaline), if there is fizzle/small bubbles, it's a good indicator that a high test pH result is very likely accurate.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Ridgerunner said:


> That pH is unusual for N.E., but nothing is impossible. Even well respected labs with good track records like UMASS can make the occasional error. (I could five some examples about other labs (like Logan.) I'd suggest you do a vinegar test. It's chap and easy. Although not conclusive (e.g. if the sample doesn't fizzle or create bubbles doesn't necessarily mean the soil isn't alkaline), if there is fizzle/small bubbles, it's a good indicator that a high test pH result is very likely accurate.


Just did it..fizzed and bubbled. So seems somewhat accurate.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

ken-n-nancy said:


> GreenMountainLawn said:
> 
> 
> > Soil test was 4". The soil and texture to me did look and feel odd from 2" to 7"..its very light brown and feels sand like and chalky almost. I haven't put any lime down at all. The lot was heavily wooded and clear cut by previous owner about 7 years ago, now with no trees at all except surrounding the 1-1.5 acres
> ...


That second article is interesting. It mentions an ancient beach at White Rocks National Rec Area. I'm located about 25-30 miles S/SW of there but along the same ridgeline as you can kind of see from this topo map.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

I know you can use citric acid or sulfur to bring down the ph.


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