| Click to Post a New Message!
Page [ 1 ] |
|
|
|
Fall fertilizer for one year old lawn
Kenneth is getting you started in the right direction.
First off, yes, absolutely get a soil sample analyzed, you're working blind otherwise. The soil test will yield a pH number, the number 7 on a pH scale is a neutral rating. Any rating below 7 means that the soil is acid. Any number higher than 7 means that the soil is alkaline. Turf grass does best in soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5.
Next, you mention heavy clay soil with a little black dirt on top, I hope this isn't too accurate a description, you should have at least 6" of good rich organic (black) soil on top of the clay.
Find out, by having a little look and tug at a few of the plants, how the root structure is doing, a good lawn needs a really good root mass, grass spreads and gets thicker by means of it's roots and rhizomes. Fertilizing in poor soil is even more critical, the nutrients the grass needs come from the biodegradability of the components of the soil, namely minerals composted plant material, if your soil has neither of these, guess what your lawn lives on, nothing!
Turf fertilizers contain nutrients balanced for different kinds of growth. The ratios of these different formulas are shown on the package by a set of numbers such as 5-10-5, 20-6-6, 10-10-10 etc.
The first number stands for nitrogen, the second for phosphorus, and the third for potash. When you're buying fertilizer in a store, use this little saying to remember what the numbers mean: "Up, down, and all around".
The first number means nitrogen, which makes the grass grown "UP" and green. It helps the grass leaves grow and develop, and adds to the quality and thickness of the turf grasses. Fertilizer manufacturers advertise products for quick greening in the spring months. If you read the labels on these packages, you'll see that the first number in the formula is high. For example, 18, 20, 22, or even 30, which means lots of nitrogen.
The second number means phosphorus, which makes the grass grown "DOWN", it develops the root system and rhizomes. It helps the plants to develop quickly, and it speeds up the maturing of the plants. When the second number on the package is larger than the first number, or when it's larger than or equal to the third number, you know that the formula is designed to develop the root system of the plant.
The third number means potash, which makes the grass grow "ALL AROUND". It helps the grass stay healthy and hardy. It helps in development of rhizomes and delivers amino acid and proteins to the plants.
We don't consider turf 'mature' until it's 3 years old, so keep at it or you will have nothing but a field of clover.
As I told Frank when I was offering him similar advice, don't call me when you have to cut the grass twice a week though!!!
Best of luck.
|
|
 Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Fall fertilizer for one year old lawn
Jeff, you mistook my comment, but to certain extent I agree with you, but not for the reason you might think.
By 6" of topsoil, I meant, if you have poor clay-based soil all you need to do is strip 1" of the existing soil, lay down 1.5" - 2" of straight compost or triple mix (which is the same as 1" of compacted soil) and rototill 6" deep, then roll it and water it to achieve some degree of compaction. I did NOT mean to lay out 6" of new topsoil.
If you were to merely spread out 6" of triple mix, it would be like a feather bed, you cannot compact anything more than 2" in a single lift with light airy soil like that, it would take several years to get it to stop settling anyways.
I dug out a few big stumps (4' holes) for a neighbour with my TLB (20,000 pounds) and at his insistence, refilled the holes with triple mix and then 'packed' the soil by repeatedly driving over the patch. The following spring they had settled over a 1' down and in total settled probably 2' on average.
I'm confused by your comments "the sod itself is grown on bare clay". I have an average at any one time of about 650 acres of turf fields being grown for sod harvesting, it takes 2 full years, ideally 3, to get a crop to the point where it's ready to take off the fields. I also know we ship a LOT of turf to areas where they have little or poor topsoil because they can't grow it there, it's not economically feasible because it takes so long to get a crop ready to harvest.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Page [ 1 ] | Thread 147619 Filter by Poster:
2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
()
Picture of the Day
bumpassgator
Unanswered Questions
Active Subjects
Hot Topics
Featured Suppliers
|
Gas Generator Weather Protecti
11-01-2007, 10:10 
Digg It 
Del.icio.us