100356 question (lawns)

Question: I am responding to this question.  First is the soil test is number w72a63 and 8vc476 .  I am attaching the pictures of lawn and the seed you requested.  We only put down starter fertilizer last year  and that is when we seeded with compost as recommended.  No herbicides  ,  No moss on lawn.

responder: Dick M.  Replied May 21, 2023, 9:20 PM EDT
response: w7263 soil test (6/10/21-front side yard) indicates low potassium (21ppm).  Potassium promotes natural plant resistance to disease, drought, cold and heat damage.  Ph of 6 (acidic).  2.5% organic matter (low). 8vc476 soil test (6//10/21-back side yard) indicates low potassium (33ppm).  pH of 7.3 (slightly alkaline).  2.1% organic matter (low).  Things I notice:   a) the potassium is low in both samples.  As noted above potassium promotes natural plant resistance to disease, drought, COLD and heat damage.   b) both samples were low in organic material (an essential component of healthy soils).  c) virtually no grass plants living in either photo d) 65% of the seed was produced in Oregon where most of the plant hardiness zone is from 6 to 9.  Marquette County has a narrow amount of zone 5 on the coast and the rest of the county is zone 4 (MUCH colder than Oregon). e) an interesting difference in pH between the two locations. I don't know when you seeded the lawn in 2022 but it needed the potassium and organic matter built up before seeding occurred.  I'm thinking the seed succumbed to the cold due to a combination of low potassium, poor soil (organic matter) and possibly seed harvested in a warmer climate (Oregon). There is so little turf left my recommendation is to begin tilling organic matter into the soil and adding the necessary  potassium via Muriate of Potash or Potassium Sulfate now.  Several inches of organic matter, tilled 4"deep would be great.  I'd consider contacting a northern Michigan/Wisconsin sod farm to get their seed recommendation.  Then reseed by mid-August using a starter fertilizer.  Here are links to articles on seeding a lawn: Establishing A New Lawn Using Seed (E2910)-MSU Seeding & Sodding Home Lawns-UMN Renovating A Lawn for Quality & sustainability-UMN Lawn Renovation & Over-seeding-UMass Smart Lawns Tip Sheets-MSU  Home Lawns | MSU Extension If you'd like a second opinion on your situation contact MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics (Plant & Pest Diagnostics-MSU).  You can submit photos and a detailed explanation by email for an evaluation.  If you do ask them, I'd appreciate a reply through Ask Extension telling me what they told you so I can learn more too. Thanks.

responder: The Question Asker Replied May 22, 2023, 12:57 AM EDT
response: We did add the compost along with the seed in April 2022. It was from a local farmer.  Approximately 2 inches maybe a little more.  It was not tilled.  We added the new grass seed to this compost .  Then later starter fertilizer.  Should we till and then add the potassium now then seed mid august with starter fertilizer?

responder: The Question Asker Replied May 22, 2023, 7:17 AM EDT
response: So sorry we need to start over on this.  After the soil  test we did the fertilizer with  potassium in it as recommended.  After that we added the compost with the seed added to that. It came up beautiful .  This year we have no grass coming up.  I shouldn’t  have assumed you knew all this .  I was just going from the seed forward.  Then we added starter fertilizer .  I’m guessing we used the wrong seed maybe aand just need to know what to do forward.  Thank you and so sorry for the confusion.

responder: Dick M.  Replied May 23, 2023, 12:10 AM EDT
response: Thanks for the additional info!!  Layering the compost on top of the soil may have been another contributing factor to the turf failure because the grass was growing in a favorable layer of organic matter and would be reluctant to grow deeper into a less fertile layer of soil (shallow roots). At this point I'd do another soil test now to see where your soil stands 'fertility-wise'. Then I'd add more organic matter and till it 4" deep (the % organic matter in the soil test might be messed up because you have a layer of compost on top of the soil). If potassium is still low add more before tilling. Finally I'd seed at mid-August with good seed and the recommended starter fertilizer, mulch with clean straw and water until the fall rains take over. Follow the steps in the attached article: Establishing A New Lawn Using Seed (E2910)-MSU I've had good results following these steps.