Question
Hi, I always read on the internet that the best way to improve your grass is to improve your soil; hence the need for a soil test.  I recently had my soil tested and received the below results:

Soil PH - 7.5
Organic Matter - 3.8
CEC - 18.8
K-saturation - 2.2
Mg-saturation - 18
Ca-saturation - 79.7
K/Mg-Ratio - .4
Ca/Mg-Ratio - 11
Phosphurus - 35
Potassium - 193
Magnesium - 463
Calcium - 5,114

This is like a foreign language to me, can you please help interpret???  My main question is where do I go from here???  One other piece of information is that I live in Southwest, OH.  Thanks in advance for your help!!!

Answer
Hi Chad,

I'm not too surprised.  The folks in the laboratories are so immersed in this stuff that they neglect to consider that most people haven't studied this on a College + level.  They end up speaking in technical gobbledygook.

After gaining a B.S. degree in Turfgrass Science + enough soil science credits to qualify me as soil scientist, I too am sometimes baffled by the amount of information given on these tests, much of which is not practically changeable.

On your test somewhere should be a guide to show whether or not each nutrient is in the ideal range, below it, or above it. You can use that to help you choose an appropriate fertilizer.

I can only point out that the most obvious issue is the pH, which is clearly a bit too high. Definitely DO NOT ever add limestone to your lawn. If you can find some agricultural sulfur, this will help to lower it.  The ideal range is 6.0 - 6.5 (slightly acidic). The high pH is having the effect of binding up nutrients and rendering them unusable for the grass.

Beyond that, different labs will have different recommendations as to ideal ranges and the ranges are in dispute.  For now, just focus on getting some sulfur like the kind found at the following link:

http://www.espoma.com/content.aspx?type=p&intCategoryID=2&id=31

That'll take care of the primary issue, then you can see how things go next season. If you use the sulfur correctly, the nutrient amounts will change with the pH and you will be able to regroup and re-strategize at that time.

Sorry I couldn't get into more detail, but at least you know you're not alone in having a difficult time with all this.

Good luck!

-C.J. Brown