Head on over to your local Clemson Extension office and have a talk with your agent. Don't worry about your analysis being old -- especially if you haven't done anything to your soil. Other Key questions: What type of grasses are you trying to grow -- Centipede takes a totally different care regime than Fescue or Bahia... What is your soil PH What soil type do you have? Now.... Looking at my recent analysis -- those are all Lbs/Acre -- not PPM measurements... P looks really low K looks medium low Ca should be plenty Mg is probably OK My guess is that you are going to be using some sort of balanced "premium" slow release fertilizer with minor elements -- like a 10-10-10 slow release or a 17-17-17 slow release... But It is going to be totally dependent on the type of grass and your soil type. Thanks

"just me 6" ... I agree with Kimmsr that you want to get the lime in there to start working, BUT I don't know that I think doing so before the builder levels things out makes sense. I just picture you distributing the lime well across the top of the soil, and the bulldozer coming and scraping the top 3 inches away here and filling in a dip there ... resulting in a really uneven distribution of the lime. If I were you I'd wait. If I read you right, we're just talking about waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday; I think waiting a few days is worthwhile to increase the chances you get your lime distributed pretty evenly. As to improving your "nasty sticky clay soil" ... lime will fix the pH, but I don't think it will affect the texture. You want better "tilth" ... not sure if a search on that word here will bring up articles that will help. Adding lots of organic material is the single best way to improve your tilth, for a variety of reasons. First, just mechanically, having lots of bits of organic stuff in between the sticky bits separates them and lets air and water in. Next, the soil beasties that are going to eat that organic stuff will, in the process, glue some of the clay particles together into aggregates (bigger bits), which tend to permit air and water to penetrate around/between them. Do you have a source of free municipal mulch? By that, I mean ground up leaves that a nearby city collected in the fall, let sit over the winter, and puts out for you to take the following year? That can be good stuff or it can be garbage-y. I have a couple of cities around me to choose from, and have a clear preference for one over another.... Alternately, if you're willing and able to spend, get a truckload of compost from a local nursery. Go there first to see what they'll sell you. My nursery sells it for $35/yard, and they're selling pretty nice stuff (ground a lot finer than the municipal free stuff, looks more decomposed, maybe is in a more managed pile over the winter?). Till it in to your soil after the builder and before you first plant. Then add more to the perennial beds. And keep adding more to any plants that can be mulched (nearly everything except grass) forever more. (Wood and bark mulches last longer, but ground up leaves feed the soil better.) By the way, don't let anyone sell you topsoil. You have plenty of the mineral component of soil already. You want more of the organic component, and that's the only part it makes any sense to pay anyone to haul to you. Don't let them talk you into a mix of compost and topsoil either ... that would be better for their profit, but not better for you. (UNLESS you have a shallow area you want to fill ... but then, the builder should fix that, right?) I know, I'm not giving a lot of advice on the soil test. But you asked how to make sticky clay better, and in my flower beds, compost and leaf mulch are what does it. - LCPW p.s. On the "posey power" ... hard to say without knowing what it is, and some facts about what KIND of clay you have. I have learned here that one kind of clay actually can be broken up well by a chemical additive that nurseries sell. But many many folks have asked about it and knowledgeable folks here have said, "you're in a part of the country with clay that won't be helped by that in the least". I'd say don't do it until you know more.

Driven through St. Tammany Parish many, many times. You have a very similar geography (low, flat and wet) as where I am, 50 miles south of Houston. My guess would be that you're ~ 25 feet above sea level? However, from your soil test results, your soils are about as opposite of mine as can be. Your description of your soil is very consistent with the Stough series description. It is noted as being very strongly acidic, and below about 8" indicates signs of frequent or typical anaerobic conditions, probably from the high natural water levels. You have a couple of distinct issues, one being drainage, the other being the soil test results. On drainage, given your geography and the natural soil water levels, there probably isn't much you can do to improve soil drainage via percolation directly - the underlying soil is what it is. If you pick a spot for a bed an amend it you can improve the local drainage, until the surrounding and underlying soil stops it , then your improved bed becomes the "bathtub" of sorts. You may be able to help your situation out a bit by re-evaluating the lot grading and surface water flow in high rainfall periods. For a gardening situation your better bet would be a raised bed, with enough depth that the underlying poor drainage won't be a problem. Doing that you can construct the soil in the bed to be what best suits your needs. As for your soil test, I'm curious why you chose Dr. Good Earth rather than the LSU Ag Center lab? Did the sample come from just the bed area, or is it representative of a broader view of your landscape? If the results are representative, the very low pH helps explain the low Ca and Mg levels. My thinking is focus on correcting the pH using dolomitic limestone, which should take care of both Ca and Mg, then retest. The amount is dependent upon soil type, and this is where the LSU AG Center and the local extension service can be a great help with a specific recommendation, but it will probably be something like 100 lbs per thousand square feet. With the pH corrected, the P and K levels can be supplemented via common fertilizer options, or using organic amendments. Of course if you build a raised bed, that will likely be different soil. With soil like that it would probably be worthwhile to test the soil broadly, if you haven't already done so, and working to get the pH toward ~ 6.5. For any future tests I would encourage to use the LSU labs, as they have local knowledge, can guide you on appropriate amendments and amounts to use. I would also encourage you to add the micronutrient test in the future. I suggest that because the Stough series description notes a lot of variations in both iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) concentrations. Here is a link that might be useful: LSU AgCenter Soil Testing This post was edited by TXEB on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 20:52

Bob, yes, I agree I need to leach the soil. In my research it seems that for the levels that I have it could take 3 years to get it back to normal levels. But I'm not sure that was in sand where it happens faster. Zackey, I agree. I have tried a couple of emails. I think I need to try to get someone on the phone if I can get past the menus. Vegtech, I hear you about the local extension agency. I called and they directed me to a book about growing roses. I have been studying growing roses in S. Fl. for 13 years. Not exactly what I needed.