On Tue, 04 Mar 2003 18:47:25 GMT, wrote:

You have to be very careful on this. I put down a general turf fertilizer
last year, only to find out that the phosphorus levels in my soil are
crazy stupid high. I just sent off my sample to A&M for the routine analysis.
They sent back the analisys with a long list of suggested ways to amend the
soil. The local Ag office mentioned that high phosphorus is a VERY common
problem in Austin-area soils. The problem is that it binds to iron easily,
and can result in nutrient uptake problems for your plants.

This was a striking revelation when I first heard it at an Aggie soil
science lecture a few years ago. Homes of in our area which have been
fertilized even intermittently over the years were showing phosphorus
at levels high enough to last for generations! Yet lawn centers
continue to push "balanced" fertilizers, and then later Ironite to
overwhelm the iron deficiency caused by the P they sold you in the
first place (Ironite in any case being a problem worse than any
symptom it might mask). Even organic gardeners need to consider this
as most organic matter contains moderate levels of P (sorry, I can't
stomach blood meal :-)

The best lawn fertilizer for our area, imho, is the slow-release
"Sustain", available at places like Lowes. I've come to think that,
for an organic gardener myself who lives over the Edwards recharge
zone, Sustain may be a more environmentally sound lawn fertilizer than
compost.