Fixing soil

[melissadenay]

I’m hoping for some help as my research hasn’t been successful.

I live in zone 9 and despite adequate watering and care have had all my newly planted shrubs die in the five years we have lived here. They get burnt/brown looking leaves that die off until the whole plant dies. (Our lawn doesn't do well either.) The plants do ok in the spring with regular rainfall but start dying pretty quickly once I switch to irrigating. We are on a well and had the water tested when we purchased the home. We have excessively high nitrate levels and were told that it was due to so many years of farming/fertilizing in the area. I recently purchased a soil test kit and the results were excessive levels of nitrogen and depleted phosphorous and potassium. I know that sawdust/mulch can help reduce the nitrogen and plan to add some to the areas where I’d like to grow some shrubs.

1. I’m not sure how well I can reduce the nitrogen if my irrigation water has such high nitrate levels. I’ve searched for zone 9 shrubs that might help reduce the nitrogen levels but all the “nitrogen fixing” plants that I find say that they increase nitrogen. Are there any shrubs or small trees that tolerate/thrive in high nitrogen (zone 9) and/or help reduce it?

2. Any recommendations for increasing potassium and phosphate without increasing nitrogen?

3. Any recommendations for helping my lawn?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!

 

[DirtMechanic]

They are often called fall fertilizers. These are low N but high P and K and can have micro nutrients. In sandy high draining soil, charcoal can help by retaining water and nutrients. The primary nutrients before the major nutrients N-P-K for soil are Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. All three are what makes sugar. If you could find some 5-10-5 its cheap and you can use the phosphorus to develop nice roots for good turf grass. You need a little on a frequent feeding program rather than a lot on a infrequent application model.

 

[River]

I would have a soil test by your state university with an agricultural college. You can write down those issues and they can give you specifics. Also speak with your local extension office.

 

[jbclem]

You need some local advice...I agree that checking with the local extension office is a good start. They should be familiar with the excess nitrates problem and know the issues it causes. And check with your neighbors (who are using well water) to see if they have the same issues with their plants.

I googled "how to remove high nitrates from well water" and there are a lot of You Tube videos and other advice on this subject...it's a very common problem. And I hope you aren't drinking the water, it looks like there are plenty of health issues associated with drinking high nitrate water. This video is a good starting point:

You can use potassium sulfate and triple phosphate to add K and P without adding N to the soil. You can buy these by the pound on eBay, or find a name brand mix sold online.