Using Yard Waste Compost, Compost Tea, Organic, and Synthetic Fertilizer Application on Urban Turfgrass.

Modern home construction practices often result in removal of topsoil/organic matter and severe compaction leading to poor quality soil. This study evaluates how applications of compost, compost tea, and standard and organic fertilizers affect soil and turf properties. Conducted at the O.J. Noer Turfgrass Research and Education Center in Madison, WI on a Batavia silt loam in a randomized complete block design with four replications, this experiment was conducted on a mixture of perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass mowed as needed at a cutting height of 6.4 cm. Organic fertilizers were applied using hand shakers three times during the growing season to a total of 147 kg N ha^-1. Conventional fertilizer was applied at a total of 118 kg N ha^-1. Kompost Kids and Dane County composts were applied in spring and fall, to a total depth of 1.3 cm (or 122 m³ ha^-1 yr^-1). Purple Cow compost was applied spring and fall to a total depth of 0.64 cm (61 m³ ha^-1 yr^-1). Purple Cow compost + tea treatment was applied every six weeks to a total depth 0.25 cm (24 m³ ha^-1 yr^-1) plus compost tea prepared by Purple Cow applied using a garden watering can. Compost was incorporated by hand rake. Significant differences were observed in color, NDVI, visual quality, and clipping production, and generally, Chick Magic fertilizer had the greatest ratings in these categories, followed closely by Scotts Turf Builder, then, Kompost Kids, Dane County compost, and Milorganite which were significantly higher than the Purple Cow compost treatments. Dane County and Kompost Kids composts resulted in changes in soil physical properties having lower bulk density (~25%), greater plant available water (~50%), and faster saturated hydraulic conductivity than the control, Scotts Turf Builder, and Chick Magic treatments.