Before anyone freaks out about the pH of 8.4, that's normal all over Texas. It varies in some places, but that is par for our course.

This is the problem with Texas A&M as well as every other university soil test. Anyone can put NPK on the soil. All plants need it and all soils lack it to some extent or another. You can find the basic ingredients to blend your own if you like. The problem is usually the soil needs micro nutrients that those universities never test. You could adjust your NPK to perfection, but if your salts are out of balance (sodium, calcium, magnesium), nothing will grow. Or your loamy soil will be rock hard. Or the needed micronutrients (even NPK) will become unavailable to the plants.

I'm going to suggest this test is relatively meaningless. Send your next soil test to Logan Labs in Ohio. They are professionals (not grad students) and will give you the full workup for $20.

How do you fertilize based on the TAMU test? Apply alfalfa pellets at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Reapply at least 3x per year but you can do it every month if your wallet lets you. Organic fertilizers automatically have all the micronutrients in them because they used to be alive. As for the macronutrients, the microbes will convert the protein in the organic fertilizer as well as minerals in the soil into plant food as the plant needs it.

Sodium, Calcium & Magnesium values (as well as Sulfur & conductivity.) were also give but didn't fall into the "Critical Level" so they didn't recommend anything. They are:
Front:
Sodium = 33ppm, Magnesium = 209ppm, Calcium = 7177ppm
Back:
Sodium = 31ppm, Magnesium = 117ppm, Calcium = 5595ppm

Thanks for any additional help. I'm still stumped - does this extra info help? What do the Alfalfa pellets do?

Alfalfa pellets do this...

{{gwi:79605}}

Do I need to say more? That pic is from this forum about a year ago. The alfalfa was applied in May and photographed in June. Grass was zoysia. Note the improved density, color, and growth. Alfalfa is one of many organic fertilizers. It provides real food to the soil microbes. Those microbes then turn the food into plant food - the way Mother Nature has been doing it for billions of years. I like alfalfa pellets because you can usually find them packaged as rabbit food. They are cheap in 50-pound bags - much cheaper than bags of organic fertilizer.

If you could post the sulfur, conductivity, and everything else in the results, it might make a difference. There are people here much smarter than I about soil chemistry. I'm more of a soil biology kind of guy. It is interesting to note the difference in magnesium and calcium from front to back. Don't you wonder how that happened? I do know that beyond the levels of these metal ions, there are ratios of one to the other that make a difference in the soil's performance.

Here are the Conductivity and Sulfur levels.
Front:Conduct. = 154 umho/cm; Sulfur = 20 ppm
Back:Conduct. = 147 umho/cm; Sulfur = 13 ppm

I'm not sure when the sod was put down since it was already installed when we purchased this new home in February. Grass is actually doing really well right now (post leveling) in the back except for a shady spot on the side. I'm thinking I still want grass there - what type would you recommend? It's about 6'x10' on the west side of the house.

Thanks again!

"Grass is actually doing really well right now (post leveling) in the back except for a shady spot on the side. I'm thinking I still want grass there - what type would you recommend? It's about 6'x10' on the west side of the house."

You have not previously mentioned what kind of grass that is already established in your yard. Since it appears you are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, can we assume you have a warm season grass like bermuda, St. Augustine, or zoysia?

If you want a normal turf grass for shade, then St Augustine is for you. Don't get Floratam for shade though. It works best in full sun. But the other varieties are fine. A non traditional shade type grass is called Shadow Turf and is only available at certain nurseries. Call around. It is a variety of zoysia that does particularly well in shade. It is fine bladed and would match a hybrid bermuda like Tiff 419.

Thanks! Yes, I'm in DFW, TX and I have Tiff 419. Looks like I'm going to have to spring for some Shadow Turf in the shady areas.

I'm going to try uploading some photos - They are not recent but show what it looked like at Scalping and 2 weeks later after some sand.

I don't have a lot of time with my new baby so I've been grabbing 4 bags of play sand at a time and leveling out the trouble spots (e.g. sprinkler line areas). Things are going swimmingly! I am now able to mow to 1" with my rotary without "crop circles."

I'm putting down GreenMax every month at the recommended rate and that has greened things up considerably. I'll try and post more progress pictures as I put down more sand. I anticipate it will probably take a year or 2 at this rate.

Week 2 before mowing.

Week 2 (7/29) after mowing.

The batch of brown back left is where I was chipping golf balls (it filled in completely after a week.) You'll also notice, the company that stained my fence did a number on the grass around the edges - it's coming back slowly. Seriously, nothing will kill this stuff!