How To Fix Poor Lawn Soil

Weeds love bare patches, so if you don't act quickly, they will. Spring's cool, wet weather is conducive to growing many types of turfgrass. Start by digging up the damaged section, plus 6 inches of surrounding, healthy lawn, cutting about 2 inches deep. Then level the soil and add a small amount of soil amendment, such as a plant-based compost, and starter fertilizer. If you're using seed, cover it lightly with straw and keep the ground moist until germination.

For sod, which is about 10 times more expensive than seed but tends to work better, cut a section to fit, press it into place, and water frequently until it takes root. At the opposite end of the scale from sandy soil are clay soils. These hold water and nutrients very well but don't drain as well as sandy soils, especially if compacted, a common situation for lawns with a clay soil base. This nutrient-rich material serves to moderate the hardness of the mineral component. When the soil is predominantly clay or sand, the addition of organic matter makes clay soil looser, and easier to work.

In clay soils, organic matter additions improve drainage, and allow air to move into the soil more readily. In sandy soil, it helps to hold moisture and nutrients in the root zone of the lawn. Organic matter has the magical quality of being able to help both soil problems. If you want to know what it looks like, buy a bag of compost at a garden center. High-quality composts are predominantly organic matter.

Gypsum is easily applied to the soil surface with a regular lawn spreader. It's an ideal amendment for improving soil structure and relieving compaction in existing lawns and gardens. Before seeding or sodding, it's important to thoroughly work the soil.

Amend poor soils, such as heavy clay, by adding organic matter. Sources include compost, rotted manure, peat, and quality topsoil. Sand is not suggested as a material to improve clay soils for home lawns. When planting trees and shrubs, always dig generous planting holes shallow and wide. The hole should be at least twice the width of the root ball or the container in which the plant is growing and no deeper than the root ball of the tree or shrub to be planted. Soil loosened below the root ball will settle over time, creating a planting depression that will accumulate excess water.

In heavy clay soils, planting trees and shrubs a few inches above the grade of the surrounding soil is preferrable. In extreme cases, mound planting is preferable, as it can help with root development above existing compacted soil. Anyone who has dealt with compacted garden soil knows just how frustrating it can be. Not only can it be tricky to get a shovel or trowel into the dirt, but it can also be tricky for plants to grow in it. Compacted soil can be a common issue for soils that contain a high amount of clay and also receive a high amount of foot traffic.

This type of soil can get waterlogged, or alternatively, have trouble drinking up water at all. One method of improving the quality of soils that have been compacted is to cultivate the compacted soil and mix compost through it. This process should help to add more nutrients to the soil, give it aeration, and allow plants to have an easier job of growing within it. Clay, silty and sandy are three other common soil types and the right combination of them makes up loamy soil.

Sandy soil particles are large which causes water and nutrients to drain too quickly out of the soil. When doing your soil jar test, sandy soil will be the first layer to settle at the bottom and should make up 40% of the jar's soil. Since sandy particles are heavier, you'll begin to see that layer a few minutes after you set the jar down to settle. It's easiest to see all the layers if you mark each layer as they settle. Silt will settle on top of the clay particles and usually looks darker in color.

Your silt layer will settle in about 4-5 hours and should make up around 40% of your soil. Clay soil has tiny particles which creates poor drainage in the soil if you have too much of it. Since clay particles are the smallest of the three soil types in your jar test you'll see the layer on top. You should also have some trace amounts of organic matter floating just over the clay layer or at the top of your jar. Clay's potential as one of the best soil types for plant growth lies in its unique properties.

Managed well, clay soil typically requires less irrigation and less fertilizer, and leads to healthier plants all around. A high clay soil holds on to nutrients, stays wet longer, and is slow to warm up and dry off in spring. These soils are slimey and can be formed in your hand when wet. Avoid working high clay soils when wet – this leads to compaction.

Clay soils are made of extremely small particles that are packed close together. When lawns growing on clay soils receive even moderate foot traffic, the particles mash together in what is known as compaction. There is little room for water and air, because the voids are reduced. The limited space tends to fill up with water after a rainfall, leaving little or no oxygen for the root system.

Water does not pass quickly through clay soils, and often will move downward only after the soil voids are completely saturated. Amending the soil used to backfill planting holes provides questionable benefits. If any soil amendment is done in the planting hole, provide for a gradual transition of soil types . If the backfill soil is drastically different from the existing soil, roots will not readily penetrate the soil around the planting hole. Significant textural differences in soil can also affect soil water movement.

If the container growing mix is high in peat and the surrounding soil is clay, water will tend to move out of the root ball. Excessively wet root zones may result when the tree's or shrub's root ball is high in clay content and the backfill soil contains a high level of organic matter. Compaction is most likely to occur with heavier soils like clay and loam, but when heavy equipment is used, sandy soils can become compacted. These are soil particles that are packed closely together.

The problem may be compounded by events that have happened to the soil over the course of years. The pore spaces are reduced to the point that air and water cannot move freely and plant roots cannot grow easily into the surrounding soil. The soil could remain overly wet longer than is healthy for the plants growing there. Breaks apart clay bonds to create microscopic air space deep into the clay. It also adds liquid organic matter to help generate and feed beneficial soil microbes of all types at the same time. It helps improve drainage in your lawn clay, encourages deeper rooting, frees up nutrients and water in the root zone and helps move organic matter deeper into the soil.

By improving clay conditions you can create a much healthier lawn in a more bioactive soil. Many patchy lawns suffer from compacted soil, which deprives grass roots of needed oxygen. Removing plugs of soil with a core aerator allows air and water to penetrate the ground and leaves space for surrounding soil to expand and loosen.

Plan ahead and reserve the core aerator for at least half a day for an average-size lawn. You'll need a truck or trailer to haul the core aerator home. The machine weighs 150 to 200 lbs., so it takes some muscle to move around.

If you're not up to the task, consider hiring a lawn service for this part of the job . Allow a day between aerating and seeding to let the soil plugs dry. Dry plugs will break up easier when you blend them in along with the dressing of topsoil. In addition to incorporation into the soil, applying organic matter as mulch is beneficial for many flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs.

Top-dressing of lawns may be done with good topsoil or topsoil–organic material combinations to smooth out irregular areas in the lawn or help decay thatch. Adding a few inches of topsoil does not generally improve the texture or performance of heavy clay and poorly drained soils unless it is done in combination with core aerification. Next, gently squeeze the ball to lengthen it into a strip or 'ribbon' and see how long you can make it before it starts to break up. The more clay it contains, the longer the ribbon will get and the more plastic it will feel to the touch.

Soil ribbons can range in length from about 5mm – 75mm, with sandy soils being shortest, loamy soils in the middle and clay soils the longest. While soils that contain a lot of clay or sand may need work to improve them, loamy soils are generally ideal. These contain a mixture of sand, silt, organic matter and clay, providing the right balance of nutrients, oxygen, water and drainage which are just what your lawn needs.

Ideal soils for lawns have a loose structure to allow water, air, and nutrients to penetrate through them. Soil that contains too much clay will pack down, making it difficult for the plants to spread their roots and access much-needed moisture. Soil that contains too much sand becomes very loose and allows too much water to flow through, without allowing the plants time to absorb the moisture. Unlike manufactured fertilizers, organic matter releases nutrients slowly into the soil, keep it nourished for long periods of time. A good lawn soil also includes an element that aids with moisture retention and keeps the plants well hydrated. Soils with a high composition of sand barely hold together and feel gritty.

The larger particles create pores for water and nutirents to move through quickly. They tend to be nutirent deficient, fast draining and dry. High sand soils will need watering and fertilizing more often. Sandy soils are very well drained, and sometimes excessively so.

The angular shape of the particles creates lots of air space so that water passes through the soil quickly. In general, roots thrive in sandy soils, because they get the oxygen they need to grow well. Another advantage is that sandy soils hold their shape well, and resist compaction. Golf course greens and professional sports fields are heavily sand based. They require compaction resistance and rapid drainage to maintain a firm, safe playing surface.

For centuries people have been adding things to poor soils to improve their ability to support healthy plant growth. Some of these materials, such as compost, clay and peat, are still used extensively today. Many soil amendments also add nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen, as well as beneficial bacteria. Additional nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, may be augmented by amendments as well.

This enriches the soil, allowing plants to grow bigger and stronger. The most common use of soil amendments is to improve soil structure. Soil compaction impedes root growth, decreasing the ability of plants to take up nutrients and water. Soil amendments can add more loft and texture to keep the soil loose.

A common problem in gardens with clay soils are drainage issues, with lawns often becoming waterlogged and quickly turning to mud in winter. If drainage is very poor it may be worth addressing this before sowing. Introducing land drains can be a time consuming and costly job but can be worth it as the benefits will last for a very long time. Most clay soils aren't too severe and better drainage can usually be achieved by using a less expensive method. Applying lime or gypsum can do wonders for soil drainage whilst aeration and fertiliser management can further improve soil structure.

How To Fix Bad Soil Lawn Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to change clay into perfect soil. What we focus on is changing the soil structure, rather than try to change the type of soil. You improve the soil structure by breaking up the compacted clay and adding organic material. This gives the clay something useful to bind to, and it is a material that combats every problem that clay causes. The organic material will improve drainage, resist compaction, and both holds and releases nutrients and water.

This relates to how the different soil particles are arranged, the aggregates they form and the spaces between them. Well-structured soil will also have plenty of air spaces to provide oxygen, allow water to penetrate and facilitate drainage. Poorly structured soils are often hard and compacted, don't accept water easily, have few air spaces and are subject to erosion.

In simple terms they're bad news for you and your lawn and need to be improved. Last but certainly not least is the all-important fertiliser application. Doing so in Spring and Autumn can provide year-round coverage.

The main benefit in clay soils is the additional boost to drainage and root growth as this helps in especially wet and dry situations. Good news is there's an easy and inexpensive solution – compost! Compost is decomposed organic material that's used as a plant fertilizer and soil.

With the vegetation killed off, it's time to till the soil. Turn over the soil to a depth of five or six inches, incorporating all of the dead organic material. Now is the time to add organic material like humus, manure, or organic compost.