"Bob F" wrote in message ...
HomeGuy wrote:
Guv Bob wrote:

What type of soil do you have in Long Beach?

Below 1-2 inches, it's hard-packed clay in this particular spot.
This was just an idea. Water won't penetrate it.

Grass roots don't really grow much below 2" anyways. Just look at
rolls of sod. They certainly don't come 2" thick (with soil).

Rolls of sod are sold with only enough soil/roots to survive till thet're layed.
Otherwise, the sod farms would quickly run out of soil.

I recently cut up a bunch of lawn for a garden with a rented sod cutter. I cut
2+" deep, and still had a tough layer of roots that my old rototiller couldn't
easily get through. There was at least 2" of root left, and I had to break it up
with a shovel before my tiller could do its job.

Of course, since you operate by the stupid theory that you have to water every
day if it gets over 80F (in another post), your grass will have no deep roots.
They only go deep if they have to to find water. My lawn has no problem with a
good watering once a week in 80F weather.

When I was testing the soil, grass roots in the good areas went down at least 4 inches. I'm inland in So Calif and we got less than 4 inches of rain last year. Where the grass is established, I seldom have to water more than once every 7-10 days. Over the years, I have watched to see which grass dies and which will go without water, and tried to expand the more drought tolerant. Seat of the pants method, but it works for me.