Srgnt Billko wrote:

Jim Ledford wrote:
Elena Sofia wrote:

My neighbour tells me that my lawn is struggling (in terms of colour
and strength), in spite of my best efforts, because when the house was
built, witnessed by him, there was "a lot of clay in the soil."

What can be done to a lawn that has a lot of clay? Is there a
particular treatment that would lessen whatever adverse effect is
caused by clay?

Thanks.

lime.

I think ya got the right idea - but don't you mean gypsum ?

no. lime.

the first real problem needing correction where grass is to
be grown in heavy clay content soil is to correct the pH of
the heavy clay soil. a pH of 7 is ideal for most all grass
types. clay most always test at a pH of 4 to 4.8 it takes
one ton of lime to the acre to move the pH one point on that
one acre of land. after having the clay soil tested to gain
a starting point break the applications down into 4 to 6
applications separated by at least 4 week intervals. also most
yards are not a full acre after we subtract square footage for
the house, driveway, shop, pool and patio. great care and caution
should be exercised to avoid applying lime to areas near azaleas,
rhododendrons, dogwoods and other acid soil loving plants. drop
spreaders mostly suck, however, if one can not learn to control the
width of the broadcast from a broadcast spreader then they are at
the mercy of the confounded drop spreaders when applying lime near
those acid lovers.

lime is the secret to a beautiful healthy lush green lawn. lots
of good stuff locked in that clay and once the pH is moved up to
a 7 that plant food is released and becomes available to the plants.

most people prefer ruining our environment with a 15.00 dollar
bag of fertilizer than actually improving the soil with a 3.00
dollar bag of lime. oh, and lime should actually be purchased
at your local Farm supply dealer for $2.70 a 40 pound bag.