synergy3000 wrote:
I moved into a new house which was built on old farm land. The dirt is
pretty crappy. Hard and clay like. The builder seeded the lot with
tall fescue which managed to grow ok. The lawn still looks a pale green
to yellow in areas. Any suggestion on how to build up the soil quality
in my yard? I've heard one suggestion of having top soil brought in.
How pricey would that be?
Any other suggestions?
Thanks

A couple years ago, I tried to improve the soil by spreading a layer of
top soil over the lawn. This involved manually spreading the top-soil,
and then use a large and wide landscape rake to smoothen the top soil
in order to prevent the top soil from smashing the grass. So far, I am
not sure if this has really helped anything. I cannot tell one way or
the other.

Please note that spreading top soil is a very time consuming and tiring
process. I only have a 1/4 arce property (with around 1/2 of the
property is lawn) and I was/am physically fit. Nevertheless, I was
very very tired after I had spreaded the top soil (took 2 days). I
promise myself never do this again unless I am doing this in very small
areas (like re-seeding bare spots in the lawn). Please think twice
before committing yourself to this course of action.

I also use mulching instead of bagging when I mow the lawn hoping that
this will add organic matters to the soil, and may improve the soil
quality. Again, I don't know if this really helps or not; but this
should not harm even if this doesn't help.

Jay Chan