On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:44:42 -0600, Eggs Zachtly
wrote:

dgk said:



[...]


Ok, I'm convinced. I hold off on tilling. One other thing I should
have mentioned is that there is no way to get anything into the
backyard without going through the house, so sod is going to be
awkward. But, I never heard of a sod cutter before and it certainly
makes sense that tilling clay can be messy.

A sod cutter resembles a heavy mower, or tiller. It has a blade that sits
parallel to the ground, and the depth of its cut is adjustable. As the
cutter propels itself along, the blade moves side to side, as well as
front/back, in order to cut a long strip of sod, leaving behind a fairly
smooth (barring any rocks) surface.

You then cut the long strip into smaller ones, making them easier to
handle. Just roll them up and carry them off. The new sod comes in small
rolls, that you just unroll in place and snug up against the previously
laid one.

....

Garden World (which is familiar with the local soil) says that I
likely wouldn't have much problem with clay after a few passes with a
tiller, but that I would need to compact the soil, or sink every time
someone walked on it.

That's a problem with having an attached house (row house) since
getting anything into or out of the yard usually means going though
the house. There is really no way to get a big roller back there. It
also means some heavy and messy lifting for sod.

So I went the conservative route for this time. I spent Saturday
digging up the bare areas and filling them in with peat moss, topsoil,
and some lime and seed. I then did the topping suggested by the link
from Data. I spread peat moss all over the lawn, then went over it
with lime (pellets). I also did the areas reserved for vegetables.
Then I watered (lightly)

Sunday I fertilized and watered (lightly) and had the first barbeque
of the season. Now I wait to see how much of the see is left by the
birds. Much of it is buried under the thin peatmoss layer so I should
be all right.

Thanks again for the advice. It won't be perfect but it won't be a big
mess either.