In article ,
Naga Jolokia wrote:

On 5/1/2010 1:21 PM, Billy wrote:

A damn fine answer, . . . to a different question.

Hi everyone,

I actually learn a lot from these answers.

I just got the first yard of compost today. Perhaps at least 5 more
loads during next week.

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/...ard+Waste/Home.
htm

At about $25 a yard--more like three yards--to me, it's quite a much
better deal than the bagged stuff from Home Depot.

The stuff looks marvelous. It's all black with small pieces of
partially composted wood chips. I think that would help a lot with the
drainage but I am quite sure that without added sand, this stuff is
going to retain water for a much longer period. I initially plan to add
only sand to improve drainage, now per your suggestions, I think I have
to mix in some clay to help the stuff binding together.

My next question.

I need to redo the lawn. Currently, my lawn is really not a lawn at
all. It's mostly bared, hard clay soil with weeds and a few strains of
grass. It looks quite terrible. From my understanding, the grass roots
can't penetrate the clay and also that the water can't get down to the
soil deep enough to support the grass.

I plan to put a layer of compost mixed with screened fill dirt on top of
the clay.

My question is: How thick the new layer of soil should be to support
the grass and retain water for a reasonable period? I am looking for
the minimum thickness, not the optimal one, for the obvious reason of
cost. The question can be asked in another form: how deep the root of
the grass normally reach down into the soil?

Many thanks for your suggestions and help.

Naga

Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
by Toby Hemenway
http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-S...ulture/dp/1603
580298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271266976&sr=1-1

p.27
Our love of tidy but not very diverse yards is
imprinted on us by our culture. The immaculate
lawn, under siege from ecological writers every-
where, developed in the mild and evenly moist
climate of Great Britain. Its implications are deeply
woven into our psyche. A lawn in preindustrial
times trumpeted to all that the owner possessed
enough wealth to use some land for sheer ornament,
instead of planting all of it to food crops.

And close-mowed grass proclaimed affluence, too:
a herd of sheep large enough to crop the lawn
uniformly short. These indicators of status whis-
per to us down the centuries. By consciously recog-
nizing the influence of this history, we can free
ourselves of it and let go of the reflexive impulse to
roll sod over the entire landscape.
------

Before you plant your lawn, you might consider more of park type setting
with edible landscape.

Otherwise, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you about
lawns.

I hope, whatever you do, you do it organically.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

On 2010-05-02, Naga Jolokia wrote:

I need to redo the lawn. Currently, my lawn is really not a lawn at
all. It's mostly bared, hard clay soil with weeds and a few strains of
grass. It looks quite terrible. From my understanding, the grass roots
can't penetrate the clay and also that the water can't get down to the
soil deep enough to support the grass.

I plan to put a layer of compost mixed with screened fill dirt on top of
the clay.
XX
Naga

Use some gypsum to loosen that clay soil along with your thin
layer of compost each year.
--
Bud