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Old 18-01-2011, 05:02 PM
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Default To much Mud

Hello,

I have just built a house where we dug into the ground to build. Now I want to concerntrate on the garden which is just a mud slide at the moment, so much so if you walk on it you sink. Also the wet conditions and lots of snow did not help.

Is it possible to pack the mud down so I can plant grass seeds?.

Other important points are,

The land is just mud and Earth, no stones to be found anywhere.

Last summer when we were building lots of weeds grew on the land, so it is growable.

Also how do i stop the weeds from growing?

Thanks
Jason.
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Old 19-01-2011, 12:20 AM posted to rec.gardens
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,036
Default To much Mud

Jason in a mud wrote:
Hello,

I have just built a house where we dug into the ground to build. Now I
want to concerntrate on the garden which is just a mud slide at the
moment, so much so if you walk on it you sink. Also the wet conditions
and lots of snow did not help.

Is it possible to pack the mud down so I can plant grass seeds?.


No, not if you want to grow good grass with deep roots that will be durable.
You need to open up the soil which cannot be done until it dries out.
Working wet soil will just destroy any structure that remains and make it
into adobe. The digging down for the house foundations will have brought
sub-soil to the surface which is probably undesirable unless you are lucky
enough to live where the topsoil is metres deep. Subsoil is often high in
clay or sand and low in organic matter. Depending on what you have you may
want to improve what is there or bring in new topsoil to cover it.

As you mention snow my guess is you are in winter now so your grass seed
wouldn't germinate very well, if at all. Start getting your yard landscaped
and the soil ready when it dries out and wait for spring before planting.
There is a lot involved in starting from a bare patch of dirt so spend some
time planning, reading garden design books etc before you start. You can
waste a great deal of time and money rushing in to plant stuff without
thinking about the long term layout. The key aim is to create areas in the
yard that suit what YOU want to do there and how YOU want it to look. Aside
from useage and looks you need to take into account sun, wind, drainage and
climate at least.

There are many possible surfaces for your yard - grass is just one of them.
Grass has two uses: feeding herbivores and making a soft self-regenerating
play surface for children and sports, other than that it is a huge cost to
sow, fertilise, water, mow etc. There are many other ways to cover your
bare dirt that are more interesting and useful than grass, unless you have a
football team. Even if you love grass so much you couldn't grow anything
else you will need hard paths in high wear areas or they will go back to mud
due to damage to the plants and soil compaction.


Other important points are,

The land is just mud and Earth, no stones to be found anywhere.

Last summer when we were building lots of weeds grew on the land, so
it is growable.

Also how do i stop the weeds from growing?


Weeds love bare earth. The two best way to stop them is to cover the earth
by growing something else there and/or mulching the soil. Organic mulches
that will decay to improve your soil structure are better than inorganic
mulches like stones in most cases.

David

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Old 19-01-2011, 01:11 AM posted to rec.gardens
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2008
Posts: 224
Default To much Mud

On Jan 18, 6:20*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
Jason in a mud wrote:

Hello,


I have just built a house where we dug into the ground to build. Now I
want to concerntrate on the garden which is just a mud slide at the
moment, so much so if you walk on it you sink. Also the wet conditions
and lots of snow did not help.


Is it possible to pack the mud down so I can plant grass seeds?.


No, not if you want to grow good grass with deep roots that will be durable.
You need to open up the soil which cannot be done until it dries out.
Working wet soil will just destroy any structure that remains and make it
into adobe. *The digging down for the house foundations will have brought
sub-soil to the surface which is probably undesirable unless you are lucky
enough to live where the topsoil is metres deep. *Subsoil is often high in
clay or sand and low in organic matter. *Depending on what you have you may
want to improve what is there or bring in new topsoil to cover it.

As you mention snow my guess is you are in winter now so your grass seed
wouldn't germinate very well, if at all. *Start getting your yard landscaped
and the soil ready when it dries out and wait for spring before planting.
There is a lot involved in starting from a bare patch of dirt so spend some
time planning, reading garden design books etc before you start. *You can
waste a great deal of time and money rushing in to plant stuff without
thinking about the long term layout. *The key aim is to create areas in the
yard that suit what YOU want to do there and how YOU want it to look. *Aside
from useage and looks you need to take into account sun, wind, drainage and
climate at least.

There are many possible surfaces for your yard - grass is just one of them.
Grass has two uses: feeding herbivores and making a soft self-regenerating
play surface for children and sports, other than that it is a huge cost to
sow, fertilise, water, mow etc. *There are many other ways to cover your
bare dirt that are more interesting and useful than grass, unless you have a
football team. *Even if you love grass so much you couldn't grow anything
else you will need hard paths in high wear areas or they will go back to mud
due to damage to the plants and soil compaction.



Other important points are,


The land is just mud and Earth, no stones to be found anywhere.


Last summer when we were building lots of weeds grew on the land, so
it is growable.


Also how do i stop the weeds from growing?


*Weeds love bare earth. *The two best way to stop them is to cover the earth
by growing something else there and/or mulching the soil. *Organic mulches
that will decay to improve your soil structure are better than inorganic
mulches like stones in most cases.

David


Nice answer. The only think I might add is that you can probably test
the soil for pH now and toss on the appropriate stuff to let it over
winter. Usually the soil will be acidic, and you might want to throw a
few handfuls of lime out there.

Chris
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Old 19-01-2011, 05:17 PM posted to rec.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2010
Posts: 18
Default To much Mud

On Jan 18, 4:11*pm, Chris wrote:
On Jan 18, 6:20*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:





Jason in a mud wrote:


Hello,


I have just built a house where we dug into the ground to build. Now I
want to concerntrate on the garden which is just a mud slide at the
moment, so much so if you walk on it you sink. Also the wet conditions
and lots of snow did not help.


Is it possible to pack the mud down so I can plant grass seeds?.


No, not if you want to grow good grass with deep roots that will be durable.
You need to open up the soil which cannot be done until it dries out.
Working wet soil will just destroy any structure that remains and make it
into adobe. *The digging down for the house foundations will have brought
sub-soil to the surface which is probably undesirable unless you are lucky
enough to live where the topsoil is metres deep. *Subsoil is often high in
clay or sand and low in organic matter. *Depending on what you have you may
want to improve what is there or bring in new topsoil to cover it.


As you mention snow my guess is you are in winter now so your grass seed
wouldn't germinate very well, if at all. *Start getting your yard landscaped
and the soil ready when it dries out and wait for spring before planting.
There is a lot involved in starting from a bare patch of dirt so spend some
time planning, reading garden design books etc before you start. *You can
waste a great deal of time and money rushing in to plant stuff without
thinking about the long term layout. *The key aim is to create areas in the
yard that suit what YOU want to do there and how YOU want it to look. *Aside
from useage and looks you need to take into account sun, wind, drainage and
climate at least.


There are many possible surfaces for your yard - grass is just one of them.
Grass has two uses: feeding herbivores and making a soft self-regenerating
play surface for children and sports, other than that it is a huge cost to
sow, fertilise, water, mow etc. *There are many other ways to cover your
bare dirt that are more interesting and useful than grass, unless you have a
football team. *Even if you love grass so much you couldn't grow anything
else you will need hard paths in high wear areas or they will go back to mud
due to damage to the plants and soil compaction.


Other important points are,


The land is just mud and Earth, no stones to be found anywhere.


Last summer when we were building lots of weeds grew on the land, so
it is growable.


Also how do i stop the weeds from growing?


*Weeds love bare earth. *The two best way to stop them is to cover the earth
by growing something else there and/or mulching the soil. *Organic mulches
that will decay to improve your soil structure are better than inorganic
mulches like stones in most cases.


David


Nice answer. The only think I might add is that you can probably test
the soil for pH now and toss on the appropriate stuff to let it over
winter. Usually the soil will be acidic, and you might want to throw a
few handfuls of lime out there.

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Mud implies that there may be issues with drainage. There is really
nothing you can do now in winter to improve conditions for planting a
lawn other than to stay off of the soil/mud whenever possible and
perhaps even spread a mulch (straw?) to prevent further damage, if
snow cover not present. Once temperatures warm and winter rains
diminish, you should investigate any drainage issues, correct them
before anything else and then consider adding some organic matter to
the 'soil' to improve fertility. Organic matter will also help
alleviate compaction, which is generally what you will get with
heavily traveled mud and compaction is not helpful to establishing a
lawn.

You should have a soil test done after correcting any drainage
problems and before adding any amendments. Tossing out a "few
handfuls" of lime is not going to accomplish anything unless you know
what you are dealing with with regards to soil pH - you need to know
what the pH is *before* starting and exactly how much lime is needed
to reduce acidity - should it even be a concern - to acceptable
levels. A soil test will also tell you what sort of nutrients may be
lacking so you know how to amend the soil before planting the lawn.

Weeds will grow regardless of conditions, even in a planted area. You
just need to be on top of the situation and remove them as they
appear, without allowing them to flower and seed. Manual removal is
typically the most efficient method, providing the weeds do not get
ahead of you, and it is far less damaging to the environment than
mindlessly spraying a herbicide.
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Old 20-01-2011, 01:46 AM posted to rec.gardens
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2008
Posts: 224
Default To much Mud

On Jan 19, 11:17*am, gardengal wrote:
On Jan 18, 4:11*pm, Chris wrote:



On Jan 18, 6:20*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:


Jason in a mud wrote:


Hello,


I have just built a house where we dug into the ground to build. Now I
want to concerntrate on the garden which is just a mud slide at the
moment, so much so if you walk on it you sink. Also the wet conditions
and lots of snow did not help.


Is it possible to pack the mud down so I can plant grass seeds?.


No, not if you want to grow good grass with deep roots that will be durable.
You need to open up the soil which cannot be done until it dries out.
Working wet soil will just destroy any structure that remains and make it
into adobe. *The digging down for the house foundations will have brought
sub-soil to the surface which is probably undesirable unless you are lucky
enough to live where the topsoil is metres deep. *Subsoil is often high in
clay or sand and low in organic matter. *Depending on what you have you may
want to improve what is there or bring in new topsoil to cover it.


As you mention snow my guess is you are in winter now so your grass seed
wouldn't germinate very well, if at all. *Start getting your yard landscaped
and the soil ready when it dries out and wait for spring before planting.
There is a lot involved in starting from a bare patch of dirt so spend some
time planning, reading garden design books etc before you start. *You can
waste a great deal of time and money rushing in to plant stuff without
thinking about the long term layout. *The key aim is to create areas in the
yard that suit what YOU want to do there and how YOU want it to look. *Aside
from useage and looks you need to take into account sun, wind, drainage and
climate at least.


There are many possible surfaces for your yard - grass is just one of them.
Grass has two uses: feeding herbivores and making a soft self-regenerating
play surface for children and sports, other than that it is a huge cost to
sow, fertilise, water, mow etc. *There are many other ways to cover your
bare dirt that are more interesting and useful than grass, unless you have a
football team. *Even if you love grass so much you couldn't grow anything
else you will need hard paths in high wear areas or they will go back to mud
due to damage to the plants and soil compaction.


Other important points are,


The land is just mud and Earth, no stones to be found anywhere.


Last summer when we were building lots of weeds grew on the land, so
it is growable.


Also how do i stop the weeds from growing?


*Weeds love bare earth. *The two best way to stop them is to cover the earth
by growing something else there and/or mulching the soil. *Organic mulches
that will decay to improve your soil structure are better than inorganic
mulches like stones in most cases.


David


Nice answer. The only think I might add is that you can probably test
the soil for pH now and toss on the appropriate stuff to let it over
winter. Usually the soil will be acidic, and you might want to throw a
few handfuls of lime out there.


Chris- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Mud implies that there may be issues with drainage. There is really
nothing you can do now in winter to improve conditions for planting a
lawn other than to stay off of the soil/mud whenever possible and
perhaps even spread a mulch (straw?) to prevent further damage, if
snow cover not present. Once temperatures warm and winter rains
diminish, you should investigate any drainage issues, correct them
before anything else and then consider adding some organic matter to
the 'soil' to improve fertility. Organic matter will also help
alleviate compaction, which is generally what you will get with
heavily traveled mud and compaction is not helpful to establishing a
lawn.

You should have a soil test done after correcting any drainage
problems and before adding any amendments. Tossing out a "few
handfuls" of lime is not going to accomplish anything unless you know
what you are dealing with with regards to soil pH - you need to know
what the pH is *before* starting and exactly how much lime is needed
to reduce acidity - should it even be a concern - to acceptable
levels. A soil test will also tell you what sort of nutrients may be
lacking so you know how to amend the soil before planting the lawn.


Indeed. That's why I suggested to test the soil pH before deciding
what amendment might be appropriate. I live in an area with acidic
soil so lime is what came to mine.

According to what I have read, it takes weeks or months for lime to
have an effect. That's why I suggested testing the soil now, rather
than in Spring. Since I don't have the problem of alkaline soil, I
don't know how long it takes to amend that problem. I suspect adding
some kind of sulfur would work much more quickly.

And thank you for informative answer. There was a lot of good info in
there.

Chris


Weeds will grow regardless of conditions, even in a planted area. You
just need to be on top of the situation and remove them as they
appear, without allowing them to flower and seed. Manual removal is
typically the most efficient method, providing the weeds do not get
ahead of you, and it is far less damaging to the environment than
mindlessly spraying a herbicide.


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