Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

On 4/3/06 6:49 AM, in article , "gary
foster" spewed forth this
gibberish...

My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

I've got the same type of lawn and my plans are to run a core aerator (pulls
little plugs out and makes holes) all over it then seed.. The problem with
our type of soil is that when you mow the lawn, you're back to where you
started as far a the perc value of the ground.

"Michael Keefe" wrote in message
...
On 4/3/06 6:49 AM, in article , "gary
foster" spewed forth this
gibberish...

My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

I've got the same type of lawn and my plans are to run a core aerator
(pulls
little plugs out and makes holes) all over it then seed.. The problem with
our type of soil is that when you mow the lawn, you're back to where you
started as far a the perc value of the ground.

The core Aerator is a good idea. Go over and over the lawn. Punch lots of
little holes...

Then, get a substantial amount of peat moss or good topsoil and rake into
the lawn. It'll sift down into the holes and will improve the soil.

Of course, it'll take several of these treatments to fix a clay lawn.

It might be just as easy to do it once by tilling in a couple of inches of
compost and sand. At least you could do it once and be done with it.

KB

gary foster wrote:
Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to
gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the
lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there
seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that
doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all
winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

How many square feet is it, Gary?

What is your location Gary?



"gary foster" wrote in message
...

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to
gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the
lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there
seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that
doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all
winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??


--
gary foster

http://axp.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/TURF/
http://www.ucanr.org/findinformation.cfm?findinfosub=6

I notice that you're in the UK. While the weather is different, the basics
on how to fix your lawn are the same. HTH
"gary foster" wrote in message
...

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to
gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the
lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there
seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that
doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all
winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??


--
gary foster

On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 21:24:39 +1200, "George.com"
wrote:


"gary foster" wrote in message
...

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to
gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the
lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there
seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that
doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all
winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

Gary. I inherited a lawn full of weed, running grasses, bald patches, moss,
hummocks and dips. My dad said I should simply rotovate it, level and
reseed. That seemed a lot of work at the time but it would have been easier
than what I did do to get the lawn in good nick - weed, dig and level,
re-seed, lime, scarify etc. I was lucky that the soil was good however. You
ca either do the hard work now or do it over a process of time throu
aerating, top dressing, re-seeding patches etc etc. If the basic soil is
shit you may very well have to rotovate some organic matter (animal crap &
compost) in anyway. I am quite pleased with the job I have done with the
(mainly) existing lawn and have learnt so much playing with it rather than
simple put a new one in.

If time is not essential to you, you could try renovating with some of the
ideas suggested by other posters such as aeration, top dressing (I have had
a 70% sand 30% top soil mix suggested to me) and adding minerals (lime or
gypsum). Other people have discussed aerating and top dressing so I won't go
into that.

Lime raises the ph in a acidic soil and gypsum also sweetens the soil
however I have most often seen it used on clay soils to make them more
friable (some chemical exchange occurs). Before applying lime however check
your soil ph. If it is around 6.5, or thereabouts, the ph level is ok for
growing grass and will not need lime. If well below that liming will be
beneficial. Lime/gypsum also helps to develop humus in the soil. This is a
layer of nearly decomposed organic matter just below the soil line where
microbal acvitity, bacteria, fungi and worms feed and live. In good soil
humus is a dark brown layer below the soil cover. Humus helps to retain
moisture when it is needed in dry weather but dispells water efficently in
wet periods.

So you can improve the drainage by aerating and top dressing with sand/soil
and apply lime or gypsum but you would be wise to practise methods which
build you your humus. For instance, don't use certain high sal based
fertilisers like potash, urea or potassium nitrate. These can actually stall
the development of humus over a period of time. My fertiliser of choice is
blood and bone (try 2 reasonable feeds in spring and 2 in autumn as a
starter) which actively builds the humus.

A rough method of determining whether you have the prescence of good humus
is a worm count. Dig a sod out of your lawn a spade length deep and square
and count the worms in it. 13-20 worms indicates good soil, under 5
indicates your soil is shit. Improve the humus and you improve the home for
the worms and you should find after a year or so your worm count increases
nicely. Worms will help aerate your soil and increase its drainage capacity.
Even, if you are really keen, seed your lawn with worms from the word go,
even as you add lime or organic fertiliser. A generation or 2 of worms may
sacrifice themselves for the sake of getting your soil working. You can
either buy them or, if you know someone who has a good compost system/worm
farm going, harvest them from the compost/wormfarm.

There is a bit of work there over 2-3 years eh. It takes probably around 4
years to get a soil working well. The emphasis on the soil though, and
stating the argument a little simplistically perhaps, is that is the key to
good grass growth. You can either feed the grass directly and degrade the
soil or you can get the soil right and the grass does well as a result.

One last matter. If your lawn looks patchy you could try scalping it over a
spring or winter and encouraging it to clump up. By that I mean cutting it
really low, I went down as far as number 2, for a few cuts and then slowly
lift the level of the blade up. This encourages grass to leaf outward at the
base rather than up all the time. Be sure however to have the grass at a
good height for any dry season so it can survive. The lawn will look shit
for a while as it is cut short but will look better after a few scalps.

Overall, there are no magic keys, just some time and patience and
experimentation. If all that sounds like too much effort your dad in law has
the answer.

rob


Rob,

Very nice report..

I'll use the PH measurement for checking out my yard..

In lovely Louisville Ky..

--- GO DERBY!! --

joe.henderson1@ wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 21:24:39 +1200, "George.com"
wrote:


"gary foster" wrote in message
...

Hello everyone, I'm a bit new to this computer stuff as well as to
gardening. The extent of my gardening knowledge runs to mowing the
lawn. Yup that's it i'm afraid.
So I need some advice. Under my patchy uneven rough looking lawn there
seems to be nothing but a very sticky gloopy clay like earth that
doesn't like to drain and it loves to have the water sit on it all
winter long until the sun arrives to evaporate it.
I want to sort it out this year but I'm not sure where to start.
My father in law says the best thing to do is throw bucket loads of
sharp sand over the top so I have a good covering and then rotovate the
entire thing, roll flat, rake, roll flat, level off and re-seed.
Does this sound like the best course of action to you guys??

Gary. I inherited a lawn full of weed, running grasses, bald patches,
moss,
hummocks and dips. My dad said I should simply rotovate it, level and
reseed. That seemed a lot of work at the time but it would have been
easier
than what I did do to get the lawn in good nick - weed, dig and level,
re-seed, lime, scarify etc. I was lucky that the soil was good however.
You
ca either do the hard work now or do it over a process of time throu
aerating, top dressing, re-seeding patches etc etc. If the basic soil is
shit you may very well have to rotovate some organic matter (animal crap
&
compost) in anyway. I am quite pleased with the job I have done with the
(mainly) existing lawn and have learnt so much playing with it rather
than
simple put a new one in.

If time is not essential to you, you could try renovating with some of
the
ideas suggested by other posters such as aeration, top dressing (I have
had
a 70% sand 30% top soil mix suggested to me) and adding minerals (lime or
gypsum). Other people have discussed aerating and top dressing so I won't
go
into that.

Lime raises the ph in a acidic soil and gypsum also sweetens the soil
however I have most often seen it used on clay soils to make them more
friable (some chemical exchange occurs). Before applying lime however
check
your soil ph. If it is around 6.5, or thereabouts, the ph level is ok for
growing grass and will not need lime. If well below that liming will be
beneficial. Lime/gypsum also helps to develop humus in the soil. This is
a
layer of nearly decomposed organic matter just below the soil line where
microbal acvitity, bacteria, fungi and worms feed and live. In good soil
humus is a dark brown layer below the soil cover. Humus helps to retain
moisture when it is needed in dry weather but dispells water efficently
in
wet periods.

So you can improve the drainage by aerating and top dressing with
sand/soil
and apply lime or gypsum but you would be wise to practise methods which
build you your humus. For instance, don't use certain high sal based
fertilisers like potash, urea or potassium nitrate. These can actually
stall
the development of humus over a period of time. My fertiliser of choice
is
blood and bone (try 2 reasonable feeds in spring and 2 in autumn as a
starter) which actively builds the humus.

A rough method of determining whether you have the prescence of good
humus
is a worm count. Dig a sod out of your lawn a spade length deep and
square
and count the worms in it. 13-20 worms indicates good soil, under 5
indicates your soil is shit. Improve the humus and you improve the home
for
the worms and you should find after a year or so your worm count
increases
nicely. Worms will help aerate your soil and increase its drainage
capacity.
Even, if you are really keen, seed your lawn with worms from the word go,
even as you add lime or organic fertiliser. A generation or 2 of worms
may
sacrifice themselves for the sake of getting your soil working. You can
either buy them or, if you know someone who has a good compost
system/worm
farm going, harvest them from the compost/wormfarm.

There is a bit of work there over 2-3 years eh. It takes probably around
4
years to get a soil working well. The emphasis on the soil though, and
stating the argument a little simplistically perhaps, is that is the key
to
good grass growth. You can either feed the grass directly and degrade the
soil or you can get the soil right and the grass does well as a result.

One last matter. If your lawn looks patchy you could try scalping it over
a
spring or winter and encouraging it to clump up. By that I mean cutting
it
really low, I went down as far as number 2, for a few cuts and then
slowly
lift the level of the blade up. This encourages grass to leaf outward at
the
base rather than up all the time. Be sure however to have the grass at a
good height for any dry season so it can survive. The lawn will look shit
for a while as it is cut short but will look better after a few scalps.

Overall, there are no magic keys, just some time and patience and
experimentation. If all that sounds like too much effort your dad in law
has
the answer.

rob


Rob,

Very nice report..

I'll use the PH measurement for checking out my yard..

Joe.

re-reading what I said I have got a few things a little wrong, eg lime and
gypsum may not actually build humus but provide an environment to encourage
its build. Humus needs organic matter. Too much humus can be bad for soils.
Some laboratories will test for humus and report it in verious ways along
with diagnostic tools for a home analysis. Also, the best time to scalp your
lawn based on my observation is autumn. My front lawn is looking really good
now after a period of recent rain. I threw on some blood and bone, let that
water in and then cut it down at number 2. It is thick and lush. The really
bad patches where I culled the running grasses have all but regrassed (a
turf rye variety I think) by themselves and there are very few weeds (I can
ahd weed them easily now). I have not detected any moss and the paspalum
type grasses are gone. The back lawn is not quite so flash. There is still
some moss and I have made to resow in a couple of shady places after I
scarified with a rake. The dogs also enjoy digging the turf and killing the
grass with crap. Even said however, it looks a lot better than when I frist
got it. Even the old man said it is looking nice. Long run effort can pay
off IF the existing lawn and soil is salvagable. Moine was however each
person has to be the judge of that.

rob