Lawn puzzler - looks like lack of water (!)
 

Most of the lawn is growing far too fast but there are a few high spots
(also in the centre where there is the least shade) where the grass is not
really growing. It looks like a lawn in the middle of a summer drought.
Which we aren't.

Just out of curiosity I nipped out between rain showers and stuck a fork
in the dry looking area. Very hard underneath and I could barely get the
fork in. Just a bit further than the tips of the tines.

I then tried a couple of the greener areas and the fork went in more
easily (although not very easily). Say about a couple of inches or so.

I therefore have a correlation between apparent dryness and very hard soil.

I have forked some shallow holes into a couple of patches of the hard area
just to see if this will let more rain soak in and make the whole thing
more moist. It should be fairly obvious fairly soon given the amount of
rain falling today.

This isn't a problem that is urgent; come the revolution the lawn is going
anyway. I'm just wondering if there is a vicious circle here (sun dries
grass, subsoil hardens up, rain won't soak in, sun dries grass etc.) or if
something else is going on.

Memo to self; remember to give that part of the lawn a good forking over
in autumn when hopefully all the ground will be a bit more moist.

It may of course be compounded by the uneven lawn where high spots get
less rain absorbed.

Cheers


Dave R


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AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

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Lawn puzzler - looks like lack of water (!)
 

On 30/08/2017 13:06, David wrote:
Most of the lawn is growing far too fast but there are a few high spots
(also in the centre where there is the least shade) where the grass is not
really growing. It looks like a lawn in the middle of a summer drought.
Which we aren't.

Just out of curiosity I nipped out between rain showers and stuck a fork
in the dry looking area. Very hard underneath and I could barely get the
fork in. Just a bit further than the tips of the tines.

Is it hard soil or is there something like old wall foundations buried
there? At this time of year when the weather is dry grass tends to die
back over any shallow buried walls and foundations of long abandoned
houses and sheds. Our villages former medieval settlement stands out
clearly in the late September sunshine some years.

I then tried a couple of the greener areas and the fork went in more
easily (although not very easily). Say about a couple of inches or so.

Crumbs. If I put my weight on it my fork goes in to the hilt.

I therefore have a correlation between apparent dryness and very hard soil.

Might be worth peeling back the turf to see what is underneath.

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Regards,
Martin Brown