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staceyneil

I'm an experienced gardener but my lawn is torturing me!!!

Stacey Collins
12 years ago

Hi there,

I'm an experienced organic vegetable and perennial gardener, so I have a basic idea of what's what but the lawn at our newish home is driving me crazy. I'm hoping you can help point me in the right direction.

History: we bought the house in fall 2008. In spring of 2009 we discovered a major drainage issue, so we hired contractors to dig drainage ditches and regrade the lawn. They needed to bring in topsoil, and since I knew the existing soil was very poor (compacted, mostly clay with some sand and very little loam) I requested a compost/loam mixture to be sure we got more organic matter (rather than the standard builder loam that's horrible around here). However, the excavation guys used their own seed. I watered deeply and diligently and the first year we had a lush park of a lawn.

Second year (2010) I started seeing weeds. Lots and lots of them. I'd bought a load of composted cow manure and top-dressed very lightly with it, and maybe the weed seeds came from that. Lots of thistle, plantain, creeping charlie, and that white clover that spreads with long viny stems.

Third year (now)... It's horrible! It's probably 50% weeds. In addition, the grass is thin and sparse.

We have a lot of pine trees so I did add lime twice last year, though a cheapie pH test said it wasn't too bad. This year I've top-dressed the worst areas with compost and just applied corn gluten since we're about to have a rain and then a spell of dry weather.

We let our chickens out on the lawn, for what that's worth. They eat the grubs, which is nice, though they also sometimes dig holes in thin/bare areas.

I SUSPECT that the problem is a combination of;

1) bad (mostly annual) grass seed to start with

2) low-fertility in the soil (I probably should have fertilized last year)

3) Not enough good topsoil over the existing compacted clay soil :(

My guess is that the best, proper thing to do is to completely till it all up again, add a boatload more good loam, and start again. But we're talking about maybe 12,000 square feet, and I can't afford to hire someone with a tractor to come in again, so whatever I do will have to be done manually.

Would it be a waste of time to manually spread an inch or so more topsoil and reseed again next spring (or this fall?) I almost can't bear that, since we've already been though months of looking out at a mudfield from the first time. But the weedy lawn is just sad.... particularly compared to the lush and healthy vegetable garden. I need to do something!

All advice appreciated...

Comments (4)

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I thought of some more that might be pertinent.. sorry!

    We mow at the highest setting.

    I did a soil sample of lawn soil at the local co-op extension and it came back just so-so. Not off-the-charts deficient in anything. BUT it was a mixture of soils from around the yard, so some are from high-organic-matter areas and some from the compacted clay areas. I tend to think the good averaged out the bad and skewed the results.

    After more reading on this forum I'm suspecting that my next step may be to rent a core aerator. Do you think that, in combo with more top-dressing this spring... and then overseeding in the fall, is worth the time and $$? Or is a total major renovation still in order?

    Also, I have some alfalfa pellets I use on my fruit trees. (big honkin Blue Seal pellets, they are!) What's the rate of broadcast for those (taking into consideration that the chickens will likely eat some!), and how long shall I wait after today's corn gluten application to spread those, do you advise? I'm thinking 4 weeks or so?

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hi again kimmsr, and thanks for the reply. I'd read your soil test many other places on this forum. As desrcibed, though, it's really difficult to make a generalization about the soil since the lawn is pretty vast and contains both nice, healthy, loamy parts and compacted, acidic, clay-ey or sandy parts. It drains very well in some areas and very slowly in others. There are earthworms everywhere though... we have lots of earthworms, despite the chickens :)

    I'm thinking that the grass seed was mostly annual as well. I remember the first year there were some ridiculously fast-growing, tall grasses. There must have been SOME perennials in there too, since we did have a lawn last year, albeit an increasingly weedy one.

    So what's the fix? Do you think core aeration this spring, with more compost top-dressing; and then fall overseeding, will be the answer, or do I need to do something more drastic?

  • Kimmsr
    12 years ago

    What is the soils pH?
    How much organic matter is in that soil?
    How well does that soil drain?
    What kind of life is in the soil?
    What does that soil smell like?
    Perhaps these simple soil tests might be of some help
    1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

    2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

    3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

    4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

    5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

    I would suspect the contractor seeded annual grass seed which does germinate quickly but becomes very "weedy" long term.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    12 years ago

    STOP! Stop thinking so hard about this. Take a deep breath and realize all the good you have done so far. Seriously! Take a deep breath.

    You are already doing the basics of watering and mowing right. The only thing you left out is fertilizing. You also left out the part about getting the right seed and keeping up with it but lets go slowly.

    You don't need anything that requires machines.

    You don't need to bring in anything other than fertilizer.

    Forget about weeds and just accept them for THIS season. Accept the grass and weeds you have and care for them like they were the best grass you could have. Then in the early fall, right after the summer heat breaks, do your over seeding. Note that there are no fancy machines or soil needed for this. A mower is about all you need. You could rent a slit seeder, but let's deal with that in August and not now. The solution to keeping a decent northern grass lawn in the shade is annual overseeding every fall. Get used to it.

    Any alfalfa is good. Once you water it, it softens and makes it very hard for birds to pick up. Application rate is 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet no matter how big the pellets are. Next time, though, get rabbit pellets. Go ahead and get enough to apply 3 times before August. That will do more for your lawn than anything else. And it is a LOT less work than top dressing or aerating.

    If you want to test your soil, send it to Logan Labs. Cost is $20. They will give you a comprehensive report that someone here can read for you. If you need micro nutrients the report will tell you. Sometimes small amounts of micros will make life much easier for you.

    If you forget to seed in the fall, then that is a mistake. I would suggest not trying to recover from that by seeding in the spring. Spring seeding results in crabgrass. Fall seeding is the way to go. Just suck it up and suffer through the season of thin grass and all that entails.

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