help with a dry sandy lawn

[wildstarblazer]

I just got a customer with a lawn that is declining because of hot weather, sandy soil and no irrigation sept his hand watering. I suggested aerating and top dressing with compost but I cant get the ammount of compost needed to the site. would compost tea work as a substitute or a good organic fert help to build the soil to hold water better? Any suggestions?

[Smallaxe]

If you are going into a heat drought w/out water that last thing you need to do is try to stimulate green leafy growth with N,P or K. Getting any OM on site is better than nothing.
Mow higher and leave the clippings, or stop mowing altogether until its worth while.

[wildstarblazer]

I'm not trying to stimulate growth really. Just want the soil to hold water better. He does water, but it is manually with a hose.

[treegal1]

heres a great supply of worm compost

http://www.compostwizard.com/

also try some yucca extract

[wildstarblazer]

Thanks for the info. That company was a little too far to be practical for me but he did give me some companies that are closer that might work.

[treegal1]

oh well, tried to help. good luck.

[Kiril]

compost does a soil good, everything else is secondary.

[JDUtah]

In one of the recent threads Bill mentioned his 123 NPP can aggregate sand in 4 days. He said if you need soil to hold water that is the stuff. Let me try to find the link...

Found it... this thread... post #10...

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=233727

[ICT Bill]

Yes NPP is a natural polymer, it is made from crab shells. We have several sports fields using it for what they call Hot Spots. The sports turf industry uses sand base and sometimes the nutrients and water just flow right through so they spray NPP and it holds the water and nutrients in the soil.

It will sink immediately to the bottom of the spray rig so you need to keep it agitated to stay in suspension.

It is a very interesting product Chitosan, it hydrolyzes fungi on contact as well. Fungal pressures? not anymore

it is sold on our website in quarts and gallons, it is mixed at 1/2 ounce per gallon and applied at 2 gallons per 1000 for maintenance. For hot spots you may want to use more water say 3 to 5 gallons per 1000

[wildstarblazer]

OK, just a few questions. all I have right now is a lesco back pack sprayer. will this work if I keep it agitated? (2)Is this product something I could use instead of topdressing or should I topdress anyway? (3)Also, how long does delivery take after registering at your site? thanks for the help.

[Smallaxe]

Yes NPP is a natural polymer, it is made from crab shells. We...

Say Bill, you say a natural polymer. Do you have any comment on "Liquid Gold" brand, and their 20,000 molecule weight, polymer? Is it natural or do you know?

I guess I didn't realize you had some, b4 I purchased the LG. - Sorry :)

[ICT Bill]

OK, just a few questions. all I have right now is a lesco back pack sprayer. will this work if I keep it agitated? (2)Is this product something I could use instead of topdressing or should I topdress anyway? (3)Also, how long does delivery take after registering at your site? thanks for the help.

Topdressing is topdressing, NPP is not a replacement, Good compost rules, please top dress with a good to great compost.

Delivery depends on how fast you want it and how much you want to spend. It is normally $7 to $8 UPS