Soil peeling and cracking on the surface.

[mlong30]

Hi All,

I'm planning on reseeding my lawn this fall, and I wanted to know why does my front yard create this black crust peeling on the surface of my soil? It doesn't do this on the side of my house or the back, just the front. I wanted to know what causes this, and how can I fix it before I reseed.


http://www.lwintegrationtest.com/badlawn/badlawn1.jpg

http://www.lwintegrationtest.com/badlawn/badlawn2.jpg

http://www.lwintegrationtest.com/badlawn/badlawn3.jpg

http://www.lwintegrationtest.com/badlawn/badlawn4.jpg

Thanks.

Matt

[mngrassguy]

Cool. 20+ years in the bus and I must say I'm stumped. How about some history. What was put on the lawn? Any soil samples taken? How old is the sod?

[stevepk]

Leaking septic????

[jeffinsgf]

Does water stand there after a rain? That's what it looks like to me. Problem would go away with a slight elevation change and a good stand of grass.

[capelawncare.com]

yea... looks like a dried out pond to me

[poolboy]

Looks like bad sandy soil. You need to core aerate your yard in the early spring and late summer, then cover 1/8"-1/4" with compost (2yr old leaf-mold compost works best, if you can get it $$$).

[mlong30]

Cool. 20+ years in the bus and I must say I'm stumped. How about some history. What was put on the lawn? Any soil samples taken? How old is the sod?


<< How about some history. >>

My front yard is sod. It was put in place back in 1996, it was fine up until 2001 and it slowly started getting worse. I believe due to dry spot poor maintenance on my part.

<< What was put on the lawn? >>

Was using Scotts when I first started back in 1996, but was unsuccessful at removing weeds. Once I switched over to Lesco last fall I started having better results.

<< Any soil samples taken? >>
http://www.tinkertimes.com/badyard/lesco_soil_test.jpg

Matt

[mlong30]

Looks like bad sandy soil. You need to core aerate your yard in the early spring and late summer, then cover 1/8"-1/4" with compost (2yr old leaf-mold compost works best, if you can get it $$$).

Which soil would be better after I aerate?

Black Organic Topsoil or Grow Green Compost

http://www.tiffanylawnandgarden.com/product_categories.php

Matt

[Marcos]

Which soil would be better after I aerate?

Black Organic Topsoil or Grow Green Compost

http://www.tiffanylawnandgarden.com/product_categories.php

Matt

That mushroom compost looks like it would suffice quite nicely.
Seems awfully pricey, though.

Around here, homeowners can easily get bulk leaf / manure seasoned compost delivered and dumped, for around $23-$25 / cu. yd, factoring in any "buy 4 yd get 1 free", or similar offers.

Free delivery usually hinges on a minimum order of 4-5 yards, especially with gas & diesel prices these days.

[mngrassguy]

Which soil would be better after I aerate?

Black Organic Topsoil or Grow Green Compost

http://www.tiffanylawnandgarden.com/product_categories.php

Matt


Have you applied any of these in the past?

[mlong30]

Have you applied any of these in the past?

Never!

Matt

[poolboy]

I've only use the 2 year old leaf-mold compost from a local soil yard.....
http://www.natureswayresources.com/products.htm

[Michael950]

It looks like they are recommending a 3-3-1 fertilizer. What did the nursery who performed the soil analysis say?

[mlong30]

It looks like they are recommending a 3-3-1 fertilizer. What did the nursery who performed the soil analysis say?

Leso told me to use their Start Fertilizer. I put it down twice, this year.

Matt

[mlong30]

I've only use the 2 year old leaf-mold compost from a local soil yard.....
http://www.natureswayresources.com/products.htm

Which order should the following be done?

1. Spread Compost on soil
2. Aerate
3. Seeder

Matt

[mngrassguy]

Aerate, compost, then seed, starter fertilizer.

[mlong30]

Aerate, compost, then seed, starter fertilizer.

Which order would it be, if I wanted to dethatch?

Thanks.

[Marcos]

Which order would it be, if I wanted to dethatch?

Thanks.

Judging from the pictures on this thread alone, Matt, I don't see evidence of ANY thatch. (But, then again, you didn't take any pics of any 'healthy' grass...so it'd be hard to tell anyway!)

IF your lawn is predominantly bluegrass right now, take a regular flat-edged spade, or a garden trowel, and push it straight down into the ground.
If you DON'T see more than 3/4"-1" of a thatch layer buildup, then there's no reason at all to be concerned about dethatching anything.

If your lawn is FESCUE...you won't have thatch, period!

To overcome a "significant" thatch buildup in bluegrass turf, at least to some degree, the aerator would have to be run over the lawn multiple times to ensure the maximum amount of compost contact with the thatch, thatch contact with the soil, seed contact with compost and soil, etc.
(This is part of what 'aeration' is all about! Getting OXYGEN in there so that the microbes can get to work...helping to decompose stuff.)


I believe the idea mngrassguy has by (wisely) recommending the compost after aeration, is to give you a chance to 'stir together' the soil cores and compost, AS you're spreading and feathering out the compost with a leaf rake.

You have to always remember that the #1 rule to having a successful seed job is to maximize and ensure excellent seed to soil contact whenever and wherever possible. (After this, in my opinion...proper watering, keeping out encroaching weeds, and soil erosion run 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively.)

I can think of no better way of creating this excellent 'seed to soil contact', than to rake the nice compost in with the cruddy clay soil!
In this way...you're ALSO helping to create for the future a better 'vertical interface' for your lawn- one in which (hopefully) you'll experience better rain percolation into the soil, or, in other words, decreased 'sheetwash' into the sewers, etc.

[mlong30]

Judging from the pictures on this thread alone, Matt, I don't see evidence of ANY thatch. (But, then again, you didn't take any pics of any 'healthy' grass...so it'd be hard to tell anyway!)

IF your lawn is predominantly bluegrass right now, take a regular flat-edged spade, or a garden trowel, and push it straight down into the ground.
If you DON'T see more than 3/4"-1" of a thatch layer buildup, then there's no reason at all to be concerned about dethatching anything.

If your lawn is FESCUE...you won't have thatch, period!

To overcome a "significant" thatch buildup in bluegrass turf, at least to some degree, the aerator would have to be run over the lawn multiple times to ensure the maximum amount of compost contact with the thatch, thatch contact with the soil, seed contact with compost and soil, etc.
(This is part of what 'aeration' is all about! Getting OXYGEN in there so that the microbes can get to work...helping to decompose stuff.)


I believe the idea mngrassguy has by (wisely) recommending the compost after aeration, is to give you a chance to 'stir together' the soil cores and compost, AS you're spreading and feathering out the compost with a leaf rake.

You have to always remember that the #1 rule to having a successful seed job is to maximize and ensure excellent seed to soil contact whenever and wherever possible. (After this, in my opinion...proper watering, keeping out encroaching weeds, and soil erosion run 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively.)

I can think of no better way of creating this excellent 'seed to soil contact', than to rake the nice compost in with the cruddy clay soil!
In this way...you're ALSO helping to create for the future a better 'vertical interface' for your lawn- one in which (hopefully) you'll experience better rain percolation into the soil, or, in other words, decreased 'sheetwash' into the sewers, etc.

Hi Marcos,

Thanks for the feed back. I just found out that I can rent a Turf Revitali http://www.lawnsolutionscp.com/turfrevitalizer.html locally. I was thinking I could get some of the compost, and spread it out in my yard, then run the Turf Revitali to plant the seeds, and blend the compost into the soil. Will this work?

Thanks.

[Marcos]

Hi Marcos,

Thanks for the feed back. I just found out that I can rent a Turf Revitali http://www.lawnsolutionscp.com/turfrevitalizer.html locally. I was thinking I could get some of the compost, and spread it out in my yard, then run the Turf Revitali to plant the seeds, and blend the compost into the soil. Will this work?

Thanks.

Go for it!
Sounds like a winner to me.

Just don't go too thick with the compost, otherwise the equipment's blades may have trouble reaching the soil.

And...in areas of the lawn that still have grass, where you plan to use compost and slice-seed, I recommend pretty much scalping the lawn with your lawn mower, before you go in there with the Revitalizer.
This will make it easier for the equipment to do it's work, and easier for YOU to see what you're doing.... AND, the existing turf likely won't be so overwhelmingly tall to 'compete' so much with the oncoming seed, after it germinates.

The slice-seeder won't relieve soil compaction anywhere near what multiple passes with an aerator can do.
But, on the other hand, why worry about compaction right NOW, right?

"Soil Aeration", in-and-of itself, was never INVENTED for the purposes of planting grass seed, anyway!
It just sort of became a 'low budget' industry standard, over time, for many LC companies to market "aeration and seeding" to their customer bases, because they neglected to take the time to do it right, or they were going 'cheap', trying to undercut competition, who possibly may have had access to slice-seeders like the one you're talking about.

Figure on doing the soil aeration more as a 'maintenance procedure', once every spring or fall, maybe 2X over the lawn per rental (doesn't matter which direction), and only when the ground is good and MOIST!