Have you given everything a shot to improve your lawn but nothing seems to work?
Don’t fret, there is probably nothing wrong with what you’ve been trying. You most likely have high levels of clay in your soil.
So how can you make improvements in growing grass on top of clay soil?
In order to improve growing grass, the soil needs to be improved first. Clay soils become very compacted which makes it hard for a plant to grow into.
Clay soil craft is just about improving your grass. By adding organic material and aerating the soil, you will have better grass.
What Is Clay Soil?
Before we delve into the details of how to amend and improve your lawn; it is important to know why clay can be difficult to work with.
There are three types of ‘dirt’ or soil; sand, silt, and clay. Clay is the smallest of the three, meaning that it packs in ever tighter than the other two soils.
When any soil is compacted that tightly there is no room for the water, nutrients, and oxygen to exist in that soil.
By amending or improving your clay soil, you can eliminate:
- Compaction
- Poor drainage
- Fungus
- Moss
- Poor nutrient availability
- Root stress
How Do You Know if You Have Clay Soil?
The best way to find out if you have clay soil is to do a soil test.
You will need soil test kit and dirt samples from around your lawn which was dug up with clean gardening tools.
If you want a less formal test, take a small piece of wet dirt and rub it between your fingers. If it is gritty, then the soil has a high percentage of sand, and you do not have clay soil.
If it is smooth and sticky, it is primarily clay.
What Next: Fold that cylinder into a ring by sticking its edges together. If it did not fall apart, even going through that motion, yo have high clay content in your soil.
1. Pick the Right Grass Seed
Every plant has a soil preference.
Some want soil that has the ability to drain, while others want the soil to be moist continuously. Some plants want organic matter, while some do not.
Grass will grow in just about anywhere, but it should not surprise you that there are different types of grass, with different soil preferences.
The overall best grass seed is tall fescue, a very strong, deep rooting grass that has great drought tolerance, is good in the sun, shade, warm weather and cool temperatures.
If you live in an area that doesn’t go below cooler temperatures, and don’t get frost, another grass for you is Bermuda Grass.
This grass will grow deep and grow quick, and will also fill in bare areas.
Here are the other types of grass that will do better in clay soil:
- Buffalo Grass
- Kentucky Bluegrass
- Perennial Ryegrass
- Red Fescue
- Zoysia
2. Use Fertilizer
Fertilizing soil with organic matter is the best method for improving clay soils, and also the best way to improve grass health overall
Fertilizing should be used in addition with the other method on this list, to improve soil overall.
Is Fertilizer for the Ground or the Plants?
The answer is technically both.
Adding organic material fertilizer adds bulk to the clay soil and allows the clay to break apart. This process helps helps with the drainage of the clay and keeps the clay from becoming compacted.
By the soil breaking apart, it will create space for oxygen and air for the roots to take in which will lead to a health lawn.
Organic materials will also provide nutrients for worms, insects and microorganisms.
As these small creatures make their way through the soil, they will create even more room for oxygen and water.
Top Dressing
If you have existing grass, top dressing will be the simplest way to apply organic material compost.
You may choose the “lazy” method that takes time for the fertilizer to penetrate and alter the soil, or you may do the “hard” way and see immediate results as a result of your efforts.
- The Easy Way: Simply add a layer of compost on top of your grass. Rake it out to about 1 inch thick. Not only won’t this make your yard look good it can actually take over a year for compost to deliver the nutrient to the soil.
- The Right Way: Top dress after you’ve core aerated your soil (coming up soon!). The compost you add to the top of the soil will then fill all the spaces left behind in the core aeration. Spread the compost with a rake until you have a layer that is approximately ¼ inches thick.
Tilling
Using a rototiller on clay soil is definitely not for the faint of heart, and if you attempt to till the soil when it is wet, you will only make it worse.
That said, if you do not have a lawn yet, it will work quite well!
You are going to want to get a rototiller (trust, me you are going to want a machine to do the hard work!) and have it go across your future lawn area.
After you turn it over quickly, you are going to then put several inches of compost over the entire area before tilling it under again.
For Persistent Clay: If you still think your soil is compacted, then repeat the process and add more compost as necessary.
Once you finish this tilling process, go through the area and remove any rocks that ended up being exposed and then smooth out the area with a rake.
3. Core Aeration
The following are acceptable for a method that works fantastic with top dressing.
No matter if you are using a hand tool, lawnmower attachment, or a primary aeration machine, you will be pulling cores out of the lawn.
After being pulled from the ground, these cores look like long skinny wine corks sitting on top of your soil.
If you put these holes in the lawn, hitting those with the fertilizer puts the soil in direct contact with the nutrients in the compost.
Additionally, core aeration will improve your grass even without fertilizer.
The holes created in your soil allow air and water to penetrate the surface and it creates an opportunity for microorganisms and root systems to work.
4. Liquid Aeration
Liquid aeration will have a similar effect as core aeration without the holes in your lawn.
Liquid aeration uses a wetting agent that breaks the bond between the clay particles so there is space for water and oxygen.
There are many benefits to using liquid aeration:
- It’s convenient; It is much easier to carry and use a spray bottle or sprayer compared to pushing a piece of machinery or using hand tools.
- It’s simple: The liquid solutions can be ordered online and delivered right to your house. And you do not have to research or learn how to use a complex piece of equipment, like a rototiller.
- Better coverage: The wetting agents can be applied to your entire lawn, which core aeration cannot provide.
- Time of application: If you have an established lawn, or if you have a field of clay soil, you can still add the wetting agent to the surface. You can apply the solution at any time of day, in any season, and in pretty much any weather, and not consider it a wasted effort.
Final Thoughts
Amend the clay soil to fix the grass. Done. It’s that simple but it will be a ton of work for you.
For the best results, start all over. Till organic compost into the soil, add liquid aeration, top dress with some more compost and pick a grass seed that works for your lawn.
If you are already growing grass on your lawn, try something a bit more painless with a combination of the less invasive options such as my liquid aeration.