Depending on where you live it can be a real advantage that you don t have to irrigate your lawn as much especially during drought if there is a hosepipe ban.
Growing grass on clay.
An unamended clay soil will never grow a good lawn as grass roots suffocate in the airless environment drowning when the clay is wet and baking when it s dry.
There are very few air pockets under the soil surface and grass.
You don t want to mix two types of grass but you want to make sure your lawn is tolerant of clay soil.
However clay soil is perhaps the most difficult to work with.
Here is a list of grasses that grow well in clay.
Clay soil is made up of tons of small particles that stick together clinging to moisture.
Plant warm season grasses as plugs from.
If your willing to put the work in clay soils can actually be an awesome soil to grow plants and grass in.
Clay soil will hold water better so if you live in an area that doesn t get lots of rain clay soil will make it a lot easier to grow grass.
Ask your agricultural extension office for help if you need it.
Varieties that grow in a clay loam soil include annual ryegrass colonial bent grass hard fescue kentucky bluegrass perennial ryegrass and red fescue.
That s because it is extremely heavy and thick.
Aerators remove plugs of dirt from the lawn and break up the soil allowing grass roots to spread.
Most grass seed will grow in various soil types.
It can take up to two months of preparing the soil before you can actually plant your grass.
First determine what type or grass your lawn is made of.
Clay is only ever at a good moisture level for a very short time between being an airless wet mud and dry and hard as a brick.
Clay soil needs regular aeration to allow water and oxygen to move freely through it.
Heavy clay red or otherwise is inhospitable to most plant life but there are things that you can do to make sure that your property has a healthy green lawn.
Aerate after the ground thaws when soil is moist not soaking and during the growing season.
You will have to introduce some organic material and change its ph level before attempting to lay turf.
You re improving your soil but it s still clay.
Even though clay soil isn t good for growing grass you can set up a covetable lawn on this soil if you prepare it well.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel.
A good way to determine the soil s moisture content is by sticking a screwdriver into the soil to a depth.