Growing Lawn On Clay Soil

Clay soil needs regular aeration to allow water and oxygen to move freely through it.

Growing lawn on clay soil.

The key to planting grass in clay soil is to first amend the soil to make it looser drier and more fertile. Depending on the amount of clay in the soil before you start the first amendment process creating a less dense soil more suitable for a lush healthy lawn may take up to two years. Follow some basic steps to make grass grow in red clay soil and establish a lawn that is the envy of the neighborhood. Understanding soil ph and the different materials for making corrections is not hard.

There are very few air pockets under the soil surface and grass needs air pockets for root spread and development. Clay soil is made up of tons of small particles that stick together clinging to moisture. A bone dry clay soil is going to be rock hard and not allow water nutrients to get into the rootzone when the temperature start to get cooler but before the leaves start dropping start by aerating your lawn followed by an over seeding of appropriate seed type and apply an organic fertilizer. Clay soil is often challenging when it comes to growing your lawn into a thing of beauty.

When improving clay soil requires extensive dirt work sometimes fixing clay soil requires extensive work removing the surface soil and replacing it with quality topsoil. In a nutshell you have to correct your soil s ph add organic material and overseed. All about soil ph and corrective materials all plants have a preferred soil ph. Aerate after the ground thaws when soil is moist not soaking and during the growing season.

You can succeed with clay soil whether you re planting a new lawn or rehabilitating a long existing one. If your lawn is growing in a poor clay soil it will always be prone to the problems that come with clay compaction poor drainage fungus moss weeds poor nutrient availability and color root stress and a host of other undesirable conditions. The small particles of clay bind together making the ground not only compact but also dense and heavy. 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.

Each lawn has variables like bare spots or very high alkalinity that need to be addressed. Aerators remove plugs of dirt from the lawn and break up the soil allowing grass roots to spread. We have provided some important tips and advice to consider. 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.