Soil Health - Ask Extension
I'll try to make this as short as possible. I've been in my home for 30 years and haven't been able to have a nice lawn for more than a year. I never ...
Knowledgebase
Soil Health #802777
Asked July 24, 2022, 5:04 PM EDT
I'll try to make this as short as possible. I've been in my home for 30 years and haven't been able to have a nice lawn for more than a year. I never had this problem when living in So. Calif. The soil in my backyard has been over tilled. It became rock solid, so I tilled again. Now there's a ton of hard small dirt balls. There's also a large oak tree in my neighbors yard, right against my fence.
What will it take to make my soil healthy enough to have a beautiful lawn. I have spent the last two months digging down a foot to remove as many roots as I can i my 2400sf lawn. I feel like I'm getting nowhere. I'm old and tired and need some help. Please.
Thank you your help.
Best Regards,
Carol Scheiern <personal data hidden>
Washington County Oregon
Expert Response
Wanted to show you what the dirty looks like up close. I've taken out close to 10 units.
Hi Carol,
Don't despair. In general, turf is very tolerant of poor soils and most people believe their soil is poor, which is not usually the case unless there was some type of chemical spill. The small clumps are not a problem as they will break down once the site gets irrigated, or it starts raining. If they bother you, you can rake them off before seeding.
When trees are removed from a site, they can be problematic because the stumps and large roots break down over time and the soil drops some and you end up with a depression. But from the sounds of it, you have removed most or all of the large roots so you should not have that problem. There is not much you can do about the oak other than water that area more in the late summer and fall as trees tend to use more water during this period which often doesn't leave not enough for the turf. If the oak is providing shade, then the turf needs less water during the summer, so it may net out to zero.
Since you are worried about the health of the soil, I would have it tested. We have used A&L Western Labs. I would recommend the S3-C test. It costs $38.00. It will give you all the macro nutrients, and most of the micronutrients, as well as the pH. I can help you interpret it, if you like. http://www.al-labs-west.com/extra-content/FeeSchedule.pdf
When you get the report back, send it to me at: <personal data hidden>
Here is the link on how to take a soil sample:
http://www.al-labs-west.com/extra-pages.php?section=Soil%20Analysis
You did not describe what type of problems you were having nor did you send any photos of your old lawn so it is difficult to know exactly what was causing your problem. It could have been insects, fungal diseases, lack of water (usually caused by a non uniform irrigation system), or too little nitrogen fertilizer.
Since you are so far along, here is what I would recommend.
1. Get your soil tested and then make any nutrient or lime applications if needed.
2. Grade your lawn smooth using a rake or whatever tools you have.
3. Seed with the grass of your choice (Perennial rye, fine fescue, tall fescue, bentgrass, or some combination). Wait until late August or early September to seed. If the weather is projected to be hot, hold off for more moderate weather. You can apply the seed with a drop spreader. We usually rake the ground first with a metal leaf rake to create little depressions and then apply the seed, and finally, rake again. The last thing is to either use a water filled roller (you can rent these) to press the seed against the soil. You can also use a utility vehicle and simply drive over the area to pack the seed.
4. Apply 1 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. immediately after seeding and another 1 lb. of nitrogen 5 weeks later.
5. Water 20 - 30 minutes the first time watching so the water doesn't puddle. After the first irrigation, water lightly (about 6 - 10 minutes) with a hose and sprinkler multiple times (3 or 4) per day for 7 - 10 days (with 2 - 3 hour breaks between watering) until the seed germinates (keep the surface moist, but do not create puddles). After the seed germinates, water 1 x per day (30 - 45 minutes) and supplement in the afternoon if it gets hot for 2 weeks.
Once your lawn gets well established, focus on mowing, fertilization, and irrigation. If you do these things consistently, you will have a nice lawn. Good times to fertilize in Oregon are May, early July, Labor Day, and early October. Fall applications are the most critical time because these applications will dramatically reduce fungal diseases in the winter. Apply 1 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. with each application. If you plant fine fescue or bentgrass, you can cut the number of applications in half.
Good luck and I hope this helps. If you decide to get your soil tested, send me a copy and I will be happy to look at it for you.
Don't despair. In general, turf is very tolerant of poor soils and most people believe their soil is poor, which is not usually the case unless there was some type of chemical spill. The small clumps are not a problem as they will break down once the site gets irrigated, or it starts raining. If they bother you, you can rake them off before seeding.
When trees are removed from a site, they can be problematic because the stumps and large roots break down over time and the soil drops some and you end up with a depression. But from the sounds of it, you have removed most or all of the large roots so you should not have that problem. There is not much you can do about the oak other than water that area more in the late summer and fall as trees tend to use more water during this period which often doesn't leave not enough for the turf. If the oak is providing shade, then the turf needs less water during the summer, so it may net out to zero.
Since you are worried about the health of the soil, I would have it tested. We have used A&L Western Labs. I would recommend the S3-C test. It costs $38.00. It will give you all the macro nutrients, and most of the micronutrients, as well as the pH. I can help you interpret it, if you like. http://www.al-labs-west.com/extra-content/FeeSchedule.pdf
When you get the report back, send it to me at: <personal data hidden>
Here is the link on how to take a soil sample:
http://www.al-labs-west.com/extra-pages.php?section=Soil%20Analysis
You did not describe what type of problems you were having nor did you send any photos of your old lawn so it is difficult to know exactly what was causing your problem. It could have been insects, fungal diseases, lack of water (usually caused by a non uniform irrigation system), or too little nitrogen fertilizer.
Since you are so far along, here is what I would recommend.
1. Get your soil tested and then make any nutrient or lime applications if needed.
2. Grade your lawn smooth using a rake or whatever tools you have.
3. Seed with the grass of your choice (Perennial rye, fine fescue, tall fescue, bentgrass, or some combination). Wait until late August or early September to seed. If the weather is projected to be hot, hold off for more moderate weather. You can apply the seed with a drop spreader. We usually rake the ground first with a metal leaf rake to create little depressions and then apply the seed, and finally, rake again. The last thing is to either use a water filled roller (you can rent these) to press the seed against the soil. You can also use a utility vehicle and simply drive over the area to pack the seed.
4. Apply 1 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. immediately after seeding and another 1 lb. of nitrogen 5 weeks later.
5. Water 20 - 30 minutes the first time watching so the water doesn't puddle. After the first irrigation, water lightly (about 6 - 10 minutes) with a hose and sprinkler multiple times (3 or 4) per day for 7 - 10 days (with 2 - 3 hour breaks between watering) until the seed germinates (keep the surface moist, but do not create puddles). After the seed germinates, water 1 x per day (30 - 45 minutes) and supplement in the afternoon if it gets hot for 2 weeks.
Once your lawn gets well established, focus on mowing, fertilization, and irrigation. If you do these things consistently, you will have a nice lawn. Good times to fertilize in Oregon are May, early July, Labor Day, and early October. Fall applications are the most critical time because these applications will dramatically reduce fungal diseases in the winter. Apply 1 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. with each application. If you plant fine fescue or bentgrass, you can cut the number of applications in half.
Good luck and I hope this helps. If you decide to get your soil tested, send me a copy and I will be happy to look at it for you.
Hi Brian,
I can't thank you enough for your help with this. So kind of you to help.
I had my yard professionally done five years ago. I had them put an irrigation system in and lay sod. There were problems within the first two weeks of the sod being laid. The landscaper didn't prepare the soil before putting the sod down. No matter how much I watered, the ground was hard as a rock. He left large river rock all over the place. It actually hurt to walk on the grass. He said he was going to put an inch of organic mulch or compost down. He brought in one yard for 2400sf. It needed to have at least a unit to put an inch down.
My plan is to bring in a 3-4 units of something. Maybe compost and sandy loam. Or maybe just compost? What would you suggest? After getting as many dirt balls out, I'm basically left with dust. When I water to keep the dust down I end up with rock hard dirt again.
Thank you again, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help.
Best Regards,
Carol Scheiern
Hi Carol,
The one thing I would not do is put a layer of compost over the top. When you do this, you create layers, and the water sits between the layers and creates a lot of problems.
You could bring in compost and till it in really well to mix the two together. This would make your soil more pliable, but my concern is that over time the organic matter is going to break down and you will be left with what you started with.
My experience with purchased soil is that it is a silty loam that seals up at the surface because it has too many fine particles in it. I do not think that is going to solve your problem.
It is difficult for me to understand whether your soil is truly a problem or a typical Oregon soil. Because I do turfgrass research, every year, I spray out old turf with glyphosate, remove the sod and prepare the soil. What you are describing is what I go through every year. The more you work the soil, it because smooth and crusty on the surface. I also end up with the little dirt balls. Sometimes, I have simply spread them out and seeded into them and the grass came up fine. Over time, they dissolve away with water and foot traffic.
And when it gets too wet, our soils turn to mud and are unworkable. It is not that I do not believe you, the question I am grappling with is whether your soil is much worse than typical.
Tell me, what is your soil like in the winter after it has been raining for several months?
What you are describing is compaction. The way turf professionals deal with compaction is through aerification or punching holes in the surface. This procedure creates channels for the roots to grow and water to flow. It also allows oxygen to get to the roots. You can rent an aerification machine or hire someone to do it for you. I would try to find someone with a power aerifier (like the kind they use at golf courses) as opposed to a rolling aerifier that just uses the weight of the machine. The rolling aerifiers are the kind that you rent. Also, you would wait until your soil gets soft enough from the rain. Pacific Sports Turf has these types of machines, but I am not sure if they work on home lawns. They mostly work on sports fields and golf courses. But they are located in Portland, so they are nearby.
Lastly, you should be targeting seeding between the first and 15th of September. You do not want to seed any earlier than that. If you are planting perennial ryegrass, you can seed as late as late September, or even the first week of October, if the rains haven't started and your soil hasn't turned to mud.
The one thing I would not do is put a layer of compost over the top. When you do this, you create layers, and the water sits between the layers and creates a lot of problems.
You could bring in compost and till it in really well to mix the two together. This would make your soil more pliable, but my concern is that over time the organic matter is going to break down and you will be left with what you started with.
My experience with purchased soil is that it is a silty loam that seals up at the surface because it has too many fine particles in it. I do not think that is going to solve your problem.
It is difficult for me to understand whether your soil is truly a problem or a typical Oregon soil. Because I do turfgrass research, every year, I spray out old turf with glyphosate, remove the sod and prepare the soil. What you are describing is what I go through every year. The more you work the soil, it because smooth and crusty on the surface. I also end up with the little dirt balls. Sometimes, I have simply spread them out and seeded into them and the grass came up fine. Over time, they dissolve away with water and foot traffic.
And when it gets too wet, our soils turn to mud and are unworkable. It is not that I do not believe you, the question I am grappling with is whether your soil is much worse than typical.
Tell me, what is your soil like in the winter after it has been raining for several months?
What you are describing is compaction. The way turf professionals deal with compaction is through aerification or punching holes in the surface. This procedure creates channels for the roots to grow and water to flow. It also allows oxygen to get to the roots. You can rent an aerification machine or hire someone to do it for you. I would try to find someone with a power aerifier (like the kind they use at golf courses) as opposed to a rolling aerifier that just uses the weight of the machine. The rolling aerifiers are the kind that you rent. Also, you would wait until your soil gets soft enough from the rain. Pacific Sports Turf has these types of machines, but I am not sure if they work on home lawns. They mostly work on sports fields and golf courses. But they are located in Portland, so they are nearby.
Lastly, you should be targeting seeding between the first and 15th of September. You do not want to seed any earlier than that. If you are planting perennial ryegrass, you can seed as late as late September, or even the first week of October, if the rains haven't started and your soil hasn't turned to mud.
Good morning Brian,
You are amazing! I never dreamt I'd be getting an expert. I wish I would've found you before I chose to rototill my sod. ♀️ I've been doing my own landscaping for close to 50 years, but had no idea there were sod removers. I have caused myself lots of time and money.
I am going to have a soil analysis done and share that with you.
Here's another question for you. What causes the soil to crack as soon as it dries up? Is it a lack of nutrients? You were also saying that you find that the soil we buy here is more like a silty loam, do they call that a sandy loam, but it's really a silty loam? The last thing I need is rock hard soil again. What if I added something like pumas?
My hoping I'm able to talk my neighbor into cutting the oak down. It's on the north side of my home, so it provide no shade, just work during the fall, spring, and summer.
I guess ultimately I just want to get the soil healthy enough that I can have a beautiful lawn.
Thank you so much for your expert advice. I will send you my analysis as soon as I get it.
Best Regards,
Carol Scheiern
Hi Carol,
There are different machines that remove sod. I typically spray out our areas and kill it and then use something called a "power rake" which is a tractor attachment. Most landscape companies will use a sod cutter that has a horizontal blade on the bottom that just cuts through the roots of the grass. They are most often 12 - 18 inches wide and you end up with rows of cut sod that you either pick up by hand or with a loader. The problem with a sod cutter is that you remove a 2 or 3 inch layer, and you can end up with a depression so you may need to bring in soil to refill it. The power rake does that a little bit as well, but it doesn't quite leave as deep of depression.
The reason the soil cracks is actually very simple. In western Oregon, our soils have the type of clay that contracts and expands with moisture. When grass is growing on top of it, it holds together. I have seen cracks on our soil that would make you laugh - 2 inches wide and about 12 inches deep. For fun one time, I put a hose in the crack and let it run to see if the water would hit some surface, back up, and overflow back on the surface. It never happened. I think I was just refilling the aquifer.
I have Oak trees too. They are really messy. We have to blow off one of our putting greens every morning before we mow it.
Companies that sell soil do not have any standards on what they call things. Also, if they mix sand into the soil to create it, they very likely use mason sand, which has a lot of fines in it. Oregon Golf courses buy washed river sand from Fazio Brothers in Vancouver, WA. The washed river sand removes all the fines so the sand drains well. "Normal" or mason sand, is used by contractors who need their sand to pack really hard. I would go look at the soil before you buy it. And I would till it into your existing soil.
I don't know about pumice. I think it would be a really expensive solution and not do much unless you put down a huge volume. I found a bulk supplier: 2,000 lbs. cost a little over $2,000 but that doesn't include delivery, which in my experience costs as much as the produce being delivered.
The other thing I have done when the surface gets hard and crusty and I want to seed is to water the soil until it gets a little soft at the surface, but not muddy. And then I use a dethatcher (which you can rent) and set it to lightly hit the surface. This will create small ruts that the seed will sit in so it won't wash away. Ideally, you would rent a dethatcher with solid tines, but I don't think any of the rental places have those anymore. The key is to get the soil moisture correct - soft but not too soft.
I hope this helps.
There are different machines that remove sod. I typically spray out our areas and kill it and then use something called a "power rake" which is a tractor attachment. Most landscape companies will use a sod cutter that has a horizontal blade on the bottom that just cuts through the roots of the grass. They are most often 12 - 18 inches wide and you end up with rows of cut sod that you either pick up by hand or with a loader. The problem with a sod cutter is that you remove a 2 or 3 inch layer, and you can end up with a depression so you may need to bring in soil to refill it. The power rake does that a little bit as well, but it doesn't quite leave as deep of depression.
The reason the soil cracks is actually very simple. In western Oregon, our soils have the type of clay that contracts and expands with moisture. When grass is growing on top of it, it holds together. I have seen cracks on our soil that would make you laugh - 2 inches wide and about 12 inches deep. For fun one time, I put a hose in the crack and let it run to see if the water would hit some surface, back up, and overflow back on the surface. It never happened. I think I was just refilling the aquifer.
I have Oak trees too. They are really messy. We have to blow off one of our putting greens every morning before we mow it.
Companies that sell soil do not have any standards on what they call things. Also, if they mix sand into the soil to create it, they very likely use mason sand, which has a lot of fines in it. Oregon Golf courses buy washed river sand from Fazio Brothers in Vancouver, WA. The washed river sand removes all the fines so the sand drains well. "Normal" or mason sand, is used by contractors who need their sand to pack really hard. I would go look at the soil before you buy it. And I would till it into your existing soil.
I don't know about pumice. I think it would be a really expensive solution and not do much unless you put down a huge volume. I found a bulk supplier: 2,000 lbs. cost a little over $2,000 but that doesn't include delivery, which in my experience costs as much as the produce being delivered.
The other thing I have done when the surface gets hard and crusty and I want to seed is to water the soil until it gets a little soft at the surface, but not muddy. And then I use a dethatcher (which you can rent) and set it to lightly hit the surface. This will create small ruts that the seed will sit in so it won't wash away. Ideally, you would rent a dethatcher with solid tines, but I don't think any of the rental places have those anymore. The key is to get the soil moisture correct - soft but not too soft.
I hope this helps.
Hi Brian,
Here is the analysis I had done. I tried to understand what it all means, but I don't. Joe O'Brian, the CCA at A & L Western Laboratories Inc, left a comment on what to do, but I still feel lost.
I need you to know how much I appreciate all you have done to help me. The amount of time and information you have provided is more than I could've ever hoped for.
I hope your week is going well,
Best Regards,
Carol
Hi Carol,
Sorry for the slow response, but I was on vacation last week. I tried to access the files, but google drive said I did not have access. I requested access.
I think it would be better if you sent the files to my email address directly: <personal data hidden>
Thanks.
Sorry for the slow response, but I was on vacation last week. I tried to access the files, but google drive said I did not have access. I requested access.
I think it would be better if you sent the files to my email address directly: <personal data hidden>
Thanks.
