I moved into a new house which was built on old farm land. The dirt is pretty crappy. Hard and clay like. The builder seeded the lot with tall fescue which managed to grow ok. The lawn still looks a pale green to yellow in areas. Any suggestion on how to build up the soil quality in my yard? I've heard one suggestion of having top soil brought in. How pricey would that be? Any other suggestions? Thanks
Good topsoil is $20/yard where i live, depending on the size of yard it could be anywhere from a hundred to a few hundred.
Geez - on old farm land - there has to be some decent top soil pretty close by.
Unless its been farmed to shit!
Is that supposed to be a pun ? Cow shit or chicken shit ? Even if it has been harvested without fertilization (unlikely) the soil should still be nice and loose and strong enough to grow grass.
yep. it was not hauled all that far away just after it was scraped off and loaded on trucks. see, later after the newcomer decides how they'd like to have a lawn the same original top soil can be sold back to them. seems it's really all about maximum profits and profitability.
funny you should mention shit or maybe I should refer to the substance as chicken droppings. did you know organically certified produce must be grown without man made chemical fertilizers? guess what we sometimes use in the place of those man made chemical fertilizers?
No shit ?
excrement for the more so called refined.
Paul is on a lot of peoples fecal roster.
I have to wonder how is it the parents know to name them paul. or could possibly be once named paul it's all down hill from there?
But not man-made excrement ?
Purest bovine scatology.
Paul, Saul, it's all the same.
Just don't call me late for dinner.
Jim-bob.
We use chicken shit for 100% organic lawn fert for some customers.
Its easier for mass building of homes to scrape the land of topsoil. You can't pour a concrete slab on wishwashy soil. More difficult for heavy trucks to move in that soil, especially concrete trucks. It is odd the builder didn't just put the topsoil back when the house was completed. Guess it was the minor cost in doing that.
yep. telling from that point of view works every time.
seems it's really all about maximum profits and profitability.
that causes me to wonder if certification by the NCDACS would be required before allowing said lawn care works to make such an application? most likely, there'd be an unaddressed loop hole somewhere in this one.
Manure.
A couple years ago, I tried to improve the soil by spreading a layer of top soil over the lawn. This involved manually spreading the top-soil, and then use a large and wide landscape rake to smoothen the top soil in order to prevent the top soil from smashing the grass. So far, I am not sure if this has really helped anything. I cannot tell one way or the other.
Please note that spreading top soil is a very time consuming and tiring process. I only have a 1/4 arce property (with around 1/2 of the property is lawn) and I was/am physically fit. Nevertheless, I was very very tired after I had spreaded the top soil (took 2 days). I promise myself never do this again unless I am doing this in very small areas (like re-seeding bare spots in the lawn). Please think twice before committing yourself to this course of action.
I also use mulching instead of bagging when I mow the lawn hoping that this will add organic matters to the soil, and may improve the soil quality. Again, I don't know if this really helps or not; but this should not harm even if this doesn't help.
Jay Chan
You can't put much more than 1/2 to 1 inch of soil on existing turf and have it survive. How many square feet is it?
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