>"I was thinking zoysia would be a better choice for us since the front of our property gets FULL sun."

In GA. I'd think that would call for Bermuda, rather than Zoysia. But being a northern grass guy, let the southerns confirm with better opinions/experience.

>"2. If I do till, would it be beneficial to till and then apply a non-selective herbicide AFTER (instead of before) to kill off any weed seeds that we might bring to the surface of the ground?"

Having no experience with GA clay, I'll stay out of the discussion about tilling because I can understand your predicament.
But, to answer the non selective herbicide question - after you prep the soil however you do, it would be wise to 'fallow' the soil, by watering very often to germinate any weed seeds in the soil and THEN once germinated, kill them off.

>"3. I still haven't been able to determine exactly what type of organic amendments (or top dressing if tilling is really THAT bad) to buy..
>"I am going to get a soil test before hand to see if I need lime (I probably do)"

See link below - get the $13 test which also shows organic matter. UMAS Amhurst does accept non-resident soils, no problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: Standard Soil Test w/ Organic Matter ..

I don't even remember writing that FAQ on leveling. But I do remember getting taught a great lesson in leveling by Dave Proud and his experience with bermuda.

On Tilling
I guess you have read my opinion about tilling before. Sometimes I explain it and sometimes I don't. The problem is a human cannot hold the tiller to a consistent depth. The tilled depth will range from 3 inches to 8 or 10. So you have fluffy soil that varies in depth considerably. When you take off the top and level that, you have a consistently uneven depth of soft soil. What that soft soil settles in 2-3 years, it settles unevenly and leaves you with a bumpy surface.

On zoysia
Don't believe everything you read in the Parade magazine advertising for zoysia. Zoysia has two big problems. First is it is devastatingly slow to spread. If you start with 1-inch plugs set 1 foot apart, you might not have full coverage for a couple years. So your thought to go with zoysia sod is the best thing to do. The other problem with zoysia is it is susceptible to fungal disease. When that happens there is no warning. One day it looks great, the next day if you are watching carefully you might see a discoloration in a circular pattern, and the third day it is yellow. At that point it is dead. If you have a 20 foot circle of dead zoysia, you can let it grow back from the edges or you can resod. Everyone in my neighborhood who had tried zoysia and got the disease had elected to take it all out and replace it with St Augustine. There is one yard in the hood here that has not gotten any disease in 2 years. They installed their zoysia after the drought started so it will be interesting to see what happens this year now that we're back on top with our water supply.

On reclaiming clay soil
Start with a dusting of compost and organic fertilizer. Then try using a soaker hose to moisten your soil over a very long time, like 24/7 for a couple weeks. I suggest a drip rate out of the faucet at 1 cup per minute. That is very slow especially when you spread it out over a 50-100 feet of drip hose. The object is to moisten the soil very evenly over a long enough time that the beneficial fungi repopulate your soil. Fungi need air, food, and moisture. The fungi come from the compost and feed on the organic fertilizer. The moisture you are providing at a slow rate provides moisture at a slow enough rate that it does not cut off the air. Over a few weeks the fungi will repopulate. Then move the soaker hose to the edge of the wet mark made in the soil. Run it for a couple weeks and move it again. When you have finished, start over. Repeat the entire cycle again and repeat a 3rd time. At the end of the third cycle you should have improved your soil's organic matter tremendously.

This slow watering project takes a long time but it is much faster and less frustrating than letting Nature take Her course. When you are finished your soil should be soft to walk on when it is moist and very hard to walk on when it has dried out (say, a week after watering). It should go back and forth between soft and hard depending on the moisture content. When it is hard it is not compacted, just hard. It will be like a sponge. A sponge never gets compacted, just hard.

Thanks for the additional tips guys!

I was hesitant to use Bermuda because I am going to surround my small patch of lawn with planting beds and I didn't want to have to deal with trimming it back out of the beds constantly. Since we are planting only a very small area we are going to use full sod, not plugs, so I am less concerned about zoysia spreading slowly. (That is actually a plus for me).

Regarding the St. Augustine - I thought Atlanta was too cool for St. Augustine but after searching a bit after your suggestion I am finding that there are some people that have had success with it, so I might look into that more.

I personally really like the texture and color of zoysia and also like that it does spread (albeit slowly) and could handle the heat. My parents have it in their side yard (they live about 30 miles north of us) and it looks great... they haven't had to deal with any diseases up until this point, but I appreciate the warning against zoysia for that reason. If I do still elect to put in zoysia is there a more disease tolerant variety that y'all would suggest?

Regarding the tilling: that does make a lot of sense now that it is explained in a way to where I understand why it is a negative. I thought before that it was frowned upon because of issues with weed seeds but now I see that isn't the case.

Okay, time for a weird question: If I were to fallow the soil as you have suggested Gary, would it be possible for me to kill the weeds in a way not involving an herbicide? Like, possibly smothering the area by covering it with a tarp or two? It is a very small area and I would really love to not have to use an herbicide if possible.

Dchall, thanks for the instructions on how to amend the clay without tilling. I will let my husband read your instructions and will try to get him on board! ;]

>"Okay, time for a weird question: If I were to fallow the soil as you have suggested Gary, would it be possible for me to kill the weeds in a way not involving an herbicide? Like, possibly smothering the area by covering it with a tarp or two? It is a very small area and I would really love to not have to use an herbicide if possible."

Not weird at all, in fact a common practice called 'solarization' which sterilizes the soil and you end up with soil that is free of any viable weed seeds or pathogens. Also a great way to kill devil's weed, ahhh I mean Bermuda grass, LOL!

See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: SOIL SOLARIZATION

Regarding the St. Augustine - I thought Atlanta was too cool for St. Augustine but after searching a bit after your suggestion I am finding that there are some people that have had success with it, so I might look into that more.

Ever heard of a variety called Raleigh?

Weed seeds turned up from tilling are of no consequence to me. They will die out from proper care (watering and mowing). It is the bumpy results that are much more insidious and longer lasting.

As for a zoysia variety, whatever your parents have is the one to use. I did not mean to suggest you use St Augustine. I was using it as an example of how bad it can be to lose a lawn because you got stuck with an unforgiving species. If your parents are having success with one and they live fairly close, find out what they have and get that.

On tilling :The suggestion that tilling causes a bumpy lawn is ridiculous. I transformed 2 Acres from a surface that was so rough my golf cart would nearly throw me out to a surface as smooth as a fairway. True if you do it all wrong you can conceivably mess it up. Tilling is good. Thumbs up to proper tilling.
On Zoysia: Zoysia is slow growing. That's good. Anyone with a 20'x30' plot doesn't care how slow it is. (Like they said they want to keep fast growing runners out of the flower bed.)Suggesting that St. Augustine is more disease tolerant than Zoysia is preposterous. St.Augustine is the most disease ridden stuff on the planet and there are few products you can apply to help.
Reclaiming clay soil: "A dusting of compost and organic fertilizer." Soak it slowly for weeks and weeks. Holy cow. Where do come up with that stuff. After following those methods I'll tell you what they would have after all those weeks....Clay.... No change.
Till the clay up and add a whole bunch of sand and compost and till the heck out of it. Smooth the soil and lay down some quality Zoysia sod. Good luck.
Later when they hit you with the corn gluten advice...and the baking soda advice.....forget it. It doesn't work.
And all this relentless lecturing about proper watering techniques. Whatever...Maybe that works in a greenhouse but mother nature has a say in that area. We got over 80 inches of rain last year. Is that proper technique?

But rdaystrom, that 2 acres was tilled using professional machinery that could regulate and control the depth, not some smoe with a little Mantis and a pick up truck. That is what David means.

You're going to get him started on bringing a tractor and a box blade into city residential areas again, LOL!!!

rdaystrom,
Please help if you know of the proper technique for tilling. Nobody else seems to know. I've seen it work when it was done with a device on the back of a tractor, but I've never heard of success when a human drove a walk-behind device.

I did not mean to imply that St Aug was more disease resistant. What it is is more obvious at the start of disease and faster to recover when it happens. I get a fungal disease every spring and have not had a problem with recovery since I started using the methods I talk about here.

I can see you'll never change ;-) I probably won't either, because I've already changed. I used the methods and materials made popular by Sunset magazine from 1965 - 2001. Then I started reading GardenWeb. My lawn had been thin, weedy, light green, and would die out for months every spring. After years of reading here and elsewhere on the web, I've moved on to methods and materials that work, don't cost much, and are very low hassle.

No, no, definitely, DO NOT TILL

^

My post apparently got cut off, but I had gone to say that I tilled my lawn four years ago, before I joined here, and I've spent every fall trying to level out the hills and valleys in it. Very frustrating.

I'm not saying that you have to till or not. I am saying that it can be done quite easily in a plot as small as 20'x30'. With a decent tiller controlling depth is no big deal. Done it many times with great success. In my opinion tilled soil will grow grass significantly better than compacted soil. It may not be the only solution but it works and doesn't take forever to do.

"Doesn't take forever to do."

I have to give you full points there. My method can seem like it is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r. But I am convinced it will soften soils. Every soil? No. Tilling cannot soften gravel, either.