Lawn care with soft, moist soil.

partsman41953

11 years ago

Hello,

I need help with my front yard. I have a slopping front yard where at the top of the slope where it is somewhat flat there is a garden with a number of different plants...Iris, roses, lilacs and a few more plants. At the bottom of the garden I have rocks to keep the soil in. Right past the garden is where my lawn starts and that part, around a foot or so past the garden, the lawn stays soft and moist almost all the time. I have a couple of trees in the yard so I do not get direct sunlight all day long. From what I can tell I either have St. Augustine or Bermuda grass with a lot of poa annua.

What can I do to dry up the area so I can plant grass. I was thinking about just digging up the area and extending the garden but that would be a lot of work and would take up at least half of the yard but at this point I do not know what else to do.

I would appreciate any suggestions at all.

Thanks.

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Comments (3)

apprenticegardener
11 years ago
A lot of questions come to mind before a potential answer can be formulated. How much rain do you receive? Do you have gutters that run-off into the area that is moist? Is other run-off, from neighbors perhaps, directed at the area? Do you live in an area where there are underground springs? Does your water line going into the house run through this area? Does your home sewer pipe run through this area? If you have a septic system, is this area part of the field? I think finding the reason for or source of the moisture is key to your situation.

Best Wishes--Carl
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partsman41953
Original Author
11 years ago
HI Carl,

I am going to try to answer your questions:

I live just outside Columbia, SC and I would say we get an average amount of rain per year, nothing in excess.

We do not have gutters on the house yet but the area in question would not be affected with gutters. The area is in the top part of the lawn. If need be I can post some pictures.

We do not get any runoff from the neighbors.

We live in the city so there are no underground springs.

I am not sure about the water line but I can say that the water meter is on the opposite side of the driveway from where the problem area is.

Not sure about the sewer line but we do have city sewage and not septic.

We live in a home community and not in a rural area.

Hope this helps.
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Watering is your problem. This time of year you should be watering no more than once per month. When you water it should be a full inch all at one time. Measure with tuna or cat food cans. Your soil will become very firm (hard) by the time you water again. This is normal. Wet and soft all the time is the reason weeds sprout. You should increase the frequency slowly through the spring until in the hottest heat of summer you are watering once every 7 days. During very hot and dry periods, you might go to once every 5 days. By watering like this you discourage the weed seeds from sprouting. They need continual moisture like they are getting now. Established grass gets moisture from deep roots. When you water deeply, then the grass can get that moisture for many days on end without needing to be refreshed. Sounds like you have too much shade to grow most grasses. Your two choices would be fescue or St Augustine. I would ask around with the neighbors to see what they have. Bermuda and Kentucky bluegrass would be out of the question. Most zoysias will not grow in that much shade, either.
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Did you schedule on of the free sprinkler inspections yet? Are you able to stop at any Starbucks to pick up the grounds? I don't think I'd go out of my way for them, but if there's a Starbucks on the way, it'll help add organic matter to the soil. I think the biggest problem is that you used too much fertilizer and you used it at the wrong time. Don't fertilize again until at least mid September. If you're using chemical fertilizers, use something with 0 for the second and third numbers. We just don't need the P and K around here. And only fertilize at the recommended rate, not at 1.5x the recommended rate. Once the top growth has stopped (mowing season finished), fertilize again, the same way. Next spring fertilize ONCE, probably in April or early May (again, with something with 0 for the second and third numbers and at regular rate). If it gets past Mother's Day and you haven't fertilized, skip it and wait until September. You don't want the lawn growing fast when it's hot and dry. When you say that your roots aren't very deep, how deep are they? I suspect they're staying in the topsoil you brought in. Core aerating in the spring and/or early fall will help penetrate the "barrier" between the imported soil and the native soil. Especially if you follow it with an application of compost or shredded trees. You don't want to apply either more than about 1/4 to 1/2 inch or you could smother the grass. If you're going to overseed this fall, mow as low as possible first and bag the clippings (mulch them back in at all other times). Then core aerate. Then spread the seed. Then apply the compost or shredded trees. To get the seeds to germinate, water 3 times a day for a few minutes a station (unless it rains). This is to keep the seeds moist so they germinate. Once they start growing, cut back to once a day, watering for longer periods. Then every other day, again watering longer. Continue spreading out the time between waterings until you're watering an inch once a week. It may take a while to get to that point if the roots are not growing into the native soil. But I think that as you continue adding organic matter and core aerating, you'll see less of a difference between the two soils and this should become less of a problem for you.
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apprenticegardener
11 years ago
Let me make it clear that I am not a hydrologist or any type of engineer. merely a (somewhat) experienced gardener and avocational human geographer.....

The Columbia area has some interesting characteristics since it is just south of the "Fall Line" which separates the Piedmont from Coastal South Carolina. Assuming you live in Richland or an adjacent county, there will be a wide mixture of soils and a wide variance in groundwater level.

Since you are on a hill and are reporting moist soil, an absence of air-borne external sources, and a low probability of man-made underground problems, it is possible that the water table in your area (perhaps even your microclimate) is very high.

You could verify this if you were to dig some "test" holes down into the soil to see if the amount of moisture stays the same or increases (it could even begin to pool ) as you increase depth. If it does, the ground may be "permanently" moist and not able to be drained to make it dryer.

If this is the case, you should probably look into groundcovers than will tolerate moist soils and shade.

Just some thoughts--Carl

PS--Some of the sand and clay from Ft.Jackson is still in my shoes from forty years ago.--cgc--
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Lawn care with soft, moist soil.

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partsman41953
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Lawn care with soft, moist soil.

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apprenticegardener

partsman41953Original Author

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partsman41953
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