Will mulching over hard compacted soil help it to soften?
viche
14 years ago
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caroline1
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Rock hard soil. no luck with shampoo. help
Comments (12)I can see you're going to do the core aeration, so here is some more advice. Since you have it you may as well use the heck out of it. The bermuda will survive no matter what, so drive that thing up and back, across and back, diagonal and back, and then the other diagonal and back. You need all the holes you can get. When you're finished, whether you use compost or not, then spray again with shampoo at a higher dose (6-10 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Then water it until you think you're going to fill in all the holes (you won't). But if you do fill the holes and it seems like it won't drain, then you have a bigger problem. I don't think your soil is compacted. Sure the heavy landscaping equipment drove over it but they are designed for landscaping. If you tried to compact the soil with that equipment it would be hard. You would have to start with soil that was completely saturated and drive over it until you sunk in and pushed all the air out of the soil. I'm sure that didn't happen. Most contractors will leave the job site at the first sign of sprinkles. If that still doesn't work, then Lou has alluded to another approach I have used successfully using a soaker hose. It is not what you might think, but it worked every time I tried it. I gave up on that approach once I learned about shampoo, but I certainly remember it....See MoreSoil very compact
Comments (1)Hopefully you aren't using actual dirt (soil) but bought some soil-less potting mix for starting seeds instead? If so which brand of mix are you using? Soil compacts far too much and drains poorly to use for seed starting. Dave...See MoreCompacted Soil
Comments (14)The best way to loosen and improve any soil (with the rare expection of all-organic soils like peats) is to add organic matter. There are many forms of organic matter that have been listed here - yard waste, compost, straw, wood chips, manure - all have advantages and disadvantages. Your problem is finding a way to work the organic matter down into the soil. If you can't till or turn over the soil, then you have to rely either on animals or plants to move the organic matter into the soil. Cover crops like rye grass or oats will grow roots deep into the soil. These roots decompose when the plant dies, adding organic matter to the soil. However, you might not like the look of a thick stand of oats in your garden for the next couple of months, and any cover crop will compete with the other plants you are growing. The other option for moving organic matter into the soil is to place it on the surface and allow worms, insects, etc. to work it into the soil. To encourage this I'd put a layer of easily degraded organic matter on the soil. Compost, grass clippings, manure, straw all fit this category. Over this layer you could add a layer of something longer-lived and perhaps more attractive. Wood chips, bark, etc. are suitable for this. Most of the stuff used for mulch (shredded bark, etc.) break down pretty slowly, but otherwise provide good organic matter for soil building....See MoreHard compacted, wet clay soil. How to prepare the soil for sod?
Comments (19)Yes, raised in the middle makes a crown. How much, is your call. You asked about the shape. I like to think of the shape of a lawn as if it were water. A pond in your case. Being fluid really helps with giving the lawn 'flow' and 'presence'. Everybody worries about the shape of a tree or rock, but usually don't give much thought to the shape of the lawn except to cover as much space as possible. Then they cutout flower beds and they end up looking like cutouts. The shape of the lawn is more important than the shape of the flower beds. I hope that helps. I haven't been in downtown Seattle in 5 or 6 years. I used to live within walking distance of the market. I'm sort of an old hermit in the country now. The last time I visited the Calgary area I visited the Drumheller Dinosaur Museum. Awesome!...See Moreviche
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14 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)