Need Help with planting a new lawn

Toolage 87

Toolage 87

Well-Known Member
Hi all. I need some help. My lawn is well dead. The soil well I wouldn't call it soil really its pretty much all clay. I bought some grass seeds and they did well till they hit the clay part. Now I know for a fact that I need to dig the yard up but my question is do I have to remove all the clay up to x amount of feet and put potting soil down or can I mix soil in with it and when can I be able to start planting grass seeds?
 
Toolage 87 said:
Hi all. I need some help. My lawn is well dead. The soil well I wouldn't call it soil really its pretty much all clay. I bought some grass seeds and they did well till they hit the clay part. Now I know for a fact that I need to dig the yard up but my question is do I have to remove all the clay up to x amount of feet and put potting soil down or can I mix soil in with it and when can I be able to start planting grass seeds?
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your location is the north pole, i don't think anything you'll try will work.
 
but seriously, you need to loosen the soil just a little bit and amend it if you want a good base for a lawn. you don't have to go deep, but you will need to either till or tine the property and amend with something like say peat moss or compost if there are large empty patches.

gotta choose the right grass for your area, too. talk to a local nursery, they'll hook you up on the right strain.

pro tip: never let the seeds go dry until they are really established. you can even throw some straw to help retain moisture. plant at times of year when there is still dew in the morning and evening.
 
not only would i throw some straw down, but that would be my main part of my composts to mix in the dirt. i would just throw straw, peat and manure down and take a roto-tiller through it. then plant your seed. Buck makes a great point, talk to some local businesses about getting your seed, they will have whats acclimated to your geography.
 
If you have the ability to turn 3-6" of the soil you can improve it a lot.
Local companies that supply mulch\gravel\compost by the truckload should be able to supply you with a mix of mulch,compost and sand.
Put in a few inches of that, turn it in, let it dry and rake.

If your working on a smaller scale a bag of sand, a bag of compost, a little manures, a little lime, and top dress and turn into the soil with it before planting seed.
 
Thanks for the ideas guys. I will go the method of doing it by hand since I would have to rent one and buy gas for it so in the end it cost more then what its worth. I might try to go to around 6" to 1' foot deep. I already have the grass seeds out. I got some and did a test patch and the grass seeds survived the 104F heat and grew very well.


Can I use old potting soil in place of the mulch and such? I have some potting soil that I have been using for 3 years and need a good reason to get some new soil.
 
PurpleBuz said:
certainly, mix a little sand with it.
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Sweet thanks. I might have to mix in some new soil or compost. Depending on the price of soil and compost I might go for the one that is little cheaper. I'm just worried about what amount of soil to clay I should mix together since its pretty much straight clay where I live and about the ground compacting to much. Might see about adding some perlite into it to if I have to.
 
don't use "soil" use compost, manure and sand. I actually meant mix a little sand with your old potting mix.
You have plenty of "soil" thats mostly clay.
 
How large is the area your seeding? If it is small then by all means do it by hand, if you're doing a large area get someone with a machine to help you
work it up.

I seeded a 1.5 acre section of my yard to grass and it is allot of work if you have a big area.

Plan to start it in early spring or early fall. so there is dew, water in the early mornings. Some people say not to water freshly sown lawns in the evenings but I didnt have
a problem with mine if I did it in the evening.

If I were you, I would work it slightly and get some top soil brought in. Dress the top, make it level except leaving a grade away from any buildings
for drainage. Seed the lawn with a broadcast spreader for a nice even lawn and pack it with a roller so the seed doesn't blow away.

Don't let the seed dry out but also don't over water. After it is established and you have cut it a few times start to cut it as low as the lawn can
handle so it doesnt burn and die and do it often so that the roots stool out giving you a nice thick lawn.
 
PurpleBuz said:
don't use "soil" use compost, manure and sand. I actually meant mix a little sand with your old potting mix.
You have plenty of "soil" thats mostly clay.
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No I have soil as in potting soil. I've had a ficus tree in it and a few generations of ivy plants.


ricky1lung said:
How large is the area your seeding? If it is small then by all means do it by hand, if you're doing a large area get someone with a machine to help you
work it up.

I seeded a 1.5 acre section of my yard to grass and it is allot of work if you have a big area.

Plan to start it in early spring or early fall. so there is dew, water in the early mornings. Some people say not to water freshly sown lawns in the evenings but I didnt have
a problem with mine if I did it in the evening.

If I were you, I would work it slightly and get some top soil brought in. Dress the top, make it level except leaving a grade away from any buildings
for drainage. Seed the lawn with a broadcast spreader for a nice even lawn and pack it with a roller so the seed doesn't blow away.

Don't let the seed dry out but also don't over water. After it is established and you have cut it a few times start to cut it as low as the lawn can
handle so it doesn't burn and die and do it often so that the roots stool out giving you a nice thick lawn.
Click to expand...
The lawn area that I wanna do is doable in maybe 1 day or less witch isn't bad. I'm not totally worried about the grade because there is already raised flower beds that I put in as a boarder for my yard area. The grass seeds I plan on using is Scots EZ-Seeds. So they already have some sort of soil around them witch is good and that changes colors when its wet and dry.

In the end I am only worried about having to stay on a budget range since I need to work on my house and hopefully get at least 1 or 2 245w solar panels installed.
 
Have your local Contractor bring in a truckload of topsoil.
The day before- till the whole yard-- then have them dump/spread the topsoil on top of it.... till again and use a lawn roller... Then spread the seed.. You will want to rake it lightly then cover the whole yard with a very thin layer of straw, and keep it watered until it sprouts...

I take it you live where it is warm now?????
 
LadyZandra said:
Have your local Contractor bring in a truckload of topsoil.
The day before- till the whole yard-- then have them dump/spread the topsoil on top of it.... till again and use a lawn roller... Then spread the seed.. You will want to rake it lightly then cover the whole yard with a very thin layer of straw, and keep it watered until it sprouts...

I take it you live where it is warm now?????
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Yes. having top soil isn't really worth it since the yard isn't very big. Its no bigger then 6 feet by 12 feet. Like I said I have to worry about costs since I have to do work on my house and I have no idea how much it will end up costing in the end. I wanna wire in a 100% off the grid renewable energy system into my house because I am sick of the cost of power going up and it will be one less thing for me to worry about.
 
Toolage 87 said:
No I have soil as in potting soil. I've had a ficus tree in it and a few generations of ivy plants.

In the end I am only worried about having to stay on a budget range since I need to work on my house and hopefully get at least 1 or 2 245w solar panels installed.
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Ok gotcha I thought you meant the clay soil in your yard. Sure mix a couple bags of sand, your old potting soil, and some compost manure and a little lime will work great.
 
PurpleBuz said:
Ok gotcha I thought you meant the clay soil in your yard. Sure mix a couple bags of sand, your old potting soil, and some compost manure and a little lime will work great.
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Thanks. I will have to see if I can find some compost and or manure at the store. What ratio should I use for mix?
 
Toolage 87 said:
Thanks. I will have to see if I can find some compost and or manure at the store. What ratio should I use for mix?
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Depends a lot on what type of compost or manure you have available.

Sand to General compost 1:1
Sand to Aged Cow Manure 2:1
Sand to Aged Chicken Manure 2:1.
Lime 1 cup for a cubic foot of mix not needed if your using chicken manure

This all assumes that your mixing with your clay soil. This will basically give you a 3 way mix 1 part sand, 1 part compost, 1 part soil (dirt).
 
Preperationa is everything. That and a strong back. I used salt hay as a cover. Its finer and doesn't need to be removed. Clay can be broken down with gypsum. If your soil is heavy clay adding sand will make cement. A heavy duty tiller is a must.
 
Well as per my knowledge, clay is not necessarily all bad. It consists of good moisture and nutrition. However, that same good moisture can also causes a problem. As clay soil drains slowly. So, as snow melts and rains set in, clay soil tends to remain saturated long after average or sandy soils have drained. Also clay soil has high pH so that can be hard on plants. so it's better to some amount of clay soil.
If you want more information then must visit:bioactivepeat.com.au
 
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