Chapter 1: Clay Heavy Soil

Welcome to the Midwest Lawn Care Guide!

Chapter 1:  Clay-heavy soil and the solution.

Hello and welcome. I sincerely appreciate you stopping by!
My name is Vernon. I'm a 4th generation farmer, born and raised in the midwest.  I don't believe there's ANYONE who hates weeds more than me.
You might be here looking for the "trick" to keeping a nice lawn.
There's no trick.

There ARE a few "common sense" rules to maintaining your lawn that I am happy to share with anyone who is interested.





Let's start with our conditions.The midwest is one of the most challenging areas of the country for lawn treatment.
*We have very clay-heavy soil.

*We have three different climate systems meeting right on top of us.

*We are the only region in the country where BOTH cold and hot weather varieties of weeds can  thrive.

*Our weather patterns are IDEAL for the different stages of grubworm development.Are we having fun yet?
Let's discuss the clay first.
Clay heavy soil is only a problem if you let it become one.  There are two "common sense" rules to follow.

On the farm, we use cover-crops to condition the soil.  When alfalfa is planted, the tap roots grow thick, and straight down.  When they die, the roots dry out,  leaving channels of air penetrating deep into the ground, and adding nitrogen to the soil through decomposition.  If I didn't work the soil to break up the clay, my next crop would fail.

The same is true for your lawn.  When clay packs in too tight, feeder roots that grow along the surface  cannot grow.  The tap roots that grow straight down are the plant's source for gaining water.  Large cracks, that appear in clay heavy soil, have the ability to carry water far below the reach of the tap roots.

The Solution?Please sign up for 10 month instructional course below.....  Just kidding!!!

Core Aeration.
Core Aeration pulls 2"-3" plugs of soil out of your lawn, and lays them on top.  This will leave thousands of channels for water, nutrients, and oxygen (needed for the micro-organisms responsible for decomposition).

*As a side note, it WILL look like you own a LOT of cats, until you get a good heavy rain.

Not all Aeration is created equal!
Let's go over some things to avoid.
DONT aerate when the lawn is too dry.  Not looking for mud, but a 15 minute presoak will leave the soil soft enough to pull deeper plugs.

DONT aerate in the spring.  I know that golf courses aerate constantly.  They also put down expensive fungicide with each application. Aerating any time other than fall will open your lawn up to disease.

DONT hire a neighborhood kid.  Chances are, the machine he is using is not the one you need.  Also, aerators are dangerous.  I talked with a lady not long ago that had a neighbor boy puch a hole through his foot.  Guess who was responsible?

DONT use a tine aerator. These basically just force small pins into the ground and rip them out. the ONLY decompression that takes place is when the machine pulls large clods of dirt out of the ground. Terrible for the root system.

DONT use a belt-driven machine.  Belts will slip and blades will stop before cutting a deep enough plug.  Piston-driven is the way to go.

DONT hurt your back. An effective machine can weigh upwards of 300 lbs.  The motion of the pistons will fight you the ENTIRE time. Also, when you hit a rock, the machine will jump off the ground.  If your unsure, play it safe. I know of a few companies that use good machines.  It's costly, but less expensive than a chiropractor.

And that's aeration!
The second major problem for clay-heavy soil is acidity.
For soil that is not heavy with clay, acidity is not as much of an issue. When water can run freely through the soil, acidity is neutralized naturally.  With clay, it's the opposite.  Stay with me; we're gonna get a little scientific.  Clay and sodium hold opposite charges.  The two will cling to one another naturally.  The higher the acidity of the soil, the stronger the bond between the two.  The stronger the bond, the tighter the soil.  As an added issue, too much sodium will kill your grass.

The solution?Lime, consisting of calcium and magnesium, will reduce the acidity of the soil. Most turf grasses do best at a PH between 6.5 and 7. A soil test is needed to determine acidity, however, if there is a distinct purple tinge as you look out over your grass, acidity is almost definitely the problem.  Some lawnmen and old farmers, (not this one) can eyeball the cracks in the soil and determine acidity by how quickly the soil seperates during a dry spell.

And that's Lime!

Please feel free to explore the other pages of my blog for more info on all topics lawn care!




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