Greetings from Vancouver Island! I just bought a half duplex and have noticed that the neglected sodded lawn is quite muddy, weedy and lumpy. I could rip up the sod, level and seed but I share the unfenced front lawn with a neighbor. I had planned to weed and feed in about 10 days, lay down a top coat of soil and seed. Most importantly I am looking for any advice on what seed might absorb some of the moisture from the sod and make my lawn less muddy and more kid play friendly. Any advice in regards to repairing this Muddy, Weedy, and lumpy yard appreciated, thx in advance.
Do you know for sure that the lawn stays muddy year round? Or could it just be that the soil is saturated from melting snow at this time of year? If it is muddy year round then you need to take care of the drainage problem before putting in a whole lot of time and money on other soil, leveling and seeds. Grass seeds will not soak up excess water and still grow, they will rot before they get a chance to germinate. Using a pre-emergent weed control agent at this time of year would be a good idea, but the soil is way too cold to fertilize right now.
thx for the reply. We don't have much if any snow here in Victoria and it rarely gets below freezing, in fact It has been a very mild winter. But, having said that, it could be perhaps just wet from the amount of rain we get as well, we do have some drainage issues where I live. From what I understand we have a high water table? Still, my neighbor a block down and one block from the ocean has a very nice lawn, not sure how dry it is but it isn't muddy like mine. My soil seems to be like soft clay or perhaps that is the product of sods? Sorry I can provide any description of lawn history here as I just moved in, cheers.
I would think sand would help to absorb some of the water and if you are trying to cut down on the water a fertilizer lower in nitrogen (the first number usually) would be best. I'm just guessing at this but since I have the opposite problem here I am giving you the reverse of what I did. Good luck to you.
Actually if your soil is clay then you should not add sand to it....Clay + Sand = Cement. Sand will not help with drainage in clay soil, the clay clumps around the grains of sand and becomes hard as cement causing many more problems. If your problem is poor drainage, there is a product called expanded shale that might work for you. It doesn't mix with the clay, it creates pockets of oxygen to aerate the soil and helps with drainage. It doesn't decompose into the soil since it is shale, doesn't add nutrients so it won't affect the fertilizing you do. Also, if the problem is too much water from overwatering or lots of rain, then clay will become depleted of Nitrogen and you will need to add Nitrogen to provide what grass and plants need.
Oh dear, I obviously have alot more to learn, kindly ignore everything I just said aside from the good luck part! I believe Toni posted a more in depth post about this, here's the link: http://www.gardenstew.com/viewtopic.php ... highlight=
thx for all the posts, I just want to clarify that I dont yet know whether the soil is clay or not. I do know that below my foundation is soft clay and there are a lot of sump pumps in my area due to a high water table. Now, just below the sod is some kind of green mesh of which I do not understand the purpose. The sod is patchy and full of plantain and dandelions, Where it is patchy is just very soft mud and I wonder if the natural soil ever fully integrated with the sod (if in fact this happens) I hope Im not confusing anyone here. I will read your suggestions in the next few days and educate myself, thx again for reply's, ganight
Lily, sand to improve drainage is the first thing most everyone thinks about. I would have said the same thing up until a couple of weeks ago when I took that class. I would also suggest that you have a soil test done. Once you know exactly what kind of soil you do have, you will be half way to establishing a really good lawn.
