# Fix soft, clay soil without tilling?



## AGrayson84 (Jul 10, 2020)

Hi everyone! Newbie from Southern Maryland, here! I bought this house going on 2 years ago, and have been fighting some areas of my lawn that stay soft and muddy whenever it has rained within 5-7+ days. Most of my yard is very shaded from many pine trees, cutting down most of the forest surrounding my home isn't an option. However, one of the areas that stays especially soggy (stays slippery and muddy for days after it rains) is in one of spots of the lawn that gets the most shade. But even areas that get the most sun, the soil stays pretty darn soft for days after a rain. This is a problem for not only just walking in the yard, but mowing the yard, since I have to wait for several days of no rain to mow. I don't have any standing water issues, by the way.... the yard is graded nicely and downspouts don't dump water in these soft areas.

My soil seems to be mainly clay. I've only done a core aeration on the yard once since I lived here, and not sure how many more times I may need to do that, or if core aeration will even help with this. It seems like adding some sort of amendment with a tiller would be the best option, but I have around 38 sprinklers for my irrigation system within my lawn and I don't want to have to go thru replacing a ton of the plumbing on them from getting destroyed by a tiller. That, and I have way more lawn than I'd care to till 12" deep.

So I'm hoping that some of you that have had experience with this sort of problem may have some solid suggestions on what I can do to improve this soft soil throughout my lawn, without tilling in any other material  I do have quite a bit of liquid aeration from Simple Lawn Solutions that I have not used and I'm on the fence about trying it on these mushy areas because one of the ladies that I talked to on the phone at SLS suggested the product may soften the soil even more, though other people I have spoken to seem to suggest that it make break up the compacted, mushy soil. So I'm certainly open to trying liquid products, spreading some product with a broadcast spreader, etc. if there's enough suggestion toward something like that. Thanks a bunch!!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Make sure your grade is correct and build trenches to move the water away. That will be more cost effective than all of the other products.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

I don't know all the science but I do know some clays can be improved with gypsum application. The calcium bonds with something and can make it less sticky and drain better.
Can be found for like $5 for 40lbs. Some brands are twice that just find some basic pelletized stuff and give it a shot even in just a small area for now. I had an area behind my garage that used to pond be in heavy rain and doesn't any more even as I see ponds in my neighbor's yard this morning from a couple inches of rain last night.
I know this is not the fix for all clays but it was big big help in mine.


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## macrophylla (Jul 9, 2020)

Things that have helped me with clay soil that alternates between muddy pit and cracking/hydrophobic depending on the time of year

Core aeration and sweeping plugs each fall and top-dressing with a double sifted compost (1 yd3 / 1000). This is working great in my 'normal' clay soils and improving soil health noticeably two years into the process. It is a LOT of work.

Gypsum (the application rate to make a difference is insane so this is limited to one part of the lawn that was basically subsoil after the builder finished grading) I think I'm at 15#/100sq.ft. (yeah 100 not 1000) twice a year. There can be an interaction with the soil chemistry that affects iron availability although I've not had that issue.

Started experimenting with Humic products this year specifically Humic12 and Air8, too soon to tell

I also plan to try to experiment with a soil surfactant. My hope is the humic/air8 work as their impact on soil health should be long term whereas the surfactant is at best twice a year commitment from what I can find.


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## AGrayson84 (Jul 10, 2020)

g-man said:


> Make sure your grade is correct and build trenches to move the water away. That will be more cost effective than all of the other products.


Thanks g-man. Yeah the grade is good, I just think the combination of shade and possible heavy clay are the main problem, if I had to guess. Since I don't have standing water, what would be the purpose of trenches? And would the trenches just be filled to the top with rock or something? Thanks again!


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## AGrayson84 (Jul 10, 2020)

macrophylla said:


> Things that have helped me with clay soil that alternates between muddy pit and cracking/hydrophobic depending on the time of year
> 
> Core aeration and sweeping plugs each fall and top-dressing with a double sifted compost (1 yd3 / 1000). This is working great in my 'normal' clay soils and improving soil health noticeably two years into the process. It is a LOT of work.
> 
> ...


Thank you Mac. Any idea approximately how many inches of material 1 yd3 / 1000 sq ft ends up being? Is that just a really thin layer? The core aeration and sweeping of the plugs doesn't scare me at all.... but the top-dressing of 13k sqft with hand tools does lol!

15 lbs / 100 sq ft..... oh geez! And are you just laying the gypsum on top, are you scratching it in, tilling it in?

I have not tried Humic yet. I do have 2 containers of Simple Lawn Solutions' liquid aeration which is surely very similar to Air8. Hopefully it doesn't soften your soil even more. Would be nice to hear that it works well for you, crossing my fingers on that. I'll have to look into this soil surfactant... hadn't heard about that yet.


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## AGrayson84 (Jul 10, 2020)

BobLovesGrass said:


> I don't know all the science but I do know some clays can be improved with gypsum application. The calcium bonds with something and can make it less sticky and drain better.
> Can be found for like $5 for 40lbs. Some brands are twice that just find some basic pelletized stuff and give it a shot even in just a small area for now. I had an area behind my garage that used to pond be in heavy rain and doesn't any more even as I see ponds in my neighbor's yard this morning from a couple inches of rain last night.
> I know this is not the fix for all clays but it was big big help in mine.


I appreciate the reply Bob. I'm certainly going to have to give this a shot, going to have to see where I can find it for a reasonable price. Any idea how people are applying it? Just spreading it over the top of the soil and watering it in?


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

Yeah the pellets melt, not fast but they do break up at the surface.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Have you done a soil test with a soil type analysis? That will help you overall (macros and micro) but in particular also help you with knowing your OM and other variables which you can improve.

Try a soil surfactant like panterra if you are up for spending 25 bucks before trying all the labor intensive stuff. It maybe a temporary fix (if it works) I agree but you might be able to do stuff better with a better drained soil when you aerate etc.

Also have you thought about aerating and backfilling the holes with sand maybe?


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