# My soil is screwed - pulling cores was a CHORE!



## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

So I am about to send my sample off tomorrow. I got my soil probe today and I thought it would be easy peasy. WRONG!

I have really hard dirt. So hard that although we've had lots of rain recently, I could hardly push the probe into the soil all the way in many areas. And it wasn't just in the areas that have no grass - it was really hard in places that have grass. I could feel the clay as I was twisting and pulling to try to maximize the core effort.

Some of the dirt was so dry that I couldn't even pull a core per se. In many cases, I had to dig/pull 3 times to make up one core. And I had to use a screwdriver to push out the compacted dirt that got stuck in my probe. It definitely was a tough feat.

There were some areas of my lawn where it actually went all the way into the ground. But that dirt still got stuck. I will be really interested to find out what my results are. My soil is definitely lacking.


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## doverosx (Aug 7, 2019)

I just dug with a shovel and filled in with new soil under /around the pulled area.


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## Coleman2084 (Aug 7, 2019)

I have the same issues along with automatic irrigation. Subscribing to see what others say.


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## Bermuda_Triangle (Sep 20, 2019)

You need to add some organic matter to the top and after core aeration.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Bermuda_Triangle said:


> You need to add some organic matter to the top and after core aeration.


My soil test should be coming back any day now. Is humic acid considered organic matter?
I have some but I am waiting on my soil test before I do anything.


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## Bermuda_Triangle (Sep 20, 2019)

@Turfsurfer I am a newbie at this yard stuff...

Humid acid itself is organic matter. But I would think at the small amount we use and being diluted it would not even register in a soil test. But, don't quote me on that.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

So one YouTuber I saw suggest fertilizer. More growth, mulch the clippings make your own organic matter.
Use some organic products like milorganite, soybean meal, local milorganite knockoffs are out there too.


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