# Very compacted soil with some rock



## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

I'm having issues now that this heat has came on so early. What once was all green grass now as heat stress. I've watered it throughout this process, but it's not doing well in spots.

I took a screwdriver to it tonight. And I'm lucky to get it pushed down 2 inches. I hit a rock at least once, if not twice. But from what I remember when digging a few times into this soil, the clay is REAL. Lol. Like, very dense.

So I can't search and dig up rocks. That's not an option I'm willing to do at the moment.

I'm mowing probably 5/8".

But even in the green areas, it's still very tough to get screwdriver down.

First.. should I raise my HOC until my turf gets stronger? A lot of this grass is relatively new from pushing it to spread. I'm doing a rehab.

Second.. how do I attack the compaction? Do I apply a wetting agent for now and wait for rains to come? Then maybe a mechanical aeration?

Air8?

I can't provide pictures at the moment, but will get them.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

sanders4617 said:


> I'm having issues now that this heat has came on so early. What once was all green grass now as heat stress. I've watered it throughout this process, but it's not doing well in spots.
> 
> I took a screwdriver to it tonight. And I'm lucky to get it pushed down 2 inches. I hit a rock at least once, if not twice. But from what I remember when digging a few times into this soil, the clay is REAL. Lol. Like, very dense.
> 
> ...


There's a difference between hitting rocks and hitting clay. Rocks will not soften no matter what you apply. If it is hard clay you are hitting then you have options. I can't speak to the different soil conditioners that are available but hopefully someone will. There are many threads on here about the different ones available.


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

I felt an actual rock once.. but the rest of the time I just couldn't push any farther. I thought it was a rock, but after moving around from place to place, I realized it wasn't. Mostly clay. It's rough haha.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

sanders4617 said:


> I felt an actual rock once.. but the rest of the time I just couldn't push any farther. I thought it was a rock, but after moving around from place to place, I realized it wasn't. Mostly clay. It's rough haha.


I can relate. Like I said in another thread, we don't set posts in concrete here. Just wet and tamp the clay.


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

There are some good products for this, I've used the following because I have a similar rocky clay soil (that's on a slope!!! I've dug up rocks the size of basketballs!!!) so it's very difficult to get water to penetrate and not run off.

Products I've used:
1) Revive liquid - wetting agents, organic matter, 1% iron, set on 8oz. Ortho Dial N Spray then water in heavily. Works well

2) Anderson's Black Gypsum DG -- breaks up clay and penetrates, also adds 20% Humic Acid deep down, the DG granules explode into tiny micro-particles when watered in. I can get a 40lb bag for $40.

3) Anderson's Humic DG - same as Black Gypsum DG but all Humic, contains 62% humic acid... 40lb bag for $40

4) Nature's Lawn Aerify - this is just like countless other products with 50-60% Ammonium Laureth Sulfate that acts as a wetting agent basically. Their Aerify Plus also contains Humic/Kelp which I haven't tried but sounds good.

5) LawnStar Soil Aerator - just like Aerify but with 3% Humic, 2% fulvic, 1% amino acids...I just started using this.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

I can also relate, and yes, it is very difficult to do much with the soil once it gets that dry and dense. I take it that you have better results with the screwdriver test when the soil is wet (e.g., in March and April)?

I think that you have the right idea with aeration. You could try air-8, but there is a lot to be said for core aeration as well. One thing that you could try right away: Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo -- not the body wash + shampoo -- just the shampoo. I've used this to loosen up dry and compact areas of soil. It worked for me, but the effects were most noticeable after 2-3 apps. I believe I used about 3oz/k, and I watered it in -- in addition to the carrier water. A hose-end sprayer should work just fine.

The only disclaimer I will add is that I have tried this with cool season turf. I'm not sure if things would be different for warm season turf in the middle of a heat wave.


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I actually sprayed baby shampoo on the lawn last night around 11pm. About 3-4oz for 2k square feet (with hose end).

Anything to help out right now. And then I set sprinklers to go for a long time this morning and let it do the smart cycle where it does 1 zone for a shorter time, then rotates through the zones a few times till the time has been met.

Gonna test again this evening and see.

@social port Not sure on how it is in March/April. I moved in there in March and was so wet that I could hardly do anything in the yard. lol. I had irrigation installed and the trencher made easy work of the soil.

But back in April when I was doing some stuff with the trenched areas and the ground had dried up... some of that clay was intense and hard as a rock. I didn't think much about it at the time.

At my last house.. I could go down 1-2ft with hardly any issues. New construction (where I am now) vs old old house that the people before me had tons of flowers that probably helped the soil.


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## krevo81 (May 29, 2019)

I have a the same problem and made a thread about it a few days ago. My builder did a really bad job with my topsoil and front sod. The entire front yard was mostly a mix of dug up clay, caliche and black dirt that had been rained on and compacted by machines for the entire 9 months they were building. They put an inch or two of sandy loam on it and then slapped down the tif419 sod. Now 18 months later, I've got areas of my yard that look great (where all the graded soil has settled) and areas where directly below my sod (2") is clay and pieces of rock and construction debris. I really considered warrantying my lawn with the builder but didn't know enough about how bad it was until it was too late.

That said - here is my current solution that I've been practicing for the past 3 months.

1. n-EXT Humic 12 / Air-8 + RGS - alternating applications of this stuff once per month at the full rate. 
2. Identifying hotspots where I know the roots are shallow and manually aerating them with a yard doctor or whatever the device is called. I remove the plugs and keep them in a 5 gallon bucket. I then topdress the aerated areas with a mixture of peat moss, compost, pelletized gypsum, and lawn soil. It's a pretty cheap fix and has improved the really bad spots. The topdress mix I make in a 5 gallon bucket with the plugs and its really airy.
3. Soil conditioner (SLS) with yucca wetting agent applied once per month. Surprisingly this stuff really does work.
4. Plan to core aerate in the next week and maybe again later this summer assuming I see some progress.

The nuclear option is still in play, however. If I don't see significant progress with the soil by the end of next season - I'm going to cut the sod up, bring in a machine to till out and remove all the rock and debris, and I'm going to put down 6" of rich compost/black dirt/pond sand and re-lay the sod. Might even just toast the grass and re-sod with a different variety of bermuda. Either way - the program above has 18 months and isn't expensive compared to a full reno.


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

@k@krevo81

I've got Humic12 and RGS that I can spray. I didn't purchase anymore Air8 - didn't think I'd need it.

I may try and find a manual hand aerator and pull some cores in the areas and do as you're talking about.

I've also got something called O2YS (Surfactant/Adjuvant). Has Yucca in it. Only have used it on some tomato plants i did a week or so ago. I'll spray that out as well.

I really want a nice green lawn this year, so I'm totally against renovating at the moment. I spent last year doing that and the thought of dealing with dirt and all and doing it again so soon - it tires my brain. lol

But, it is something I would want to do otherwise. The lawn is so bumpy as is, so I'd love to come in and smooth it all out, amend the soil, and get the exact grass I want in there.

For now.. I'm gonna take what everyone has suggested and figure out what will work best for me at the current time.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

krevo81 said:


> The nuclear option is still in play, however. If I don't see significant progress with the soil by the end of next season - I'm going to cut the sod up, bring in a machine to till out and remove all the rock and debris, and I'm going to put down 6" of rich compost/black dirt/pond sand and re-lay the sod. Might even just toast the grass and re-sod with a different variety of bermuda. Either way - the program above has 18 months and isn't expensive compared to a full reno.


If you're gonna dig out 6" of soil, don't bother tilling it. Just bring in a bobcat and scoop it all out. Also, if I were doing this, I'd basically emulate USGA greens specs and put in drainage lines and backfill it with a USGA spec rootzone mix.


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## FluffiB (May 26, 2019)

I can relate. My house was basically built on bedrock on a hill. If you've driven down I65 through Tennessee, you know what I'm talking about. I swear, there's barely any dirt - just clay, gravel of all sizes, and construction junk! There are huge rocks all over too. It only got a rough grade, which I regret. I wasn't able to stick a soil sampler (apple corer, actually) more than 1" without hearing crunching sounds.

I've also been neglecting it because people in the south generally don't care about their lawns as much (I'm from the north), but they built more houses recently, and my new next door neighbor got Fescue sod, so my yard looked like complete crap. Not to mention, I pay almost $18 per 1,000 gallons of water with sewer, so I stopped watering it years ago.

I still want my yard to look descent, so I invested in N-Ext's bio-stim package. I also applied Anderson's Humic DG before I discovered N-Ext. It's only been a few months, but I think it's making a difference. I haven't watered in the last 2 weeks, and it's been so hot here with no rain. But my lawn is showing minimal heat stress compared to others in my neighborhood (mostly fescue). I also embraced the common bermuda in the front (south-facing). I still have good fescue in the back, which will get overseeded in the fall.

I bought Liquid Aerating Soil Loosener from Amazon, but it's been sitting here because I'm waiting for the rain. I don't really have much to lose at this point, so might as well throw the kitchen sink at it! (I wouldn't be surprised if one of those was buried in my yard, LOL!)


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