# Severe Compaction Issue



## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

Good Morning Everybody,

I searched on here and found a post about fall bermuda care, but it didn't completely answer my predicament. He has Bermuda Tif419 (same as mine) and does good upkeep on the cultural practices one should implement when maintaining his lawn. 
However, he recently did a full renovation on his house and he decided to completely redo his landscaping. for a solid 2 weeks bricks were on the grass, 6-8 people constantly rolling wheelbarrows, driveway was full of lumber and a mini crane.. It was chaotic to say the least.

Anyways, his yard looks extremely compacted, it is hard as a brick when you walk on it: stunted growth in all of the areas that was being worked on(90% of the front/backlawn), thin patchy grass, and a 6 inch screwdriver goes in maybe 2 inches after his normal irrigation schedule. From last Friday to today, we have received a total of 17 inches of rain and when I was driving to the airport this morning, he had puddles of water on his lawn that was just getting bigger.

Now I know you should never aerate at the beginning of Fall, but does this warrant an aeration? Can he just up the poundage of fertilizer (he uses organic Growin' Green by Medina). The Farmers Almanac says this winter will be brutally cold for Texas and I don't want to see his lawn suffer as he is a corner house and is one of the few neighbors that maintains his property.

Thanks


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## probasestealer (Apr 19, 2018)

I'm not a warm season guy, but theoretically you want to aerate just before or during when the grass is growing aggressively. This time period is about to end for bermuda.

The pooling is a result of poor soil drainage which I might consider addressing chemically. You can use a wetting agent/surfactant (something like Penterra) with or without an aeration type product (Air8). I would lean towards option #2 this time of year.


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

Yep that's the vause. The bad thing is that he is a 100% organic guy and his yard reflects it. He mows it at 1 inch and it is lush. Been going to his house for football games and poker tourneys for over two years and I have never seen a weed in his lawn. He does everything right. Its infortu ate because our HOA doesnt allow trucks and equipment to be left out on our HUGE street, so he was forced to throw everything on his lawn.

Worse case scenario, can a bit more fertilizer be thrown on the lawn to help compensate for the energy used for repairing? Trying to do what I can for him as I drive by it daily and I dont want to regret not doing all that I can to help.

In 2017, my area didn't go dormant until we got our random snow storm in late December.


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

Where in Texas are you?


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

Bulverde, TX. About 20 miles North of the outskirts of San Antonio.


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

@Tex86 
I'm guessing you still have at least 10 more weeks before your first frost out there? I bet you could still heavily aerate asap and be okay. I think what we want to avoid is hard freezes.


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## samjonester (May 13, 2018)

You could show him this and see if he drinks the koolaide :lol: This wouldn't beat up the root zone if it's actively trying to store energy in cooler temps (if that's already happening by you).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnCwJYP0gNo


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

Iriasj2009 said:


> @Tex86
> I'm guessing you still have at least 10 more weeks before your first frost out there? I bet you could still heavily aerate asap and be okay. I think what we want to avoid is hard freezes.


Yep, I think we are in the mid/high 80' low 90's from now. He told me he was going to go ahead and do it because our weather in the hill country is funky until 
January typically.


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

samjonester said:


> You could show him this and see if he drinks the koolaide :lol: This wouldn't beat up the root zone if it's actively trying to store energy in cooler temps (if that's already happening by you).


Hahaha, when I get to my hotel I'll check it out. I'm not against chemicals as much as my neighbor.

I'm excited to see that video. Just by the image it looks intresting.


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## samjonester (May 13, 2018)

I'm not sure if it's an organic product, but his whole sales pitch is healthy long-term soil fertility to reduce the need for traditional chemical inputs. Not sure if it works either, but lots of people around here and on YouTube have been using those products and sharing their anecdotal results. Lots of people around here have also been critical of the value of the products as well since it's sold in liquid form. Regardless of whether you (or your friend) use it, it'll be a good jumping off point for the search bar, here.


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

samjonester said:


> I'm not sure if it's an organic product, but his whole sales pitch is healthy long-term soil fertility to reduce the need for traditional chemical inputs. Not sure if it works either, but lots of people around here and on YouTube have been using those products and sharing their anecdotal results. Lots of people around here have also been critical of the value of the products as well since it's sold in liquid form. Regardless of whether you (or your friend) use it, it'll be a good jumping off point for the search bar, here.


Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely look into it


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

I aerified some cart traffic areas around my greens today. I'm doing a greens aerification Sept. 27. I'd guess that our climates are pretty close (could be wildly wrong), but I'm not worried about recovery right now. Get to it now, and it'll be good to go.


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

viva_oldtrafford said:


> I aerified some cart traffic areas around my greens today. I'm doing a greens aerification Sept. 27. I'd guess that our climates are pretty close (could be wildly wrong), but I'm not worried about recovery right now. Get to it now, and it'll be good to go.


Okay, that's good to know. We just got hit with a ton of rain and will continue to recieve an inch or so daily for the rest of the week. So I'll have to aerate a week or so after the rain stops.

My Wife is from Florida and just got back a week ago from Sanford visiting her family. Glad to hear yall wont get hit by Hurricane Florence. Her family was worried about it for a while.

Thanks for sharing


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## jonthepain (May 5, 2018)

I'd core aerate.


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## jonthepain (May 5, 2018)

> ... just got back a week ago from Sanford...


I live 10 minutes from Sanford


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

jonthepain said:


> I'd core aerate.


Sounds good!


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

jonthepain said:


> > ... just got back a week ago from Sanford...
> 
> 
> I live 10 minutes from Sanford


First time for me in Florida. The area was nice but were only there for a few days. Wish we could've stayed longer.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Tex86 said:


> viva_oldtrafford said:
> 
> 
> > I aerified some cart traffic areas around my greens today. I'm doing a greens aerification Sept. 27. I'd guess that our climates are pretty close (could be wildly wrong), but I'm not worried about recovery right now. Get to it now, and it'll be good to go.
> ...


Don't let the soil dry out too much. A week of low 90s Texas heat could dry that soil to the bone especially if most of the water is sitting on top evaporating. You want moist soil to pull good plugs. It is even recommended to irrigate before plugging if you have had dry weather.


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## Tex86 (Jun 4, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Tex86 said:
> 
> 
> > viva_oldtrafford said:
> ...


We just got a total of 18 inches of rain in our area since Labor Day. He will have to let it dry out for a few days. Our ground is completely saturated.


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

Use Revive (www.revive.com). It has wetting agents + organic humates + iron so when you water right after you apply, water will get down further that it usually does to the root zone. I would apply this every few weeks until November. Then do more in mid-March through next summer. Soil takes time to amend, sometimes years.

I just tried Revive for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I'm already seeing my lawn improve because the water is beginning to penetrate the soil rather than run off.


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