# Boggy, Oil-like Lawn/Soil



## newbuildlawn (Jul 30, 2021)

Hello,

First of all, sorry if this is on the wrong board - thought it was safest here.

We laid a new lawn in our garden a few months ago. The soil is very clay like and required a lot of effort to break up. Overall, the grass has grown well, however one patch is receding. It doesn't get an awful lot of sun, and I fear it may have been overwatered and not had a chance to dry off.

It's fairly boggy and bare, however recently its started to develop spots of a black, oil like, shiny substance. It's not thick, but rather just resting on the surface.

I've scattered the area in some granules (seen in the pictures) in an attempt to neutralise the soil before digging over and reseeding. But i wondered if anyone knows a reason that this is happening to either A) fix it, or b) prevent it happening again.

Any advice is very appreciated! This is our first garden, so we're still learning!

Thank you!


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## david_ (Aug 22, 2019)

Hmm.. maybe early forms of nostoc? Shady/wet most likely means fungus, algae, or similar.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/nostoc_a_green_jelly_like_substance_growing_in_lawns


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## Old Hickory (Aug 19, 2019)

You should post this to the appropriate lawn-type forum and you'll a lot more responses. Since you are in the UK I'll guess cool season lawn.


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