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Hardy Grasses
Last year I filled an acre depression with some fill dirt. (I was lucky to have 50 tri-axles worth of fill dirt dumped there at no charge---some one needed to get rid of it...and it was clean stuff too!) The dirt is less than desireable stuff...no clay but very little if any top soil. I do not have the $$$ to bring in good top soil to spread over top of this area. I have resigned myself to the fact that this particular area will never be confused with a putting green but I would like to get it fairly presentable. Are there any grass seeds that are more tolerable to poor soils than others? Thanks in advance for your expertise!
Gary D
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Hardy Grasses
What area do you live in? Some grass will not grow well in some climates.
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Hardy Grasses
We have a spot where I think fill from a highway cut must have been dumped a long time ago. The spot was sort of a moonscape when we first moved here. We simply stopped mowing it and left a circular 'wild-garden' in the lawn. Funny thing is that grass that's mowed won't grow there but a whole bunch of wild grasses, daisy, Brown Eyed Susan’s and other wild flowers do just fine. It turns into an OK wild garden and given us something different each year. We just can't mow it.
A couple of days ago I took about a yard of compost out of our pile and tilled it into an area along the house where I used sand fill to improve the house's back grading. It would have been better to wait until fall and let new material added this spring compost more thoroughly. But I hope to get the area to grow things just fine with a little initial help from ag lime and chem nitrogen.
We got the compost from putting leafs, pine needles and bedding straw into a shallow excavation in our bush, covering it with soil and turning it several times a year. There's about three more yards left in the pit and we've only been at it 2.5 years. Although your area is a lot larger than mine, a idea might be to improve the soil for a few years by planting ground cover and then tilling in the cover and a lot of soil improvement material over several years. If you're in an area that gets winter, the ground cover would keep you from having a mud flat except for a several short periods a year.
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In Anchorage they told me that topsoil was an absolute requirement to grow a lawn on the poor soils up there. But after seeing hydroponic tomatoes thriving on no soil at all, I formed a different thesis. I planted grass seed on construction back fill, piles of sand or whatever was there, and then applied frequent moderate doses of fertilizer and lots of water. It took a couple of seasons, but it filled in completely and made its own topsoil, complete with earthworms (!) and I had a real nice lawn.
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Hardy Grasses
GET SOME SOIL TESTS!
It matters little what kind of soil you have, if it's clean, and the fertility is right, all you need is soil moisture and a warm enough soil temp. to insure good germination, followed by adequate water(from ma nature or fom your sprinkler)
it also helps if you do not work the fill area when soil moisture is too high thus avoiding compaction
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Would like to know approx location to help you more with seed choice. The most important thing with your project is the soil prep, seeding time, advailable moisture, then the seed choice. I sell turf products it isn't brain surgery so relax. I will be more than glad to help you keep costs down thats my job. Chances are you are in a location seasonally where you should not be seeding at this time for best results. I would get a soil test if you could. One done through a extention office or university is best, can be pricey. Some garden centers do freebies, better than nothing. I can probably help you get your soil adjusted without one if we need to. So lets take some time and get you where you need to be.
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Sorry about the delay in getting back to you all about my location. I live in northwestern PA, I think I am in Zone 5. I am not attempting to grow as we speak simply because of the time of year. The particular area I am speaking about is too far away from the house to water, so I am really relying on Mother Nature for water and this just simply isin't the best time of year for that as we all know.
Incidentally, the portions of this property that I could reach to water were seeded with something called "Lakeview mix", a blend specially formaulated for the Lake Erie lake shore...or at least thats what they tell me. Now I'm getting to far from the house and watering is going to be up to mother nature. What I did plant came in just OK, but I attribute that to nothing but the soil conditions.
Thanks again for any thoughts!
GaryD
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I guess Kentucky 31 might be good for low water.
I recently sodded and seeded an area. I picked up the sod directly from the sod farm. I asked him about soil, mine is poor red AL clay. I figure I have as much as 30 percent iron in it. He stated that as long as I threw the fertilizer to it the grass would grow.
The bermuda I sodded is fine blade and has grown well. I had to dig up some a few week ago and had roots extending down more than a foot in 3 weeks. The Pennington Bermuda I seeded I am not happy with as it is much broader leaf and has not grown well.
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Look's like you will be seeding in early to mid September providing the fall rains start by then. I would be interested to know what the seed tag percentages were on the Lakeview Mix. I recommend a blend in the neighborhood of 15% Kentucky Bluegrass, 30% turf type perennial Ryegrass and 55% Creeping Red Rescue. Creeper is a great low maintenance,low water seed. The others will give you knit, uniform look, and quicker green-up.
What is your soil color and how are you plan to loosen it up(Tiller/disc/other)?
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I will check on the seed percentages when I get home and let you know tommorrow. As far as loosening up this stuff, I'm doing the best I can with what I have. Before the rains quit for the summer I was able to get a couple of sections done (probably areas 20' X 100'.) I have a homemade York type rake (an old trailer hitch with a cross bar across the back with 3" re-bar spikes welded on the bottom.) I have had to drag each area (with my 14 HP lawn tractor) to kick up the rocks/stones, then hand rake the section. This needed to be done 3X to get the area ready to seed. Needless to say this is a major project for a one man wrecking crew.
I'm sure with the proper equipment I would have been done with this long ago but its easier to do it this way than explain to my wife why we need to bring someone in to do the job. That falls on deaf ears.
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