Question
Hello - my lawn is about 12 years old and the soil is rock hard. When the house was built I believe they used all landfill and no soil - we have found large pieces of cement a couple of inches down. Nothing seems to grow there, it starts out green in the spring and by mid July is nothing but brown, dead grass. Even the weeds have a hard time! We've tried compost, aerating,and grass seed that is "guaranteed" to grow on cement.  Nothing works.  What can we do?
Thanks!

Answer
Hi Mary,

It sounds to me like you may already know the answer here, but are hoping to hear something different. You need to get better soil and a good root zone in there. The concrete and hardpan are not going to improve much with amendments, even though you have been doing the right things theoretically.

Grass that is "guaranteed" to grow on concrete is a sham. You know this already now, but the other folks reading may benefit from hearing it. They offer the guarantee, then make you prove that you performed proper maintenance on it. Since it's usually not a ton of money, most people let it slide, and the seed companies walk away with the loot.

Sorry, but that's about all you can do at this point. Don't spend any more money on anything else at all. Just budget to get a good 5 - 6 inches of topsoil spread out, then seed with a good seed blend meant for your area. You'll take a bit of a financial hit, but it's the only thing that will be worth the investment.

Good luck! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com