Question
QUESTION: I've had no success growing my lawn in certain areas around the house and more so in the backyard. The ground is hard and just went from green in the early spring to dirt today. A friend noticed what has happened and he indicated that I have lye in the soil which is preventing growth, saying that wind-blown sand gets in the soil and creates lye, because there used to be a sandbox in the yard. Is this true and if so how do I combat what's already been done so I can grow my lawn again.

ANSWER: So you want to know if your friend is a Lyer?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  But seriously, we will go there now since you asked.  It gets a bit technical, so if there is something here I haven't explained well please ask.

Lye:  Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) or Potassium Hydroxide (KOH).  A corrosive, poisonous chemical found in Drano and other drain openers, oven cleaner, hand soap, laundry detergent -- all over your house.  

Pioneers used to make Lye for soap and to clean pelts.  Soap is basically a Sodium salt of certain fatty acids.  (Potassium produces softer or liquid soaps).  Certain wood, they found, could be burned at very high temperatures.  Apple Trees and Oaks yielded the perfect White ash --  two important Group IA Alkali Metals, Sodium (Na) and Potassium (K) (aka 'Potash' in the olden days due to its source), came from those burned White ashes.  FYI: Sodium and Potassium are actually the 6th and 7th most common elements on the earth.  The fireplace ashes were dissolved in a solution of Water mixed with Sodium Bicarbonate; they strained the Water to filter out the ashes, and Voila! you had Lye.  So that's the story of Lye. Boil Lye and the Fat off the carcass of the wild boar you shot from dinner and you have Soap.

Remember, the very definition of an Alkali Metal, Group IA on the Periodic Table, is that they react violently with Water to form a STRONG Alkaline solution.  Potassium reacts SO vigorously with Water, it bursts into flame.

Next: Sand.  Usually granular Quartz (SiO2 -- Silicon Dioxide) and various other eroded rocks.  The bright White Silica Sand on tropical beaches is Limestone.  Sand can also contain Gypsum (from Feldspar) and/or Magnetite, Chlorite or Glauconite.  Sand is used in the manufacture of concrete and glass.  What it does NOT contain is Lye, as you can see.  And Lye does not contain Quartz, or Limestone, or any of the other various beach materials.

There are two possible misunderstandings here as I see it.

One, your friend may have confused cement mix and Sand.  The formula for cement includes Lye.  I have heard it mentioned that Quikrete and/or cement may include Lye, although I can't confirm this right now.  I do know that using cement to build a fishpond in a landscape is a good way to kill the resident fish, because it is so alkaline.  Likewise, planting acid-loving plants around a cement foundation is a fast road to Chlorosis.

The other possible source of confusion: Maybe he wasn't talking about Lye.  Maybe he was talking about Lime.

Playsand is usually made of various Aluminosilicates.  But the fine White sand of the tropics is made of limestone shells and coral, and that, too, can be used in a sandbox.  In fact, a person might like that bright White sand even more because it looks so fine and pure.

In any event, the pH of that kind of limestone is hardly caustic enough to destroy Grass that quickly in the amounts you describe.  It might, however, make it DIFFICULT to grow HEALTHY Grass.  You don't just lose your Grass.  You seem to lose ALL signs of life, if I understand you correctly.

Which brings us back to my usual mantra: Get your Soil tested.

If you'd mentioned your zipcode I would gladly send you the contact information and details of your Cooperative Extension.  Send it now and I'll give you that.  I also have more to tell you about what ELSE you can do to improve your Soil, and if you tell me the kind of Sun you get, I'll tell you what kind of Grass is perfect in those conditions.  And that's NO LYE!

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: To follow up on your answer we live in Sandy, UT and our zip code is 84070. This area is high desert about 4500 feet above sea level, and this summer has been been about normal for us about 90+ degrees throughout. The sun begins in the morning hours on the south-east side of our backyard and stays mainly on the south side of our home throughout the day, this is where the majority of the deadness of our lawn is occurring and seems to grow better under the shade of our trees. The really confusing part of all this is that the other homes in our neighborhood with less shade, from what I can see, don't have this problem. Also note that in a lot of our yard there are roots that are visible everywhere that are just below the surface of the lawn and actually grow what appear to be branches that sprout thin leafy branches. Could these roots be the cause? What do you think?

Answer
Utah's Extension Service posts a page on Soil testing, including fees and instructions for sampling:

extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/HG_H_05.pdf

EVERYBODY needs to know what their Soil has and does not have.  Given your location, you REALLY need it -- this is no plain vanilla plot you are cultivating, this is complicated in 20 different ways, and not just because I don't live there.  Note that these Extension Services are a terrific bargain because they are subsidized, part of their research work and their link to the community.  You paid for it.  Get what you paid for.  Your tax dollars at work.

Next, a little beside reading: Your own extension's 'Top 10 Turf Problems in Northern Utah' which I assume includes Salt Lake County; please correct me if this is wrong so I can send you the right Top 10...  This is strictly optional.  The list is not really important because there are easy answers to almost every problem on that list, which could be a list of Long Island's problems by the way.  But it's good to know you're not THAT unique when it comes to Lawn Care problems.

O.K.  I have looked through some of your geological and climate data and even more important I know what your local golf courses like to grow.  So we can safely say that the Gold Standard Lawn in your part of the world grows Kentucky Bluegrass, which is what they mow at the Homestead Resort's fairways when they're not mowing those Bentgrass putting greens:

www.homesteadresort.com/golf/golf_course_info.cfm

But you have got to have first rate Soil to make that happen, probably needs to be amended, you have to make the Earthworms grow and prosper, you have to build up your organic matter.

Only one more thing.  And you probably guessed it.  The roots you mention.  What kinds of Trees are these?  I take it you do not have Birches?  Because from here, it sounds like you are fighting an uphill battle that is impossible to win where the Trees are concerned.  Those roots are sucking ALL the nutrients out of the Soil.

Making Grass compete with Trees for nutrients is like asking a guy on a motorcycle to compete with a train for the 6 square feet of space they occupy together when they collide.  The Grass is always, always going to lose.

Even if you put MORE fertilizer down there -- and I do not like fertilizer as a rule because it is technically a chemical salt that is good for nobody -- the Tree will take it all until they are both recovering from 4th degree fertilizer burns.

For the worst parts of your Lawn, you need a groundcover.  Look through the Bluestone Perennials website (find the plant finder on the left side of the page) for photos of your options.

This is why your full Sun location is growing Grass like it was a Deep Shade location.  Too many Trees get in the way.

Usually the problem with Trees is you don't get enough light and you can at best raise the canopy.  But in your case, perhaps you can remove some of them IF they are so young they do not block your light.  I suspect this is not an option.

Try this:

www.treeboss.net/seeding-under-trees.htm

and pay close attention to the paragraphs on 'Planting grass under a tree'.

The homeowners hired that landscaper to solve a problem like yours.  Treeboss reports, 'While it can be very detrimental to add Soil over most tree's root zones, limited Soil fill over some Tree roots shouldn't cause any major problems.'  I agree.  But a lot depends on the Tree.  We do have an EXCELLENT Tree expert here at AllExperts, Jim Hyland:

www.allexperts.com/expert.cgi?m=1&catID=739&expID=23328

I'd trust him to sign off on that solution.

And if you do move forward on that, be prepared, as Treeboss points out, to overseed annually for the prettiest results.  Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER