Question
Hello,

I have a problem lawn in central PA.  Although the soil test results indicate good nutrient levels ( no action specified beyond some maintenance lime) for the limestone soil, I still can't get decent root growth.  The soil is a reddish clay During any minor dry spells, the majority of my lawn will turn to crunchy, brown mat.  In fact, you can actually pull up the "mat" from the soil.  The underside of the "mat" will will have a white-ish mildew appearance.  The soil beneath the mat is a powdery light brown, similar in texture to fine ground coffee.  I was raised on a farm and I've never seen anything like this.  Any Thoughts?

I don't see any significant grub population.

As for background, I've owned the property for 5 years.  The previous owners built the house in the early 1950's and were fanatical gardeners.  With that history and the soil test results, I'm befuddled by the poor health of the lawn.

Thanks

Jon

Answer
I must confess I am a little confused about your Soil profile.  Are you saying you have Red-DISH Clay, or do you have Red Clay (a specific kind of Soil), or is it light Brown?  Red Clay Soil gets its 'red' from Iron Oxide (Fe2O3).  Iron is a reactive metal and does not exist in free state in Nature.  It's important to really, truly know what you've got there to manage it properly.

Do you really have Limestone Soil?  What IS the pH, if that's the case, and why are you adding more?  Please clarify this for me.

Did you have your Soil Test done professionally, or with a diy kit out of the garden center?  I say this because I am wondering what your Soil Test determined about the composition of the Soil that looks like 'fine ground coffee'.  This is what Soil testing is for.  Who did yours?

I also would like to know what kind of GRASS you have -- Tall or Red or Short Fescue?  Bluegrass?  Ryegrass?  etc...

That said, it sounds very obvious to me -- I'd like to get those answers to my questions above to confirm, and to expand, but even so, it sounds obvious that your Soil was probably very rich at another point in time, and was managed poorly (mining or over-working, maybe something else), which left the basic stuff you are looking at, whatever color.

Clay is a terrific starting point for a dream Lawn.  But it needs Organic Matter.  I am reluctant to say anything else at this point until you can give me the details above.  But as a rule, a LIGHT amending of Clay with Leaf Mould, Compost, Manure and other organic sources would solve this problem quickly.

The roots of your Grass indicate a problem with the subsoil... which should have been clarified specifically in your Soil Test.

rsvp

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER