Question
I have a 1 1/2 year old lawn.  Lawn was analyzed by a lawn service company and I was told that the soil in the front (on a slope) has algae, and that the soil has poor drainage and too much water.  It was suggested that I amend the soil with compost peat moss.
Questions: how do I amend the lawn without tearing the entire thing up and tilling?  Also, is peat moss the right thing to use to improve drainage (live in NC and soil was mostly clay when grass was planted by our builder)?

Answer
Many people reach for the Sand bags when they hear the drainage needs to be improved in their Clay soil.  After all, Sandy Soil drains VERY well.

In fact, Sand reacts with Clay to form hardpan.  Experts at Penn State figure that mixing Sand and Clay at a ratio of less than 4:5 has the same effect as if you were trying to mix cement.  Hello, parking lot.

Your lawn service happens to be right when they mention Peat Moss as a way to lighten your Clay Soil.  Peat Moss is considered an ideal soil conditioner.  Sphagnum Peat Moss cells are built with cavities -- which is why it holds so much Water and Oxygen.  That's the perfect environment to enhance the quality of life for all the microbes, the Earthworms, the insects and other life forms.  Those fauna improve your Soil all Summer long.

The one thing Peat Moss does NOT have going for it is that it is sterile.  And although many people like that idea, the reality is that without microbes, it contributes NOTHING to the foodchain in your soil.  This is why your Lawn Service is even MORE correct that Compost will correct your Clay.  Microbe-packed organic matter like Compost and Humus work like nutrient factories, revving up Nitrogen and nutrient prodcution as temperatures rise, pulling raw materials out of the soil and generating FOOD for your Grass.

Your Lawn Service company is probably using concentrated chemical fertilizers that are hostile to any life in your soil.  And that is a problem now.

Why NOW?

Because you don't want to rip your Lawn up to get those amendments down.  You need the microbes and Earthworms to do this task.  This is an INSIDE project.  They're on the INSIDE, under your Grass.  It is in your interest to keep those microbes happy.

Look at it this way.  We NEED microbes in our Lawns.  Microbes are where terrific, first rate soil comes from.  That's the kind of soil that will feed your Grass without you ever lifting a pinky.  It's microbes that transform Nitrogen in Ammonia out of chemical fertilizer or from Manure or Humus into Nitrate -- and NITRATE is the kind of Nitrogen that Plants and Grass just fall in love with.  Nitrate is GOURMET FOOD for your Grass.  Microbes know how to cook Gourmet Food!

Scientists have calculated that an acre of rich soil containing 5 percent Humus, decomposing at a rate of 2 percent a year, releases around 100 lbs of Nitrogen in one season.

But there's another reason to be nice to your microbes.  When slow draining Clay soil gets more rain than it can handle, microbes caught in the downpour quickly run out of Oxygen.  Some of those microbes can actually tap into  Nitrate from the Organic Matter to get Oxygen they need to survive -- temporarily, but maybe just long enough to see dry land before the Oxygen runs out.  Without those Microbes, your Lawn overfloweth.  Bad for your Grass.  Great for anaerobic, pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria.

Here's what you need to do if you don't want to dig up your Lawn to amend it.

Be VERY NICE to those Microbes.  And be VERY NICE to your Earthworms.  You ESPECIALY need Earthworms.  These are the most important animals in your neighborhood.  An acre of good garden soil will support around 2 or 3 million Earthworms -- as many as 50 in one square foot.

Know how much topsoil this many Earthworms process in one year?

One study calculated they go through SIXTEEN to EIGHTEEN (16-18) TONS of soil!

Worm castings are INCREDIBLY good for your soil.  50 percent HIGHER in Organic matter.  7 times richer in Phosphates.  10 times richer in Phosphates and Potash than plain, ordinary Earthworm-free soil.  5 times higher in Nitrogen, 3 times in Magnesium, and 1 1/2 times higher in Calcium.  Charles Darwin watched Earthworms work at night poking through the Soil, pulling dried leaves and stems down into the ground.  liked Earthworms so much, he wrote a whole book about them, 'Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms'.  There are MILLIONS of Earthworms in an Acre of healthy Soil.  They spend their days and nights sifting through it mainly looking for Bacteria.  They also consume Nematodes, Protozoa, Fungi and the Organic Matter that these microbes live on.  And they have special digestive enzumes that break chemical bonds holding molecules of nutrients together, making them usable by your Grass.

THIS is how you amend your Lawn without tearing the entire thing up and tilling.

Keep your Earthworms happy.

First step:  No more chemical fertilizers.  ALL chemical fertilizers are SALT.  Earthworms, like you and me, do not like to spend much time around huge amounts of Salt.

Next:  Get your Lawn Service to top dress your Lawn with black Compost and Humus.  Forget anything they want to call 'topsoil'.  You need that like a hole in the head.  You want Humus and Compost.  You can add a little Peat Moss to that but you don't want to build the whole thing of Peat Moss -- no microbes means no dinner for the Earthworms.

If you like, you can core-aerate the Lawn with the Compost on it.  That way you'll incorporate SOME of the top dressing into the soil.  Just don't do it too much; Earthworms hate it when you poke around with sharp metal objects.

If you are dealing with Red North Carolina Clay, my friend, we need to talk some more.  That's a whole new ballgame.  Let me know so I can address THAT issue.

Thanks for writing.  Sorry for the long reply -- I tend to get carried away sometimes.  Any questions, let me know.