Question
QUESTION: We just built a second home and won't be able to afford topsoil this year. Is there anything I can put down to cover the rough soil? Our septic contractor advised a ground cover asap, and I'd like to keep some areas from rutting.

ANSWER: Get yourself a good Green Manure.  You can buy these on the internet or depending on where you live, your local garden center.  Stay away from weedkillers and other bad things.  A Green Manure will defend your real estate from weeds and other uninvited visitors, while building up a nutrient-rich base under your Topsoil.  If you do it right, you may even get away with NO Topsoil.

Clover, Alfalfa, Wheatgrass, can be a Green Manure.  Specialized Cover Crops that put nutrients and organic matter into your soil, and make space for Oxygen-loving microbes.

Grow your Green Manure all summer long.  In Autumn, or next year, you can rototill that in -- ROUGHLY, so you don't upset the Earthworms.

If you can, instead of 'topsoil', get your hands on some Humus.

Humus has wood-based Lignins and Humic acid.  Humus is a long term Nitrogen generator.  We love it because it contains a lot of Humic Acid -- the stuff you get when a plant dies and decomposes.  To quote the Land and Sea Organics experts (http://www.landseaorganics.com/productsfr.htm), Humus 'is not considered a fertilizer, but rather a compliment to fertilizer.'  Which is why Humus will make your soil incredibly healthy.  Just the thing you'll need for the Great Lawn of the future.

Anything that looks like Dirt can be called 'topsoil'.  I don't know what you have that's so 'rough', but if it's rocks and building materials, you can get rid of those all summer.  I can't be sure, but it is possible that you'd be better off building up what you have, rather than trucking in someone else's 'topsoil.'  But my knowledge of your situation is very limited.

Keep me posted.  Any questions, I'm here.



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

QUESTION: The lot is in Quebec. The soil is very hard with a lot of shale from the foundation work. The lot has been cleaned and raked, but it doesn't look very fertile. Locals have suggested a covering of "black dirt", but due to the location it would be relatively expensive.
You're saying I can simply spread clover seed and let it go??

Answer
Vive la Quebec - I had no idea.  Glad you wrote back!  Let's talk about ways to Grow Grass in Canada.

Have you seen the Green Pages of the Montreal Botanical Garden?  They make some key points in the 'Lawns and Ground Covers' section (http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/info_verte/pelouse_ecologique/sol.htm):

'Most SOIL IN QUEBEC IS RICH IN CLAY OR SAND.'
and
'Most types of grass seed grow best in relatively neutral soil (pH of 6.5 to 7), TYPICAL OF MOST OF THE CLAY SOIL IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY, where it is not usually necessary to correct acidity levels. ELSEWHERE IN QUEBEC, SOIL TENDS TO BE TOO ACIDIC and needs to be amended with horticultural lime in spring or fall.'  Some regions of the U.S. pose similar problems for homeowners trying to establish their first Lawn on beds of Shale andavel.  See the Colorado State Cooperative Extension website (http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/index.html#http://www.colostate.edu/).

Bottom line here is that you WILL need to bring in a layer of Topsoil when it's time to build a Lawn.  I hate to say it, but that's the only way to do this that I can see.  Rototilling this would be useless.  Earthworms are non existent in Shale and Gravel, microbial activity is impossible.  I stand corrected.  I'm even wondering if you will have to import the Earthworms along with the topsoil.

That said, Green Manures are not so demanding.  If you can find some place for them to grow, seed them there.  Anything to keep weeds away.  They can only be good for you.  They're not as pretty as a Lawn, but they make up for that in other ways.

Let me know please if you are dealing with any other issues on this.  Thanks for writing.  Keep me posted.