Question
My lawn is in terrible shape from lack of care.  I am trying to get it back into a healthy condition this year.  I have a company that wants to double aerate, overseed and apply lawn polymers and soil conditioners.  As this is quite costly, I was hoping to find out if lawn polymers and soil conditioners really do any good.  I live in Colorado, and we are in a drought.

Thank you.

Answer
Hi Cindy,

">>...lack of care. ..."

Lawn grasses are easy to grow.
The average residential A+ lawn will usually require about two hours of work per-week during the growing season and a small investment in chemicals and equipment.  Time to water things is also important.  If you cannot provide these basics (along with adequate soil conditions and sun-light), then maybe you should consider hiring a service company.
A little extra watering and fertilizing can make an excellent lawn, provided all the basics are provided.


">>...lawn polymers ...quite costly,..."

Certain patented polymeric fiber-like products which can be added to soils and especially potting soils for horticultural use have been around for some time now.  In theory, these pellet or granule-like materials act like an organic 'sponge' to absorb and conserve water in soil to maintain soil hydration which is all good for the root-zone and plants (and now turf-grasses).

Unlike certain natural carbohydrates (as would be found in composts), and as far as I know, these products do not bio-degrade in soils to return carbon and minerals to the natural bio cycle.  They persist to function with their water holding capacities which may or may not diminish over-time.  In over 2000 respondents here, yours is the first to mention this for lawns, and I have always associated it with the green-house and the potted-plant business and similar uses at home.  But, apparently there are now several  valid lawn-service companies with patented applicator machinery that are able to 'polymerize' the lawn to get these materials into our lawn's root- zone. The process is sometimes called 'Lawn-Injection'. A web-search using GOOGLE.com and Key-words 'lawn polymers' returns a surprising 19,000 web-references, yet if this were really a popular house-hold process, there would be many more thousands of web-references, or so I believe. I can only say that it is something relatively new for residential lawns.

 It sounds like a good deal to me,...but I would want to see some local examples of satisfied customers, and, of course, have some sort of contract with reasonable expectations made clear.  Again, in theory, it seems like something that would help the soil,... especially if you are troubled by drought conditions,...but as of now, this is still something new on the market for lawn uses and I have not had much knowledge of it.  I used to want to use some version of this material in my sandy and prone to dryness high in sand content organic garden about fifteen years ago,...but it was too expensive then;... maybe the costs have gotten more reasonable for larger area use and lawn-soil application.

 Sorry, I presently do not know more about this rather new materials product and its application to lawns.  It seems to me the biggest concern is this,...'How would one know the product and process is actually working?' If your lawn survives a drought better than usual, this should be indicative of a good investment in the new product-service.  Ideally, there should be two nearly identical lawns in close proximity with similar care, and with one treated and the other not treated,...and with this set-up we should know of the value of the service.  So, it is matter of 'caveat emptor' or 'buyer be warned', without some sort of scientific proof of value and efficacy judgement is pending and only qualitative.

I am sure you could accomplish much of the same goals by 'classic' and less expensive and efficient means.  Namely, by adding soil amendments to your existing top soil (which of course the polymers only mimic in action).  Below here is an article about the usual way we have always added sponge-like organic matter to lawn and garden soils to attain the same goals as the new process is claimed to more efficiently also do:

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Lawn and Garden centers will usually sell a variety of SOIL AMENDMENTS or 'conditioners'.

IMPROVE SOIL by top dressing and/or working in  SOIL AMENDMENTS: high quality top soils and 'Rich-Mixes' (from your local trucking suppliers), compost (commercial or home made), humus-organic matter/manures/peat-moss, and sand or Kaolin/clay (if there are drainage problems). You can do this to bare lawn areas easily.  Where lawn areas continually seem to suffer from poor soil quality, partial or total renovation may be in order. Roto-tilling amendments into the existing top soil is an excellent way to prep an area for seeding grasses or laying sod. The old grass may need to be eradicated before re-seeding or "up-grading" to a more care-free hybrid.

Learn About COMPOST...aka "GARDNER'S GOLD".
Using commercial or home-made compost is a great way to insure your soil is CONSTANTLY IMPROVING over the years.
Composting and adding organic humus will help the soil become more "sponge-like" so it can hold water better and need less water applied to it. Your lawn will be better able to survive droughts/stress with regular additions of compost to the mid-summer "Hot-Spots."

COMPOSTING can return nutrients and minerals to your lawn and save you money while improving the root-zone...don't trash your grass and herbaceous debris, RECYCLE it by composting!
Website: http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnologycopost.html
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ABOUT "HOT-SPOTS" in SUMMER LAWNS.

Every year, as the heat approaches, look for the "Hot-Spots" in the lawn.  These are areas that will weaken and look sickly as temperatures rise above 85 degrees F or so.  Depending upon your grass type, you can often just top-dress these problem areas with some commercial packaged soil amendments like potting soil or compost.  The grass will eventually fill in.  With larger problem areas, you may want to use commercial high quality top soil.  At any rate, adding these soil amendments and increasing the humus and organic matter content of the top soil will help it and the root-zone to conserve moisture during the droughts and dry times.  Schedule to have your lawn lush and well fed and the top soil optimized BEFORE the heat extremes are expected to arrive in your city.  Eventually, your lawn should better able to support a lush stand of turf during the heat.
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In summary, new patented products and services have get started somehow and some customers have to be the 'pioneers' in all of this.  In theory the hydration materials for soils businesses have a bright future in my opinion.  But there is alway a 'caveat emptor' to these matters until a satisfied clientele can accrue.  And, as stated, you may want to get some references and examples of satisfied customers.  It is going to have to be up to you to become the knowledgeable shopper and perhaps one of the pioneers.  If you decide to try the service, please let us know how it works for you. So far here, you are the first in a couple of years of questions and answers to even mention this commercial service option for lawns.
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With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, an healthy root-zone ecosystem...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.

I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Have a Great Summer!

Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more facts and links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html

Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com

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