วีดีโอ

Hey man I really appreciate this video and your message of patience and diligence in lawncare and that mound comparison is awesome! I'm about a season into trying to improve my clay soil yard. I'm adding some stuff called leonardite and zeolite soon, apparently they'll help with soil characteristics in a lot of ways, here's hoping! thanks again!

Wet and sloppy

Thanks for this video man, about to go to through hurricane milton & this really helped. ❤

Im hoping this helps my lawn. right now my grass is so fragile from the compacted soil that any sunny or shaded area does terrible. The sunny area gets dry and doesn't grow, and the shaded areas get patchy and overrun by moss

Gosh the little puppy at the background is so cute!!!

Awesome 👍

I would just till the whole place and replace the soil.

We have clay soil and a water main broke in the front yard. What a terrible mess we now have. The water company came and stopped the leak, covered the hole with cement chunks and later put down trashy clay dirt with dirt clods and rocks in it. They sprinkled grass seed ( we aren't sure what kind ) and put straw over it. I uncovered the large area to find a terrible mix of spindly grass and thicker grass, but mostly dirt with clods and rocks. I know we are going to have to spend a lot of money to fix it properly. I am going to throw clover seeds on it and maybe that will grow and improve the soil. The rabbits will love it !!!

Ya know what works??? A skid steer and a couple of dump trucks of new soil. Better to just get rid of the clay.

Im currently drilling holes and im going to apply local horse manure compost to top dress. Plan on doing this for 2 years then im go and level with some sand. Hope it works.

Thank you.

When do you put seed down in spots that need it

Thanks for the advice … my clay lawn is driving me crazy!!

Good method. I use a shop vac to vacuum the dirt up. I do small sections at a time. 10'x10'.

Do we throw the plugs away? Or keep it in the lawn

Good job bro!

Also can top dressing help with a bumpy lawn far as leveling it out?

When is the best time to start this process?

Great, great advice here! I did a very similar plan with my front yard last year, and it has totally changed the yard. I wish I'd seen your video because I'd definitely have included the deep core integration! That's a great idea. The way I've explained core aeration + top dressing backfill is that those vertical columns become like expansion joints when the clay expands and contracts with the summer rains. As that clay expands and contracts (and now has somewhere to go), it breaks itself apart, which then fosters (!nd is furthered enhanced by) plants rooting action. It is these two things that truly fix the lawn That said, that speaks to your point about the need for a multiple passes because those vertical columns break up pretty quickly especially early on in the process. Great stuff, man. Great lawn, too. Subscribed!

How powerful does my drill need to be? Hitting a layer that stops my auger dead.

I had a real bad spot in my yard that held water like crazy. Drilled like 10 or so 2in wide 24 inch deep holes and filled them with wood chips. Grass covered the holes up and now its not waterlogged anymore. crazy but it worked for me

Yeah, that's not clay soil...

Im just starting to think about this at a new house. Great video! Great overview!

Great video! Are you raking or sweeping the cores off the lawn before you mow? So is it core aerate-sweep-mow-compost?

Anyone ever use a larger auger? Thinking I may drill some pits in the garden. Fill some with stones as a soak away, fill some with compost able materials. The rest I'll fill with bulk soil amended with gypsom.

All I do is top dress Black Kow and use Air8 to drive it in. Do a soil test every 2 years to see what you need. My soil is rich. My grass is dark green. I mow tall in the summer. 4 inches and taller depending how hot and dry it gets. Finally, I keep sharp blades on mowers and I like to spoon feed my lawn at least every 5 weeks. If you can invest in a roller spreader and lawn leveling rake you should be the envy of the neighborhood!

If you live in any of the northern states, don't try to aerate in the winter.

If I clay soil, I would try it. Great video.

How far apart are you drilling the deep core holes? And what are you doing with the hard clay that comes out of the holes?

Sometimes it's just best to start over. Just add 3 inches of mushroom compost and silica sand mix right on top of the existing lawn and level it. Then seed

Superb video, started this a few years ago and it’s really improved my lawn and soil structure. Will you be posting any more videos?

I thought top dressing helps improve soil? It’s what you should do even when planting plants.

Biochar.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems to boil down to- remove clay and replace with good soil. Is that fair to say?

Hi - fantastic video Thankyou. I have a very thick clay garden. Would you recommend filling the holes around the lawn with a mix of pea gravel and topsoil or just topsoil alone? Many thanks

Amazing

That’s a great technique! Just a bit hard to deal with the neighbors looking 😂 but highly effective on improving soil!

Would you do these steps in one day or weekend or a longer period of time?

That’s great and all… I believe what you’re saying. But what are you treating that side of your yard with??

I see you are in Texas, myself as well, and have to assume you know all about the nightmares of clay soil with slab foundations. Do you think this would have a detrimental effect on a slab foundation? 6500sq ft lot with the house foot print at 1600 sq ft. Somewhat smaller property, so I wasn't sure if it might negatively affect a slab foundation.

Get some gophers

Hi We have an issue in our lawn .we always get puddle of water during rainy season Some one suggested we drill plastics pipe filled with gravel in to the soil I need idea to drill hole I. Clay soils.Thanksgiving

The fix for compacted clay soil (in my limited experience) is to let plants grow long and mature even for 1 season. The roots will go deep into the subsoil and living or dead roots turn the hard clay soil into crumbly joy. Soil biology is essential which growing plants will create. Forcing a monoculture eg lawn grass only is a challenge though - it is against healthy soil biology. Perfect soil is 25% air, 25% water, 5% or greater organic material and the rest 45% or less mineral material. If the subsoil is very compacted then a once off deep subsoil with a specialised tillage plow or excavacteur for small areas is well worth it. Also you could consider rotavating in some sand if you are in a rush to improve drainage and aeration. Clay soil in good condition is actually an asset as it holds onto minerals and water.

Real quick means wait until 5 minutes into the video to finally learn what i need

I got distracted by the little dog! lol

Anyone tried the post auger and fill with aggregate?

Question -- For Burmuda, are you doing this during the active growing season?

get to the point, im wasting my time here !

What if you have sand, in florida?

Don't get rid of clay! Mix with compost and it will break down into the best soil money cannot buy. I've converted a lot of clay and have grown a lot in our backyard using the converted clay. Clay is dense in nutrients.