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| We have nearly purchased a house east of Raleigh NC. The house is about 3 years old and for the age has decent grass. Before the house was built, the lot was covered with 15 to 30 years old pine, popular, and sweet gum. From the area I assume it was worn out agricultural fields. Part of the lot is direct sun and some is in direct sun for a several hours at mid day.
I would like to continue what ever the previous owner has done and build up the soil on the red clay. What is the best way to build up a good layer of top soil. (The lot is 0.77 acre, so the cost of bringing in topsoil would be prohibitive. ) Should I go with a High nitrogen fertilizer to encourage the growth of plant material or would a balanced fertilizer be better. (I plan to mulch the grass clipping to assist in soil build up.) |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by nearandwest 7 (My Page) on Sat, Jun 25, 11 at 23:32
| Wht kind of grass do you have? If you have a warm-season grass, you'll want to jump on it right now. If you have a cool-season grass, you'll probably want to wait for cooler weather. I would think a soil test would be a good starting point. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Sat, Jun 25, 11 at 23:39
| First of all, at this time of year a high-nitrogen, chemical fert will kill your lawn at the normal dose. A half dose will not do what you want. Your remaining choice is organic fertilizer. You can use as much of that as you can afford without doing any damage. Topsoil is usually only needed if you need to change the drainage. I know a lot of people bring in some every year. I have many pictures of ruined lawns from applying 1/4 inch of topsoil every couple of years for 30 years. If you don't need to change your drainage, then you can do all the improvement you need with repeated doses of organic fertilizer now. You can apply chemical fertilizer again after the summer heat breaks (Labor Day). If you want to use chemicals again on Thanksgiving you can do that. Or you can use organics any time you want. The more organics you use, the faster you will see the improvement. I like to use plain alfalfa pellets (aka Purina Rabbit Chow) at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Monthly apps will work wonders on the soil and will show up in improved turf. Before you go off thinking you have red clay. Do a simple soil test. It is called the jar test. Get a glass or see-through jar with straight sides. Fill it half way with soil. Then fill it up with water and one drop of dish soap. Shake it up and let it settle for 2 minutes. Get a ruler and take a picture of the ruler next to the jar. Take another ruler picture at 2 hours and another at 2 days. Sand and rubble settles immediately. Silt settles in 2 hours. Clay will never settle and will cloud the water even after 2 days. I suspect you might have red, sandy loam that acts like clay because of other minerals in it. |
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- Posted by nearandwest 7 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 26, 11 at 11:17
| "First of all, at this time of year a high-nitrogen, chemical fert will kill your lawn at the normal dose." I didn't see any mention of the type of grass that the OP has. If they happen to have bermudagrass, a high-nitrogen fertilizer would certainly be an option for growth and development at this time of the season. However, if they have a cool-season grass, then your comment is absolutely correct. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Sun, Jun 26, 11 at 14:08
| Great point. Your first question is most important. |
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| Thanks for the responses. I can not answer any of the questions at this time, since unless I thought of the questions and photographed or wrote it down, I will have to wait for several weeks until we get possession of the house. We are currently 700 miles away. I like to plan and so when I get there I will asked more quesion |
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