Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

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dvandiest2
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Joined: August 14th, 2020, 9:39 pm
Location: Northwest tip WA state
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
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Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by dvandiest2 » August 15th, 2020, 12:08 am

Hello...I have just joined and hope I'm in the right spot. We have very sandy soil and for many years we could just let the lawn go brown and it would come back beautifully. Now, in the Pacific NW in Washington, you can't do that anymore and we were clueless....Every year the lawn looked worse and very large dead patches were the result. We couldn't afford to replace the lawn so wanted to try and amend the soil. Brought in top soil and overseeded, topdressed and started using Milorganite (third year) So disheartened when it did virtually nothing....researched and decided we needed humic acid to help it work so got Anderson's DG and still nothing. Finally figured out where I could get a professional soil test and they assured me it wouldn't be too scientific to figure out and they would help me....Not true. I at least could tell that the PH was low and now had to buy lime. Still no results. Our lawn is very green where all the clover is now otherwise very non-uniform and patchy although no dead spots yet at least ...still have the rest of August to go. This is the third year and also used our own compost and found now the soil is hydrophobic which I didn't know could happen. The area by the sidewalk looked better last year and now this year again dead very quickly so thinking hydrophobic there..watered in one area where the water pooled for a long time so now I need to buy a wetting agent? We have been watering an inch a week and maybe that's not been enough. A little hotter now again so watering more often. I feel like we have spent so much money and put so much time in for nothing. I have Googled, You-tubed a lot which almost made me more confused and frustrated. I wish it was easy to just call and get a lawn doctor...I would totally pay! I think our soil is equally confused and doesn't know what to do since there is so much down in there seemingly doing nothing. Now going to go buy Scotts and use the Triple Action Fall weed and Feed. OR does my lawn just need more lime? Put down last Spring and Fall and this past spring and will hit it again...when people will it be enough!? Anybody care to tackle this mess and help?

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andy10917
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by andy10917 » August 15th, 2020, 7:10 am

It sounds like you're all of the board looking for the one product that will solve your issue(s). There is no "miracle-in-a-bag" product that will do that, although plenty of people will take your money promising they have the product.

Go back and read your posting above - it speaks to numerous problems and symptoms, but provides zero information about what underlies the issues in the soil *IF* the soil is the issue -- you wrote nothing about your mowing and watering habits.

Here is an approach that has worked for many members over the past decade+. Read and consider whether you're willing to commit time and $$$$ to turn things around:

(1) Get a good soil test from Logan Labs, and read the "How to Post a Soil Test for Interpretation" at the top of the Soils Forum. We'll build a plan that will correct problems shown by the test. Most members find improvement in the first year, but complete remediation takes 3-4 years. Lawn care is a marathon and not a sprint.

(2) While waiting for results and interpretation/plan, document your mowing and irrigation habits.

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MorpheusPA
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Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by MorpheusPA » August 15th, 2020, 12:22 pm

What he said. If you absolutely insist on itching to get something started right friggin' now, then for your Labor Day feeding, feed organically. Use Milorganite, soybean meal, or whatever else you can get that's grain-based. It won't hurt, it'll be a bit of a slow response, and you won't notice an immediate change, but it will get the alteration (which will take several years) started. And it won't impact your soil test.

Go at the bag rate or, for soybean meal if you source that, drop at 15 pounds per thousand square feet.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 15th, 2020, 6:22 pm

I think there is no better place on the Internet for lawn advice, so yes, right spot.
You said you brought in topsoil. Most people who do that do it because "that's the way daddy did it." Some people bring in 1/4-inch per year not realizing that 40 years of doing that amounts to 10 inches of excess soil. I have pictures if you want to see. It's unbelievable. But top dressing is also guaranteed to change your yard's drainage. Usually that is for the worse, because the added soil blocks drainage from concrete surfaces allowing water to back up into the house. But if you have low spots where water is pooling, then YES, add topsoil or sand in that area to keep the pooling from happening.
Here is my list of lawn care basics.
  1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Test your watering system using cat food or tuna cans. Place several around the yard and time how long it takes YOUR sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. That will be your watering time from now on. The key is to get water deep into the soil; not just at the surface.
  2. Mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above.
  3. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. I have a Federal Holiday recommendation. Fertilize first on Memorial Day, then Labor Day, then Thanksgiving.
    If you have sandy soil, I would never use a chemical fertilizer like Scott's. I would stick with organic. Here is some motivation for using organic fertilizer.

    Image
    That picture was posted on another forum in 2011. Click on it to blow it up and click again to blow it up again. The owner dropped a handful of alfalfa pellets onto his zoysia lawn in mid May. The picture was taken in mid June (that's about how long it takes to see the improvements). You can see the improved color, density, and growth where the alfalfa was dropped. That type of improvement is what I saw in my lawn back in 2002 and why I went immediately to using only organic fertilizer. Before that I was sort of radically against organics, but my lawn had stopped responding to the Scott's type of plan. Organics sort of flipped a switch and my lawn leapt out of the ground.
As for your soil hydrophobia, you can simply spray it with shampoo as a surfactant/wetting agent. The starting rate is 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. For 10,000 square feet, you'll need a full bottle or two depending on your bottle size. Any clear shampoo works, so you can get 16 ounces at Dollar Tree for a buck. It will not hurt anything if you overdo it with shampoo. Spray the shampoo before you do the watering can test to ensure the shampoo penetrates deep into the soil. If you do this you should never need to aerate the soil. Of course with sandy soil you should never need to aerate at all. If you ever think you do need to aerate (because that's the way daddy did it, or because your neighbors are all doing it), then spray with shampoo again.

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GeorgeH
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Location: Seattle, WA
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by GeorgeH » October 24th, 2020, 2:22 pm

I haven't been on this forum for years but do get a chuckle when I visit. As someone who maintains a lawn in Western Washington, I would be cautious to believe everything you read on the internet, especially when the poster doesn't show pictures of their own results. The previous post for example, never mind, just be sure and check other sources. Ideal soil in Western Washington is 70% sand and higher percentages are fine. I regularly top dress with 100% sand and don't know how it could look any better.


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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » October 25th, 2020, 2:00 pm

Yes I always like to bring a spot of whimsy to my posts. Here are before and after pictures of the back yard of my current house. Before was taken prior to 2014 when I moved in and after was taken a month ago.
Before
Image

After
Image

My yard does not compare to the showcase homes featured on AroundTheYard's home page, but you do have to give some credit for the effort.

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MorpheusPA
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Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by MorpheusPA » October 26th, 2020, 2:49 pm

Quite. Pardon the sticks from mulching 2,000 square feet of garden on it. This is the worst area of the lawn after an awful summer because that's my standard for photography. It really does look awful this year.

Image

Masbustelo
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Joined: September 14th, 2018, 10:56 pm
Location: Western Illinois, parallel to tip o Lake Michigan.
Grass Type: Mazama KBG
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Re: Need Help Amending Sandy Soil

Post by Masbustelo » October 26th, 2020, 10:31 pm

Dchall I admire your fence. I'm a fence builder too. I like to build picket fences. The yard looks good for what I know is a difficult climate.

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