Backyard Mud Pit

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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chuckrox8
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Joined: May 4th, 2015, 1:40 pm
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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Backyard Mud Pit

Post by chuckrox8 » January 22nd, 2021, 12:06 pm

I moved about 8 month ago in Georgia. The house didn't really have a usable backyard as it sloped too much. I hired a contractor to redo everything (retaining wall, re-grade, irrigation, and sod). They installed zoysia and everything seemed fine for a few months. The backyard is shadier than I thought so the grass has only done ok, but it is always super soggy. Even a week after it rains, and should be dry, I find myself sinking into the yard. My front yard, totally flat, not much more sun, and also zoysia, is the opposite.

The backyard is appropriately sloped for drainage. It's probably 40ft wide with a vertical drop of ~20 inches which is around a 4% slope which should be plenty. We obviously have a ton of clay in Georgia, but the contractor layered in ~6" of fill dirt followed by 2-3" of top soil. It seems like he did his job, but the yard is a constant wet mess. There isn't any drainage in the yard except at the base of the retaining wall. I'm not sure how much it would help given that the entire yard is super saturated. There's no standing water to speak of, at least the slope does its job there.

Any thoughts lawn care experts? I've included a few pics. Thanks!

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turf_toes
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Re: Backyard Mud Pit

Post by turf_toes » January 22nd, 2021, 12:21 pm

Probably a bit early in the season, even for Georgia, to expect a lot of input on this. You may see some replies. But you’ll probably get more if you post closer to the growing season.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Backyard Mud Pit

Post by MorpheusPA » January 22nd, 2021, 4:52 pm

Tru dat, but at least it's not a specific Zoysia question (where I'd be useless).

I'm a bit surprised the contractor didn't suggest/install drainage from the backyard, but you may have somebody behind you. A French drain through the retaining wall would have handily tossed the excess water right out of the soil, at least to some extent. You may want to consult with them again regarding the job they did if it doesn't satisfy you as per the requirements of the job itself, although it certainly does look rather well-done in the sense that the reconfiguration is perfect.

Keep in mind, you haven't spend a Georgia summer there yet from the sound of it. A hot, dry Georgia summer with that new configuration. It may be better than you think. Even my soil is rather sodden in winter, it's kind of normal, and we're having a rather dry winter to boot. I wouldn't say "super soggy" or "sinking," which is what leads to the discussion below. It's just wet. I can stand on it without feeling like I'm going to go ankle deep, but my shoes will get dirty and require cleaning before I go back into the house or I Am Going To Hear About It For Several Hours.

The clay thing...the subsoil might be, I couldn't say. Maybe so, maybe no. We get into that all the time around here, and even areas known for clay often actually don't have it. It's a long story. Inappropriately balanced soils will happily deflocculate (fall apart) and act like clays (loose, slippery, water-clogging) and make a mess. This happened on my soil, which is nearly 100% silt. There are ways to fix it.

A Logan soil test ($20) would tell you about the ion balance. Too much magnesium will do the above; rebalancing ions will help. So will soil conditioner, but I'd rebalance ions first (it's more important, frankly--and I'm the one who, with Andy, came up with the soil conditioner!)

But I think that's far more minor compared to the drainage here. Soils should never feel "sinking." And that leads me back to French drains or something along those lines.

Let's let others chime in (which might take some time as TT noted) before jumping into anything.

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