Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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Fscher
Posts: 3
Joined: September 4th, 2021, 7:55 pm
Location: North texas
Grass Type: Zoyza
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by Fscher » September 4th, 2021, 11:12 pm

We live in Frisco, Texas. We are in a brand new home where the ground was so uneven that we twisted or ankles a few times walking on our lawn with holes of all sizes. The builder put “sand” to level it out to make it look better, but it actual looks worse. They say to be patient. Well, the “sand” looks like red clay. Our shoes track it all over just like red clay would do.
How do I get it tested? Isn’t red clay actually bad?
What would your remedy have been to get the yard even and looking nice?

Thank you in advance for any information. The builder is the one calling it “sand.” I thought a quality dirt should have been used, or a mixture of sand, and our lawn mowing guy said they should have used Sandy Loam. The grass is Zoysia grass and the weather has been extremely hot, if that matters.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by andy10917 » September 5th, 2021, 9:15 am

I don't know how much budget you can afford to apply for the testing you want. Here's a list of tests that you should consider having Logan Labs perform to answer your questions, do what you can afford and post in the Soils Forum for interpretation - they are in priority order.
1) Standard Test (request Ammonium Acetate extraction as DFW soils have extreme Calcium levels)
2) Soil Structure Test
3) Standard Test (again, Ammonium Acetate extraction) of the "red clay" if you find an area where it is concentrated.

Read the "sticky" topic about how to perform soil tests for interpretation at the top of the Soils Forum.

Fscher
Posts: 3
Joined: September 4th, 2021, 7:55 pm
Location: North texas
Grass Type: Zoyza
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by Fscher » September 5th, 2021, 9:21 am

Thank you. After I posted I emailed the Denton County Agriculture Extension Committee to see where I can get these tests.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by andy10917 » September 5th, 2021, 9:31 am

Again, read the "sticky" post on the Soils Forum - only tests performed by Logan Labs can be interpreted on this site. All others will be politely declined. The tests, interpretation and plans are performed by just a couple of people on the sites, and we can't study the individual tests suites for every lab in North America.

Fscher
Posts: 3
Joined: September 4th, 2021, 7:55 pm
Location: North texas
Grass Type: Zoyza
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by Fscher » September 5th, 2021, 9:34 am

Thank you.


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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3339
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » September 12th, 2021, 2:13 am

Give the forum a search for 'leveling' and you'll find the topic covered every way from Sunday. Sand is pretty standard for leveling. Red colored soil or sand usually means a lot of iron in the soil. If you had a bunch of it you could do a jar test (forum search). That would tell you if you the ratios of sand, loam, and clay. It's really hard to find clay, so I'm going with red sand. Another reason soil might stick to your shoes is excess of magnesium. Magnesium makes even sand act much like clay.

Get the $25 soil test from Logan Labs. When they email you the results, post them in here in the soils forum. Follow their instructions for best results. Andy and Morph will give you about $250 worth of advice. Flip over to that forum to see what they do. Why Logan Labs and not TAMU? Logan Labs was identified many years ago as a top lab with a reputation for very high quality testing and consistent results even when forum users tried to trick them. Many other "top labs" were involved in the testing. Only two labs passed year after year. The other one was UMASS. Then there is a huge gap down the the #3 lab. I don't think I ever knew what that one was. TAMU on the other hand had to apologize for literally decades of disgraceful, mishandled soil tests resulting in the over application of chemicals to farms across Texas. It was quite a scandal, but it's been swept under the rug now. You could get the same testing from TAMU, but the cost would be double or triple the LL basic test. LL runs all the tests on every sample, so they are very good at it; very practiced. No other lab runs all the test on the basic sample.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3339
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: Testing For Red Clay in Texas

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » September 12th, 2021, 2:22 am

Regarding zoysia: I found it to be temperamental in my yard. I had a little display area I wanted to try it in. It seemed like every year something would happen and it turned brown. Too much water or not enough and it was out until the following April. Here's one of the neighbor's lawns. His problem is rainwater collects in the bed and flows out at the spot where the dead grass is.

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During the drought years he's got it under control, but when we get a lot of rain, this happens every year.

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