Bringing a compressed lawn back to life - organically

[MamaToBoys]

Hello,

We have a small lawn that my husband really wants to keep. It is mostly moss and weeds at this point. The soil is very compressed. I don’t think I have ever seen a worm in it.

I also don’t want to use chemicals on it at all.

I’m not sure where to start. Do we have any organic lawn growers here?

Thank you,

Jennifer

 

[Becky]

I'll start by saying that I am by no means a lawn expert! Based on my limited experience it sounds like you need to aerate your soil - either by rotovating or aerating it. A rotovator will churn up the soil to quite a deep level, whereas an aerator will remove plugs of soil leaving the existing lawn in tact. Sounds like rotovating and starting a new lawn from scratch might be a good option for you. You can pick different types of grass seed depending on your lawn's situation (eg full sun, shaded, soil type etc), and make sure you are around to water it regularly after seeding it. Hope this helps!

 

[MamaToBoys]

Thanks. Maybe if we are going to rip it all up anyway, we should get a whole bunch of compost to mix in too. I have read that the roots should go deep, but if the soil is all compressed, then how can the roots go deep.

Maybe I should just dig a hole and see how soon I hit rocky soil just to get an idea.

 

[Jewell]

If you have moss, your soil may be acid. It might be a good idea to have your soil tested for PH. Then check how much sunlight the lawn gets. With that information a good local nursery that sells grass seed could then make a good recommendation for your section of grass seed.

If the soil is on the acid side you might be recommended to add lime.