A good way to determine the soil s moisture content is by sticking a screwdriver into the soil to a depth.
Growing grass on red clay.
First determine what type or grass your lawn is made of.
A bone dry clay soil is going to be rock hard and not allow water nutrients to get into the rootzone when the temperature start to get cooler but before the leaves start dropping start by aerating your lawn followed by an over seeding of appropriate seed type and apply an organic fertilizer.
An unamended clay soil will never grow a good lawn as grass roots suffocate in the airless environment drowning when the clay is wet and baking when it s dry.
You can grow grass in red dirt if you first amend the dirt to make it more fertile and well draining.
Heavy clay red or otherwise is inhospitable to most plant life but there are things that you can do to make sure that your property has a healthy green lawn.
Clay soil is made up of tons of small particles that stick together clinging to moisture.
That s because it is extremely heavy and thick.
You re improving your soil but it s still clay.
Ask your agricultural extension office for help if you need it.
It can take up to two months of preparing the soil before you can actually plant your grass.
Varieties that grow in a clay loam soil include annual ryegrass colonial bent grass hard fescue kentucky bluegrass perennial ryegrass and red fescue.
Clay dirt contains thousands of tiny particles that stick together and cling to wetness.
Clay is only ever at a good moisture level for a very short time between being an airless wet mud and dry and hard as a brick.
Plant warm season grasses as plugs from.
The problem with red dirt is that it s comprised of clay which is a heavy planting medium.
Most grass seed will grow in various soil types.
Even though clay soil isn t good for growing grass you can set up a covetable lawn on this soil if you prepare it well.
So the dirt is highly.
Here is a list of grasses that grow well in clay.
However clay soil is perhaps the most difficult to work with.
You will have to introduce some organic material and change its ph level before attempting to lay turf.
There are very few air pockets under the soil surface and grass.