In all actuality, clay soil makes a great lawn base.

Why Choose Clay Lawn Soil?

First off, clay will not wash away easily during heavy rainstorms. Now, I know it gets sticky and all that, but truthfully, once you have thick turf growing in it, this is not an issue. The fact that it sticks together means that heavy downpours can’t push it out of your lawn and down the street.

In addition, clay lawn soil holds moisture quite well. If you have ever lived in an area that has primarily sandy soil, you will find that anytime you water the lawn, the moisture drains right on through below the grass root line. This is a bad situation. Clay soil, on the other hand, will hold the moisture for a longer period of time, making it available to the grass plant for sustained days. That is a BIG advantage!

Next, clay soil has a pH that is mostly neutral. Grass needs neutral pH in order to have the ability to take in nutrients like iron and nitrogen. If the pH is off to one end or the other, nutrients bind up and are unusable. If you have clay soil, then applications of pH conditioners are rarely necessary.

Finally, clay soils usually contain almost no nutrients naturally. That means you can really control what you apply to the lawn to a great degree. This makes fertilization very simple. Just apply 3/4 pound of nitrogen every 5-6 weeks and you should be good to go!

I hope you see now that clay soils are not all bad. Stay tuned, because in the next article, I am going to give you the flip side of the coin, and talk about the disadvantages of clay soils!

First off, the blade has got to be sharp during each and every cutting. A dull lawn mower blade will rip and shred the grass tips when you cut. These tears will do a couple things to the turf:

1) Rips and tears in grass plants allows moisture to escape, turning the lawn brown in color.

2) Shredded grass blades allow the introduction of disease pathogens that can take hold.

For most homeowners, I recommend you sharpen your blade at the beginning of the season, and again in late June or July. This should ensure you are in line. However, if you mow lawns for others in your area, you may want to step up this schedule.

Next, I want you to make sure your blade is seated properly under the mower deck. If the blade is loose in any way, it will not cut evenly. Uneven cutting looks bad of course, but also creates the ripping and shredding we talked about above. Make sure you have double washers around the nuts to hold the blade firm when spinning.

Finally, look at the blade compared to your owners manual. Do you have a mulching blade on a mower that is only a bagger? Is your blade designed right for your particular mower? It’s great that you replace the mower blade when needed, but you have to make sure you have the right blade for your mower. The best way to make sure you are good is to buy blades from actual dealers, and not big box home improvement stores.

You see, the blade is a big deal when cutting your lawn! I recommend you check yours today, before you cut!

Core aerating the lawn (I am big on this as you know) is the process whereby a machine is taken across the lawn. This machine has 4-5 inch long hollow tines that pull cores of soil from the lawn…holes are punched, cores removed, aeration complete!

Core aeration manages the lawn’s thatch layer and also keeps soil compaction under control.

Many times over the years, customer have told me they don’t aerate their lawns in this way due to the fact that they wear golf shoes while they mow the grass. I think that’s funny and here’s why:

1. Golf shoes have spikes that are less than 1/4 inch long.
2. Golf spikes make dents in soil–if they can get through the thatch layer.
3. Golf spikes are almost always plastic nowadays.

The truth is that golf courses professionally aerate their greens and fairways every year–and they have more golf shoes stomping on them than anyone’s home lawn!

So in the end guys, don’t skimp on aeration. Rent the machine and do it–every spring and every fall–if you can. Leave the golf shoes for the 8th tee box!