Lawn soil: features and choices

The dense, bright green lawn on the personal plot has always been a decoration of the territory. To achieve such a result, you need not only good seeds and their correct laying - an important role in the cultivation of lawn grass is also played by the quality of the soil. Since the land where the ornamental grass grows, unlike the one where other crops are grown, cannot be periodically loosened and root top dressing, it must have certain characteristics in order to ensure the full growth of the crop after germination.

It is known that today not only lawn grass seeds are used, but also the so-called roll lawn. When laying a roll lawn, there is no need to worry about the choice of soil, since the germinated grass with the soil necessary for its growth is already there in the form of a roll. It is desirable that the soil on which the roll will be spread should contain at least 50% of black soil and 25% each of sand and peat.

Further, it remains only to petition about top dressing and high-quality destruction of weeds on your site, after which the rolls of lawn grass are simply spread over the territory allotted for them. The soil for growing lawn seeds requires a little more hassle. The ideal fertile soil for them is a combination in different proportions of sand, earth, peat. Such a composition has an average density and porosity of the soil, which provides good permeability for both moisture and sunlight.

In a soil formed in this way, there should be no increased acidity, which, if necessary, can be achieved using deoxidizers (dolomite flour). Besides, it is worth taking care of feeding with a good supply of nutrients (fluoride, calcium, nitrogen).

If, for some reason, the soil for growing lawn grass seeds is formed independently, then agronomists advise using certain compositions suitable for growing. You should think about purchasing such compositions if your site has clay soil or soil with an excessive content of sand, which makes it impossible to grow lawn grass.

Composition No. 1:

• 50% deoxidized peat;
• about 40% coarse sand;
• about 20% black soil, loam or sapropel.

Composition No. 2:

• 40% deoxidized or lowland peat;
• 40% sod soil;
• 20% sand.

Composition No. 3:

• about 90% fertile loam;
• about 10% sand.

The process of preparing the soil for planting depends on the soil itself. There are the following varieties.

• Clay-sandy. It is characterized by an almost equal content of sand and clay. It is quite crumbly, only clay is represented by lumps.
• Sandy clay. It has a homogeneous composition, but when squeezed, it clumps tightly.
• Clay soil. This variety is easily recognizable by the deep cracks and lumps that appear when drying.
• Humus. It has a deep black color and a pronounced odor.

Among the varieties presented, the least hassle and cost will be with humus, since this is still fertile land. But due to the high acidity, which weeds love so much, it is impossible to grow lawn grass on it without some preparation (neither seeds, nor a roll version). In addition, the dense structure of humus excludes the gas exchange necessary for plants. If this is the soil on your site, then it will need to be enriched with sand until the acidity index is 6 pH. It is impossible to determine the numbers at home; you will need to use the services of a laboratory.

As for clay and sand, the worst option is an excessive amount of clay in the soil, since nothing grows on it due to the lack of permeability (moisture, heat). On top of such soil, you will need to lay one of the fertile compounds presented above. In this case, you will have to maintain the recommended layer thickness - for a lawn it is 20 cm, and for sports fields or outdoor activities - 40 cm.

If sand predominates in the soil, then it should be enriched with black soil. If the black soil is not purchased, but taken, for example, from the beds, then you need to take care of feeding it. If it is not possible to buy the required amount of fertile land, then humus can be used to increase the fertility of the soil with a predominance of sand.

If it is necessary to replace soil in a personal plot, some requirements should be taken into account. Clay-sandy soil can be improved by sowing green manure (plants grown to enrich the soil). This method is considered less expensive. The soil is sown with green manure and covered with cellophane film until the crop emerges. After that, the site is dug up so that the culture remains underground as much as possible.

In addition, experienced gardeners identify several important points that apply to any of the varieties mentioned above:

• pH balance should fluctuate within 6-6.5 units;
• moisture, looseness should be equal to those of average loam;
• excessive spreading of the soil is not allowed;
• after all the work on soil enrichment carried out on the site, it is necessary to leave the site without sowing for 1-2 months so that the weed sprouts, and only after its destruction can you start sowing.

There are no special rules for choosing a soil. This choice depends, firstly, on the land available at the dacha. Secondly, it is directly related to the seeds used. Each gardener can determine the quality of land on a personal plot by growing other crops (fertile or not). As for the seeds, all the necessary conditions for a favorable cultivation are noted in the instructions.

It turns out that the choice and sequence of lawn erection remain with the owner.

• If the soil is clay, then it is better to use roll options to minimize costs and efforts to build a lawn.
• If there are no special problems with the soil, then seeds can also be selected for growing grass, taking into account all the necessary recommendations, taking into account the instructions.
• If you plan to set up a small lawn in front of the house, here, taking into account the costs, both a rolled lawn and a seed lawn are suitable.

There are often cases when, it would seem, all the requirements for laying a lawn were met (and expensive seeds were bought, and fertile black soil was brought to the site), but the result leaves much to be desired. In this regard, experts recommend adhering to the following rules.

• It is better not to remove minor bumps completely, but to break them.
• If there are huge hills on the site, they must be removed in such a way that, after removal, it is possible to sprinkle the place where they were with soil from the upper layer of the remote hill.
• During leveling, it is important not to mix the top and bottom layers of the earth.
• In places where moisture stagnates, it is necessary to break through the ditch and lay a drainage system. To do this, remove the fertile upper soil, remove the lower layer, and instead pour a mixture of sand and gravel.

For information on how to choose the right soil for your lawn, see the next video.