by Homeowners give priority to maintaining a healthy lawn, and it all starts with the permanence and health of your soil. The general condition and density of the soil affect the appearance of your garden and the growth of your lawn. It is advisable to check your lawn regularly for possible underlying problems, take preventive measures, and be active if you notice any symptoms. From weed infestation to discoloration, excessive grass diseases, and reeds, compaction can cause the grass to shrink over time if not maintained properly.
What is Soil Compaction?
Like flour, soil can be compacted during pressure if it is sufficiently compacted. When building a house, the soil can be compacted by large machines, when pedestrians move or even when it rains.
When the soil is compacted, the soil particles are so close together that the soil is not porous enough to contain water, oxygen, or other nutrients necessary for its growth. Without these needs, the grass becomes weak, often brown easily, and is visibly thinner. The dense soil can shrink the roots of a grass, preventing it from working and stealing the lush green look that your lawn once had.
Diagnosing Soil Compaction
If you are looking for a way to determine whether your soil is compacted, the soil probe is a quick and easy tool to use. The soil probe is pushed a few centimeters into the soil by hand to collect a small sample. This sample allows you to observe the depth of the straw and the roots of your lawn, as well as the texture of the soil. You can also use the probe to determine how compacted your soil is. If it penetrates easily, it is likely to be a healthier soil and if it only penetrates with force, it is likely to be compacted to a certain extent.
The Symptoms of Soil Compaction
If you are not sure that the soil on your lawn is compacted, there are many symptoms and signs that owners can treat. Regular monitoring of the health of your lawn and searching for these symptoms and signs will help homeowners maintain a good looking garden.
Weed infestation
The porous and unconsolidated soil is ideal for healthy grass growth thanks to the fibrous root system of the grass. Many weeds have a centrally toothed root system that can grow easily even in compacted soil. If you notice excessive weed growth and weed infestation on your lawn, this is probably a sign that your soil is compacted. It is advisable to hire a professional weed control service to take care of weeds that may look good.
Excess Thatch
Compacted soil naturally has a low infiltration of air and water, making it unable to maintain a normal and healthy balance of germs and fungi. When the old grass dies, it decomposes slowly over time, but due to poor air and water infiltration, the old grass dies off and collects in a layer under the lawn. As soon as the reed layer reaches a certain thickness, it prevents water, air, and nutrients from entering the root system under the ground. As a result, the straw layer becomes thicker and thicker and the grass dies.
Grass disease
If your lawn doesn’t get the nutrients and elements it needs to survive and grow optimally, it can become diseased, which can lead to much more serious problems. Red thread and rust are common diseases on the lawn that can take over your property. With proper care and maintenance, both diseases can disappear over time, but it is important to identify them at an early stage so that preventive measures can be taken.
Lawn color
By compacting the soil, the owners can notice that their lawn is losing its typical bright green color. Compacted soil prevents the roots of the grass from receiving sufficient nutrients and moisture, which makes the affected areas look restless and weakened.
Puddles and poor drainage
Make sure that the water on your lawn is full because it is a seal, which leads to poor drainage. Standing water can lead to soil saturation and slow growth. It is advisable to keep your lawn under control after heavy rainfall to determine whether or not it is well-drained.
How to Improve Compacted Soil
Appropriate maintenance, monitoring, and preventive measures can be taken to prevent and improve soil compaction. It is proposed that homeowners monitor areas with a lot of lawn traffic and replace them with paving stones or steps. By working proactively in high traffic areas, you reduce soil compaction and improve the overall health of your lawn. In addition, homeowners can use central ventilation or outerwear to improve and reduce the risk of soil compaction.
Core Aeration
This process removes small soil cores from the lawn, the size of which is usually equal to the size of the core extracted by the soil probe. The removed rods remain on the lawn to decompose over time. The rods remain on your lawn to decompose over time, leaving space for the soil to breathe and facilitating existing soil compaction. By removing part of the soil, air, water, nutrients, and fertilizers can reach the roots of the grass. If you regularly experience problems with soil compaction it is advisable to set up a regular aeration program for carrots as this is likely to eliminate many of the problems you face.
Topdressing
Laying land on the lawn will help improve the overall structure of the lawn. The topdressing adds valuable nutrients and organic matter to your garden, preventing soil compaction and the shredding of excess straw. If you have soil as thick as clay, it is more likely to be compacted. It is advisable to apply sand topdressing after aeration of the core. This creates a more neutral and less compacted soil on which grass can grow.
Bottom Line
Your lawn needs to breathe. The best way to do this is a process called aeration. When aerating your lawn, use equipment to evenly remove small plugs throughout your lawn. By removing these plugs, your lawn can start to breathe again. Of course, the soil is able to release and restore oxygen and other elements necessary for healthy grass growth.
