Southern clay soil. ugh.

[mark abby]

We live in south Kentucky, we moved here from Rochester in NYS. Back up north we had a fabulous lawn, but, down here we have tried just about every grass seed on the market (including zoysia pods) but nothing actually grows, and if it does, it looks like crap. We even tried True Green (mistake) and there was no difference. Plus, all the grass turns brown in the winter around here...never had that issue up north. I've thatched, aerated, put lime down, fertilizers, nitrogen, you name it. I get very little results.

My question is what is the best grass seed for this clay soil?

And, our other problem is it's hard to find real good top soil here in south Kentucky. I'd have to drive like 75 miles just to get a trailer full. What is offered as top soil around here is questionable.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

You must be in eastern KY. My father was from eastern KY and worked in a Blue Diamond coal mine. He said the dirt was so bad it wouldn't grow weeds. That bluegrass stuff was for the rich people in western KY.

 

[7394]

Have ya tried Milorganite to fertilize, & Tall Fescue ?

 

[StarTech]

Have a soil analysis done. This will tell what you got and what needs to be done to correct the problems.

And in one area is not the same as others. Here mine is now a yellow clay base soil in TN but in Alabama just six miles South it was red clay. Nothing would grow in the red clay stuff that the farmers depleted raising only cotton and corn on. All they did was throw fertilizer at the problem. Its pH was down to 3.5 and required nearly 5 tons of lime just bring up to a neutral 7.0 pH. The grass that would grow on it before several years of liming was sage grass. Here where I am now I am at a 5.5 pH but I haven't limed yet. Got to fix the drainage problem first.

 

[mark abby]

Have ya tried Milorganite to fertilize, & Tall Fescue ?

no, but i will. One of the last (of many) fertilizers i tried was called Nutri-20. didn't do squat except help weeds grow, especially crabgrass.

 

[mark abby]

Have a soil analysis done. This will tell what you got and what needs to be done to correct the problems.

And in one area is not the same as others. Here mine is now a yellow clay base soil in TN but in Alabama just six miles South it was red clay. Nothing would grow in the red clay stuff that the farmers depleted raising only cotton and corn on. All they did was throw fertilizer at the problem. Its pH was down to 3.5 and required nearly 5 tons of lime just bring up to a neutral 7.0 pH. The grass that would grow on it before several years of liming was sage grass. Here where I am now I am at a 5.5 pH but I haven't limed yet. Got to fix the drainage problem first.

i guess i'll get it analyzed at a local co-op. the True Green guy claimed to know what it needed, but that didn't pan out too well either. Strange because our soil is hard red/yellow clay. I'm in the Monticello KY area, so, not that far from Tennessee.

 

[mark abby]

You must be in eastern KY. My father was from eastern KY and worked in a Blue Diamond coal mine. He said the dirt was so bad it wouldn't grow weeds. That bluegrass stuff was for the rich people in western KY.

I'm about in the middle south of Kentucky...Monticello.
We tried that Kentucky 31 which seemed ok, but in many areas, it just wouldn't grow.

 

[mark abby]

You must be in eastern KY. My father was from eastern KY and worked in a Blue Diamond coal mine. He said the dirt was so bad it wouldn't grow weeds. That bluegrass stuff was for the rich people in western KY.

gees....you're right....pricey grass seed.

 

[chinookmtp]

We live in south Kentucky, we moved here from Rochester in NYS. Back up north we had a fabulous lawn, but, down here we have tried just about every grass seed on the market (including zoysia pods) but nothing actually grows, and if it does, it looks like crap. We even tried True Green (mistake) and there was no difference. Plus, all the grass turns brown in the winter around here...never had that issue up north. I've thatched, aerated, put lime down, fertilizers, nitrogen, you name it. I get very little results.

My question is what is the best grass seed for this clay soil?

And, our other problem is it's hard to find real good top soil here in south Kentucky. I'd have to drive like 75 miles just to get a trailer full. What is offered as top soil around here is questionable.

Soil analysis/local Co-op. And stay away from any company that won't tell you exactly what they are spraying on your lawn..as such with the company you mentioned..

 

[AChrome]

You will have to enrich the soil with some sort of compost to break the clay down. Cotton gins or sawmills will have an abundance of rotten cotton hulls or seeds and sawmills will have piles of rotten sawdust. Each will either give it away or sell it at a reasonable price. Tip the loader after he's loaded you and the next trip you'll see larger loads than you paid for. Disc it into your soil well. Bermuda or zoysia is a good southern grass.