Hi, This is my first post and I have a serious soil problem. I live in central Florida, and I want to build up the grass in my backyard. The grass appears to be a Bermuda blend and even though I have neglected it, the grass will reseed itself and send out runners where I water my other plants and trees. Considering that the soil sandy and drains well, what more can I do to hasten the return of this beauty grass? I will need all the help you can give, SigeGreen
If the soil drains well, you could add some peat moss to it so it can hold on to moisture longer. Soon that will erode with time as it is an organic substance.
Unfort, unless you go with a chemical solution, it's going to take time. Look at the lawn - do you have a thatch problem? How compact is the soil? Any idea what the PH is? Thatch comes on because fertilizers and pesticides kill the microbes that break down the dead grass. Power raking will fix it initially, and compost and compost tea will keep the microbe population healthy (so long as you don't destroy it with fertilizer and pesticides) If you have compact soil (unlikely if it is sandy), then aeration will help. If you are interested in natural lawn care, then I would pick up "The Organic Lawn Care Manual", by Paul Tukey. It's not terribly tricky to have a healthy, sustainable lawn, but it's a bigger question than a forum response can answer.
Compost is better than peatmoss. To go the whole route, you can dethatch (by hand or power rake), aerate (manually or with a power aerator), lay down/rake in compost (purchased from your municipality?), and oversow with your favourite seed.
