need lawn advice

[chickhamm]

I live in zone 8, its very hot and has been extreamly dry. The soil around our property is very poor, lots of sand ....

i want to try to build up the soil, going to send in a sample for testing also.

I have a tiller, should i till the area of the yard, add wood chips, manure and such then let the grass regrow on its own? or possibly reseed? what about adding straw / hay mulched up?


chickhamm
Theressa
GA

 

[patandchickens]

There are a lot of different ways you could go, depending on how much $$/time/effort you want to spend, and how much you care about short term vs long term results.

Any non-thoroughly-composted materials that are added may require you to also add a bit of high-N fertilizer at the same time (NOT if you are reseeding, only if you're just letting the existing grass do its thing).

Will white clover (dutch clover) grow in your area? If so, as long as you are not fixated on a golf-green type lawn it might be good to overseed with some of it. It has deep roots, fixes nitrogen from the air, stays greener in drought, and will slowly add organic material to the lawn over time.

If your property is REALLY pure sand, though, you may want to contemplate the possibility of having something other than a lawn... even if you amended the top 6" to where it is wonderful organicky loamy soil, you would still have so much water and nutrient loss from leaching that it might be unrewarding to try to keep up with (especially if yo ulive in an area with limited water supplies). There are lots of pretty and region-appropriate ways to handle an open area besides a 1950's-esque suburban-stereotype lawn...

Good luck,

Pat