Prepping soil with aeration before zoysia sod?

meganr – posted 30 July 2006 10:42

This year we tried to seed tall fescue in our backyard. It has been a disaster. We did it a bit too late in the season so it had trouble in the hot temps and we overwatered as a result, ending with more green kyllinga than fescue. It’s a disaster. We’ve decided to replace it with zoysia next year but have a question about preparing for that in order to minimize the kyllinga while still doing the best we can to encourage the zoysia to thrive.

1) We’ll attack the kyllinga with Manage/Sedgehammer this Fall.2) Then we’ll spray the lawn with roundup to get rid of other weeds and the fescue.3) We know we are going to get some topsoil before laying the sod because the yard needs some leveling – the low spots held water which contributed a lot to the kyllinga growth. But we’re worried that just putting the new soil directly over the existing yard won’t be good because of soil compaction (the whole yard was tilled last year before the fescue was planted). We don’t want to till it because we don’t want to till the kyllinga into the dirt. We were thinking of maybe aerating the existing mess to loosen it somewhat without stirring up the weeds/kyllinga too much, and then putting the topsoil on before the sod. But then we found out that we can’t do the sod until May so aerating in the Fall won’t do us any good.

Should we aerate before putting the soil down? If so, what schedule would you recommend?

Is there a better way?

Thanks !We’re in the Atlanta area.

Grassguy – posted 08 August 2006 02:07

what is your definition of top soil? Clay on top of clay is OK. Organic topsoil is not OK on top of clay, It needs to be tilled together to improve structure. I would get the soil tested thru your local county extension to be sure PH(6 to 7)is in check as well as the P and K levels appropriate for zoysia. just spray your weeds before laying the sod although you should not have a weed problem if the PH is right and in conjunction with the dense mat of zoysia sod. I see you are in Atlanta, you can get Green brothers earth works to bring you landscape mix to ammend your clay sub soil. I’m guessing you have no top soil.

meganr – posted 08 August 2006 06:12

Thank You! We will look into the company you’ve mentioned….

We tested the acid levels in the soil ourselves earlier this year but the kit was somewhat hard to read, so maybe it’s worth it to pay to have it tested ? The person at the garden center we bought the test kit at said not to even bother testing because in Atlanta everyone needs to add lime. We tested anyway and then added some lime….

Grassguy – posted 08 August 2006 06:58

that advice about lime is not correct. never guess. the kits you purchase yourself are not accurate although they will give an idea. you have to know how much lime to add, its not a guessing game. it only costs 12 dollars to get the test and they can e-mail the results. I use the county extension office on Roswell road, they will give you the sample bags that have instructions for sampling on them. you also need to see where your potassium and phosphorus levels are.

meganr – posted 08 August 2006 07:00

it seemed like guessing had to be a bad idea! and the kit was definitely something for just a general idea. i’ve used my county extension office for weed identification in the past, and they’ve been very responsive and helpful with that, so i’m definitely going to take your advice and get the soil test stuff from them. thank you!

Grassguy – posted 09 August 2006 03:29

Once you get your test results back you will have a clear picture of your soil.