Apparently, I have to make good drainage away from the house to fix much of my my lawn problems.

Yes, Bobby. Salt in the soil after I mindlessly added the wrong stuff to the grass.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 30^th, 2020 at 7:06am:


Are you ready for this? I put epsom salts over parts of the yard to see if the claims made by the product really did what it said it did. Of course, the epsom salts contained salts. The salts spread over the yard with the help of the rain. I have patches of dead/yellow grass. And patches of green. I put it down to having a schizophrenia episode about this time 5 years ago.

All the potting mix, liquid fertiliser, and lawn seeds have done nothing much to help the regeneration. The gypsum I have used to break up the clay has done little to improve the soil.

No. Epsom salts contain salt. Hence the reason why the grass died in patches near where I sprayed it. In 2008, I had the best lawn with good care from my constant attention. These days, I have all sorts of weeds taken over in the good area and brownish grass near where I sprayed the epsom salts.

Roundup the lawn then follow up any green shoots a week later.
A week later get 10cm of new turf mix and lay new turf.

All the work will also burn 2000 calories per day.

Gordon wrote on Sep 30^th, 2020 at 4:26pm:


I think I might just go and dig up the lawn where it looks brown and then lay down some turf. Or just try to get the lawn seeds to take hold. I have some weeds coming through in the back yard that needs to be pulled out. The rest of the lawn does not look too bad.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 30^th, 2020 at 4:18pm:


I was obviously too naive and mentally unstable when I trusted the product to do the yard some good. But I would love to just undo the damage somehow.

As I was saying, I would go about the sections of the lawn and digging up the areas that are unnecessarily bare or brown. The yard generally gets a uniform amount of rain. I could dig up much of the back yard and replant some lawn seeds and not worry about it for a while. Or I could let the rain fall and wash out whatever accumulated problems. But I have been letting the rain fall and the sprinklers hose for years. Nothing really is changing much for the better.

UnSubRocky wrote on Sep 30^th, 2020 at 10:41pm:



It seems I was wrong.
Gypsum is neutral not alkaline.

http://www.gypsoil.com/news-and-events/gypsum-and-lime

However - I still think you need to do a soil test.
It could be anything -
from too acid or too alkaline to
having a pest in it or too much clay.

It is very strange as it seems you've done all the right things.
I think most people who apply gypsum use a rotary hoe
to till it in and mix it deeply with the soil.

I have applied the equivalent of about 100kg of gypsum over the soil in the last year. My yard is a 20 x 50m yard (save for the house at the front). I think the earthworms that I have been using in the compost bins have died off. Otherwise, they would be migrating to the back of the house where the compost bin is now located.

Perhaps I can dig up around the house near the concrete and make some kind of drainage northwards. The ground slopes northwards towards the driveway exit. If I can find a leveler around here, I could probably engineer something to get some drainage out beside the driveway.

Jasin wrote on Oct 1^st, 2020 at 10:16am:


Of course, if the grass is exposed to sunlight for 12 hours a day and high heat, the grass is going to dry out and go brown. But that is not my issue. I will be out hosing the yard soon to make sure that the yard gets enough water. I do that once a week most summer nights.

My ex-girlfriend has told me that I need to just mow the yard without a catcher and let the grass clippings act as shade. I have done that for a long time. But, I think this summer I will have to use the catcher again and remove some weeds out of certain areas.

I added worms to my compost bin around end of July this year. The area was well shaded by the tree. The tree has been growing quite well and was pruned of excess branches every so often. Moving the compost bin to just behind my house in a shaded area would mean that I get those worms that have migrated under the house to make their way out to the bin for a few hours per night. I will probably have to move the bin out to under the back tree in the garden when March comes around. Perhaps the worms will follow and give part of the yard some help.

Should get up early before dawn to water. Gives the grass a better chance of water containment into the warming to hot day. You get a 'darker green' in your grass if you water in the mornings.

Think of it this way. The day presents itself in a long walk across a small hot desert.
Would you?
a) Drink your only litre of water the previous night.
b) Drink your only litre of water in the morning just before the morning sun rises in the heat
c) Drink small sips throughout the day (water during the hot day a bit ever few hours).