Basic lawn profiling

Question

I live in Germany (near Frankfurt so about 50 degrees latitude) and have a rather tiny lawn. It doesn't get a lot of light, especially in the winter, and frankly it rains a lot here and the patch is often wet. We have rolled out grass twice, but in both cases it turned to mostly clover and moss within about 3-4 years. I am not sure what the drainage is, nor do I really know how much light it gets.

I would like to have nice grass, and it is really very small, maybe 5x20 meters so I can afford to give it a fair amount of care. But I am not really sure what, and am not really sure what I have to deal with.

So my question is: how should I start to profile my lawn, maybe measure the sunlight and moisture (and anything else?) over a year or so to decide what kind of grass will grow best, and if installing a drainage system of some sort is necessary.

Should I get some Arduino soil moisture measuring devices? Maybe some light sensing ones too? Or are there simpler methods I don't know about?

Answer 1

A thorough job starts underneath the grass. Turf grows best and can better withstand lower light with a good soil that is drained.

• take a spade and cleanly cut out a one foot (30 cm) square of turf
• remove the square of turf by undercutting at least three or four inches. Place to one side
• dig a hole about 30 cm deep and observe the soil type and drainage
  • when you compress a clay based soil in your hand it will remain a lump
  • sand or high organic soils should break apart
  • consult your neighbours or the local university for information on the typical ph of the soil. A ph of 6.5 to 7 (neutral) is ideal. A soil test kit will help
• what happens when you put a bucket of water in the hole? Free draining soils are usually sandy. Clay soils don't appear to drain at all.
• when you are done, fill the hole with the soil and add the turf square back

For the size of area you have to deal with consider removing all grass and soil down six inches and adding new soil with a high amount of organic matter. Sod or overseed with a shade tolerant grass.

If this sounds a little too much then it will take more time. Every year, spring and fall, top dress with up to 1/2 inch (1 cm) of compost or soil with a high amount of organic matter. Overseed spring and fall with more grass seed.

Finally, mowing practices play a big part in turf health. The usual culprit is cutting too low.

• Get a mower that really shreds the clippings and leave them on the lawn.
• Cut high in the summer and lower in the fall.
• Ask your neighbours about their best practices.
• Avoid the trap of fertilizing heavily with a high nitrogen fertilizer. This will make the grass grow fast but at the expense of a good root system.
• Slow release fertilizers that are season specific can be quite helpful.

Answer 2

I live at 48N (about the same as Stuttgart) on the U.S coast between Seattle, WA and Vancouver,BC Canada. My lawn is on the north side of my house and slopes down, northward away from my house, about 10 degrees. It rains constantly here as well, except in July, August, and part of September (irrigation is necessary then or the grass will go dormant brown). My grass gets enough sunshine to remain healthy, now for more than 10 years.

The lawn originated as sod installed over a fairly sandy, well draining, subsoil. The only problem I have is moss growing in the grass and it will overpower/replace the grass during the winter. Because this has only happened in the last few years, I think it is because the organics in the soil have begun to breakdown into clays. Water drainage of clay loams can be improved by simply applying gypsum powder. The moss, itself, can be killed by products containing zinc sulfide powder - there are many on the market in the U.S. ('Moss Out' is one).

In summary, I don't think you need to be concerned about adequate light. I think you need to be most concerned about having adequate drainage.