Adding organic material to the lawn

[SlugSlinger]

Is there something I can add to my Bermuda lawn to help compacted clay areas.

I’m thinking about spreading compost, but wondering if there is something else to use?

 

[HoLeChit]

Is there something I can add to my Bermuda lawn to help compacted clay areas.

I’m thinking about spreading compost, but wondering if there is something else to use?

I would think that spreading stuff on top of the soil wouldn’t help with compaction really. I am no expert though.
What I have done is break up the ground, or if you have good grass growing there already, just core aerate it, get the cores out of the way, and spread perlite/sand/compost. Repeat with different mixtures as needed until you get the ground consistency you’re looking for.

My front lawn is mostly Bermuda, and every year I try to aerate it, and spread a 60/20/20 mix of perlite/sand/black kow cow manure across it.

 

[Perplexed]

^^ what he said. My lawn is also mostly Bermuda, though the soil is sandy loam. It’s too big of a yard to fuss with, so I just leave it be. The funny thing is, my neighbor has some kind of grass growing that looks a lot like fescue, but it’s out in the sun, and it’s starting to spread to my yard. I don’t mind, as it looks better than the Bermuda, but I need to ask him what it is that can survive the brutal summers in OK without any watering.

 

[HillsideDesolate]

Average and add compost. If you wanna go all the way overseed with dutch white clover

Lawns lead to poor soil structure, more so when "maintained" using herbacides, chemical fertilizer etc. Nature does not exist in a vacuume. Prior to the 50s grass seed contained clover seed for nitrogen fixing, weed suppression and soil structure. It was removed so they could sell you a weed killer, a fertilizer and a lawn service employing illegal immigrants.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Aerate and top dress with sand for compacted clay in bermuda lawn.

 

[Gunbuffer]

For organic building up, most all soil places have rich mix.
For Just some smaller areas cotton hull mulch is good too

 

[PanhandleGlocker]

what everyone else said… core aerate and add sand.

You can also get liquid aeration product. Ryan Knorr Lawn Care on YouTube has a video on it and it actually seems to work.

 

[SlugSlinger]

A farmer told me one time that a good hard freeze will aerate the soil.

 

[RickN]

Shallow graves is my preferred method.

 

[Shadowrider]

It ain't fast, it's a multi-year deal, but using milorganite fertilizer will create a bumper crop of earthworms which will aerate and putting some organic top dressing as has been mentioned each year will eventually work its way into the soil and create a good bed. It takes time but you can grow about anything after a few years of that practice.