If your lawn health is struggling, it could be that the soil your grass is growing in is actually the problem. There are a lot of potential soil problems that could be the root cause (pun intended!) of your poor lawn health.

The four that we see most often include:

• Soil Compaction
• Lawn Drainage 
• Soil pH
• Soil Deficiencies

In this article, we’ll talk about how to improve soil quality for the lawn, including how to address these four issues.

Jump to:

Understanding and Correcting Soil Compaction
Understanding and Correcting Lawn Drainage Issues
Understanding and Correcting Soil pH
Understanding and Correcting Soil Deficiencies
Choosing Lawn Care Services in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky

Understanding and Correcting Soil Compaction

In our region, the soils tend to be heavy in clay, which can lead to soil compaction.

Our clay soil tends to naturally have small pore spacing, which can make the movement of water (and oxygen) difficult. As a result, the soil becomes compacted. This can make it really difficult for your lawn to grow strong and healthy as water, oxygen, and even nutrients are likely struggling to make it down to the roots where they’re needed.

The best way to deal with soil compaction is with mechanical lawn aeration.

Core aeration helps to improve the soil structure by improving the penetration of oxygen, water, and nutrients to the lawn’s root zone, where these elements are needed most.

Understanding and Correcting Lawn Drainage Issues

Poor lawn drainage and soil compaction often go hand-in-hand, as compaction is a common cause of lawn drainage issues. Compacted soil is going to provide poor drainage. According to Ohio State University, this can result in slow water movement through the subsurface level, impacting your overall lawn health.

Lawn drainage issues could also be:

• A grading issue, such as a significant low spot in the yard)
• Related to runoff from your property, such as a downspout
• Coming from a neighbor’s property

If the issue is severe and you have frequent standing water on your property, this could be why your grass is struggling to grow healthy. Water that isn’t draining properly can either fail to reach the root zone or even drown the roots if it’s more water than they can handle.

Lawn aeration is a potential solution if soil compaction is the primary culprit.

However, in severe cases, we might recommend hiring a company that specializes in drainage. A solution like a French drain might be warranted.

Understanding and Correcting Soil pH

Soil pH is also important to your overall lawn health.

We are actually quite lucky that our soils do not commonly have a pH imbalance here in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky. That’s why if you’re having lawn gypsum put down your lawn care company, it’s probably a rip off.

In certain cases, if there is an issue with soil acidity, lime treatments might be needed. But it’s relatively rare. At Oasis Turf & Tree, we perform soil testing so that we can see exactly what’s going on with your soil health.

As far as how to test lawn soil, a soil test involves pulling cores of soil throughout your lawn and having those sent to a laboratory for analysis. It will look at the pH of the soil as well as the overall nutrient makeup. If there’s an issue with soil pH, your lawn care company can address it.

Understanding and Correcting Soil Deficiencies

A nutrient deficiency in the soil is also going to harm lawn health. If your lawn is lacking in any nutrients, it’s not going to be able to perform optimally. There are three macronutrients that are used by grass plants: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K).

These nutrients are found in lawn fertilizer, which can be used to address soil deficiencies. But keep in mind that not all fertilizers are the same. In order to get the best results, you’ll want to invest in high-quality fertilization. The quality and the makeup of these fertilization products is crucial to the overall health of your soil.

At Oasis Turf & Tree, we use organic-based fertilizers that help feed vitally important biological material into the soil. A bio-nutritional lawn care program like ours is focused on regularly introducing those beneficial microbiological organisms into the soil, throughout the year, to help the lawn naturally thrive and adapt to its conditions.

Choosing Lawn Care Services in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky

Ensuring that lawn health problems are properly diagnosed and addressed boils down to choosing the right lawn care service in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH, and Northern Kentucky. You’ll need to make sure you find a lawn care company that truly understands how soil health is the heart of a healthy lawn.

At Oasis Turf & Tree, we take soil health seriously.

We know that the secret to achieving an amazing lawn lies in the health of the soil. Soil health is very undervalued, even by lawn care pros. But we know it is the soil that supports the health of your total lawn. There’s simply no way around it.

By choosing Oasis Turf & Tree to care for your lawn, you know that you are making a wise investment in ensuring your lawn has everything it needs to thrive. That means truly letting go of your worries and gaining peace of mind that your lawn is in good hands.

Want to learn more about professional lawn care services for your Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio, or Northern Kentucky home? Request your quote, choose the lawn care program that’s right for you, and then sit back and relax as the pros help you get the lawn of your dreams!

Image Sources: standing water in grass